Teruaki Ikari,President of Saitama-ken Badminton Association

We had a big Friendship Meet & Camp in Xiamen,China Dec 25th to 31st,1999. All members of us,especially our coaches and students learned a lot of things there with big help of Badminton Association of Xiamen city,China.It is one of our main projects and for junior age,low teen and middle teen students to make skill up. It was 3rd camp in foreign country behind Seoul,Koria and Taipai,Taiwan.
About schedule:
In the Camp, there were 12 boys and 12 girls junior high students,4 coaches and 3 directors,total 31 participants. We left for Shanghai afternoon on Dec 25th by air plane and arrived there evening and stay. Next day we went to Xiamen by air plane and started our camp with Xiemen team. On Dec 30, we left for Shanghai and stay there and we come back to Japan on Dec 31,1999.
About our training and practice:
We have been under Mr.Lin,head coach and 7 coaches of Xiamen team during camp. We had traiing,court work and basic stroke in morning, games in afternoon and took lunch and break time enough every day.
It was big difference from our regular camp and we were interested in it and learned a lot of things from it.
About Player pic up system in China we herad and knew:
We know it is very famous for many national player growing up in Fujianshen including here Xiamen and Zhejiangshen province. The system is what: at first step, they select some good pupils in� 4th grade, who will be expected to grow over 180cm boys, 168cm girls through interview with their parents. They said it is most important condition for their goal.
About Gymnasium for their traning & practice:
There are some buildings for sports, The gymn for badminton is one of them, which is very large and is separated two floors with 12 courts each. One of them is alaways kept for players above.
About How to practice and School study:
The players above who have an excellent sports ability enter the school for physical education.They study at school in morning and are absorbed to practice at gym in afternoon every day. There is a coaching system which is one special coach,who belong to gym, for just three players. They have much longer time than us to practice basic work, for example, on knock practice, a coach hits 50 shuttles to a player and one of others pic up shuttles and another hands them to the coach, so 3 players never have a break in that practice.
Naturally our students were gaved same practice in that camp with Xiamen team, as a result,it was very impressed for us that they showed us big advanced play in Kanto Open Tournanment for junior high students on Jan 5 to 7 in Ageo city,Saitama.
It will be in Twenty First centry soon, we are sure our Badminton in Japan is just on growing junior aged students. We know our assignment is just that and we have to treat it with our full power, and then brilliant futuer must be come to us.

Translated by Norio Sugimoto