On 11 sep, 2021 Croatian junior national championship was organized by BK Međimurje in Čakovec. It was a historical day for Badminton Zadar and the city of Zadar as well. Vito Ivanišević, from Badminton Zadar made history by being the first ever player from Zadar to participate in a badminton national championship in any age category!
In 2020 Badminton Zadar started to participate in official national tournaments. Series of 4 tournaments ends up with a National championship at the end of the year. Unfortunately, last year due to COVID, it could not be organized. To be on the safe side, this year Croatian Badminton Association decided to organize national championship before the Croatian cup tournaments.
Due to COVID , we did not have possibilities of regular trainings. There was only 2 weeks of notice period to the championships. We had a chance to organize just 5 training sessions before the championship, which is not enough time to train for any competition leave apart a National championship. We are proud of Vito, who showed courage and confidence to participate.
Badminton Zadar from the beginning started with a goal to develop Badminton as a competitive sport in Zadar. It takes years to build a player and develop a competitive mindset. In a city where majority of the people consider Badminton a picnic sport, it is an herculean task to achieve that goal. Sports is not just a physical activity, it is part of a culture and behavioral habits. It takes time and patience to change habits.
Badminton Zadar is thankful to Vito, who has taken another big step to bring Zadar and badminton at national level. We believe that this is the beginning of a trend and with patience, effort, time and support from people, city and organizations more kids would be training in Zadar to compete in official tournaments.
Read further at Croatian Badminton Association’s website.
