Player Development

Player Development gives players the chance to develop their skills and achieve their goals to be the best they can. Badminton Cook Islands is committed to working with Badminton Oceania to progress operation structures and frameworks to enhance player pathways and opportunities. The aim is ultimately to prepare players for competition at a local, national, regional level and beyond.

Player Development links directly with our Coach Education programme as we are committed to provided high-quality coaching to enhance the players experiences.

Badminton Cook Islands is proud to operate a strong and comprehensive Junior Program in-country, providing young athletes with structured pathways and quality coaching to develop their skills from the grassroots level. This commitment to junior development has positioned us as a leading badminton nation in the Pacific region, with our young players consistently competing at regional and international levels. There is also room for open players who wish to train and represent Badminton Cook Islands.

Find out more about the different squads we currently manage, along with more information about Tier 3 and 4 in Badminton Oceania’s Player Development programme which we partake in.

Training and National Squads

Shuttletime Development (Grassroot Programme)

  • Players: Beginners and young players starting their badminton journey
  • Coach: Cook Islands Badminton coaching team
  • Training: Introduction to regular badminton sessions
  • Training Focus: Basic badminton skills, racket control, movement, coordination and simple game play
  • Development Focus: Building confidence, enjoyment and participation while learning the fundamentals of badminton
  • Programme Pathway: Provides an entry point for players to develop their skills and progress into the U13 Development Programme and the wider Cook Islands Badminton player pathway
  • Key Goal: Introduce more young people to badminton and create a strong foundation for long-term participation and player development.

U13 Player Development

  • Development Focus: Building strong badminton foundations, confidence and participation while gaining competition experience and preparing players to progress into the U15 development pathway.
  • Players: U13 players
  • Coach: Hebrew
  • On-Court Training: Twice a week
  • Training Focus: Basic technique, footwork, movement, accuracy and introduction to match play
  • Gym Training: Once a week
  • Gym Focus: Building strength, fitness, agility and coordination
  • Competition & Development Pathway: Working towards:
  • Primary Tournament
  • Cook Islands Nationals
  • AIMS Games
  • Overseas tournaments within their age group

U15 Player Development

  • Development Focus: Building skills, confidence and valuable match experience while preparing players for higher levels of competition.
  • Players: U15 players
  • Coach: Thomas Ngauru
  • On-Court Training: Twice a week
  • Gym Training: Once a week
  • Training Focus: Technique, footwork, accuracy, consistency and match skills
  • Gym Focus: Strength, fitness and agility
  • Competition & Development Pathway: Part of and working towards:
  • U15 Cook Islands Nationals
  • U17 Cook Islands Nationals
  • College Tournament
  • Overseas tournaments within their age group

U19 Player Development

  • Development Focus: Developing advanced skills, confidence, match experience and competitive understanding while preparing players for higher-level junior, Oceania and open competition.
  • Players: U19 players
  • Coach: Danny Simpson
  • On-Court Training: Twice a week
  • Training Focus: Advanced badminton technique, footwork, movement, tactics, accuracy and match play
  • Gym Training: Once a week
  • Gym Focus: Strength, fitness, agility and physical preparation
  • Competition & Development Pathway: Part of and working towards:
  • U19 Cook Islands Nationals
  • Open Cook Islands Nationals
  • Oceania Championships
  • BWF Junior Championships
  • Overseas tournaments within their age group

Open Player Development

  • Development Focus: Challenging players through intense training and regular competition to improve performance, consistency, fitness and match readiness for local, regional and international competition.
  • Players: Open-age players
  • Coach: Thomas Ngauru
  • On-Court Training: Twice a week with high-intensity training sessions
  • Training Focus: Advanced technique, footwork, movement, accuracy, tactics, speed, endurance and high-intensity match play
  • Gym Training: Once a week
  • Gym Focus: Strength, power, fitness, agility and physical preparation
  • Competition & Development Pathway: Part of and working towards:
  • Cook Islands Open Nationals
  • Oceania Championships
  • Overseas tournaments
  • International competitions

Tier 3

Objective: To prepare junior players from selected Pacific Island countries for a higher level, structured training environment than what is available in-country and build a progressive and positive training culture linked with tournament experience. Players in this programme will be invited to participate as a member of the Badminton Oceania Pacific Development Squad.

Tier 4

Objective: To prepare junior athletes from the Pacific for their first international badminton experience at a level where they can compete with other badminton players in the same age group and with similar ability.  From all past experiences, AIMS Games is the start of the international pathway with players from the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga all going on to compete in Oceania Championships and World Junior events.

Find out more about Badminton Oceania’s 4-tier Player Development programme here.

Outstanding Results