Raised nets, shuttlecocks moving at breakneck speed, the strumming of the air from the rackets cutting the wind… all this means that the Albatros Badminton Sports Club is in full training. The Samuel Ferrer, his home, continues to welcome lovers of this discipline year after year. Right now, the club has around 32 federated athletes between lower categories and the senior team. In addition, they manage the Municipal Schools, which are regularly attended by around a hundred people, approximately 60 minors and 40 adults.
The pandemic has not reduced the number of practitioners belonging to the club, although the municipal schools -which they themselves run- have shown a slight decrease, according to Jesús de la Mata, vice president and coach of the club. He assures that the work of the quarry has been key in this sense, since the entity has rejuvenated the club. “Six or seven years ago this was an elephant graveyard,” jokes Jesús, highlighting the work of Javier Soria, also the Albatros coach, with the youngsters from the academy.
Javier, who has done much of the work with the lower categories, points out that it is not an easy task: “You have to start from scratch and little by little. Teaching the boys the fundamentals: grip, position, basic blows… we put the attitude to learn as the main characteristic. The one who shows that he wants to improve and go up, he will go up to the club, ”says the coach.
SUPPORT NEED
Without a doubt, minority disciplines require the necessary support and facilities to prosper in the future. In this sense, the Albatross Badminton has suffered a ‘setback’. His usual training schedule, which was from 9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m., has been reduced to 10:00 p.m. Taking into account that they train two days a week, this means that they have seen their training time reduced by almost two hours. Javier regrets this situation, asserting that it will harm the club in the near future. “Right now, with the current situation, we cannot maintain the model of getting good players, we are going to be left with less potential than we should be as Cuenca,” he warns. Despite these difficulties, the entity stands up when it comes to going out to play championships, and it is that they have managed to place school-age players in great positions against others who may have more facilities. “Clubs in our environment at the regional level, with whom we play in tournaments, have a minimum of four to six hours of court, and we are doing the work with the time we have, which is very limited,” says Javier.
Jesús explains that there are clubs that practice a philosophy focused on focusing on a few players who stand out a lot in order to dedicate the maximum time to them and their development, but the Badminton Albatross opts for another methodology. They work from the collective perspective, trying to make the maximum number of young people like the discipline and get hooked, serving everyone equally. In this sense, Javier assures that it is a sport that engages, and highlights one aspect of the sport as fundamental: “The good thing is that it can be played by those who are 5 years old and those who are 80”. Both technicians point out that there is no secret, the key is in practice, and whoever wants to improve has to know that he will need many repetitions and a good base of perseverance.
The club, which this year has seen how its training schedule has been reduced, requests more time to be able to continue polishing its players and a court in the central circle of the pavilion
PROMISES IN THE CLUB
The good work of CD Badminton Albatros with the quarry is ratified by news like the ones it has received lately. The Castilla-La Mancha National Team has knocked on the doors of the club, summoning some of its players for the Spanish Championship for national teams that will take place from June 23 to 26 in Santander. One of them is Samuel Rodríguez, who has been at the club for five years and recently received the news that he would go to the championship. He admits that at first he didn’t believe it, and now he thinks about enjoying those special days: “Let’s have a good time at the championship and live the experience”, he concludes. The young man, in addition, has produced a “drag effect” with his family, since his sister and his parents have been hooked watching him and have followed him in the practice of badminton.
The Alonso sisters, Gisela and Gimena, will also share this beautiful experience. At 16 and 13 years old, both have been linked to this discipline for more than half their lives. They came from swimming, where the good atmosphere of the club -and the even better results they achieved in the championships they entered- made them stay. Without setting a predefined goal, and just like Samuel, they will enjoy the tournament and “give everything”. In addition, on the national scene we also find consolidated athletes, such as José Luis Martín. The man from Toledo, based in Cuenca for 16 years, is already more than consolidated in the national para-badminton scene. Without going any further, in May he took second place in the individual SU5-SH6 and in the doubles SU5-SL4-SH6 during the Spanish Parabadminton Championship held in Madrid on the weekend of May 7 and 8. José Luis has been at Badminton Albatros for four years, confirming the great progress of the club with the “kids stepping strong”, joking that he would have liked to start at that age. “This motivates us older people to know that things are being done well, because the results are there,” he shares. He is already preparing for his next big event, next month in Toledo, where the dry heat now forces him to focus to improve your endurance during the game.
SAMUEL FERRER MEMORIAL
Speaking of getting hooked on badminton, Cuenca had a great opportunity last Saturday to do so at an unbeatable event: the Samuel Ferrer Memorial, which this year has celebrated its 25th edition. He has done it in a big way, since the number of registered has far exceeded the expectations of the organization. Around 110 athletes traveled to Cuenca, not only from the province -El Provencio, Cañete…-, but from the entire region and even from the Valencian Community and the Community of Madrid. This is positive news, since the club did notice a drop in the tournament they organized at the Fair, the first after the pandemic. This context of greater normality has invited badminton lovers to join this long-awaited tournament.
In addition, as Jesús and Javier point out, everything raised has gone to the city’s Food Bank, so it is totally altruistic. Likewise, the purchase of the trophies has been made from ASPADEC by virtue of the commendable work they carry out.
