By Anna Valmero
INQUIRER.net

PASIG CITY, Philippines — Start them on a sport while their young.

This has been the inspiration of Toby’s Youth Badminton Championships. Now on its sixth year, the cup continues to attract young talent to compete with other badminton players of their own age.

Toby Claudio, vice president for operations at Toby’s Sports said starting sports development at the “grassroots” level — meaning the youth — is the best way to keep the local talent pool fresh and helps offer better training to athletes.

“Often, we believe that training is for a selected pool of very talented athletes. But the key to develop and hone players is to offer the opportunity to as many kids as possible. From here, players will emerge as they learn in the court and during their early training,” Claudio said.

One of the challenges for young badminton talents is how to get exposure and experience in competitions, given that most of these cater to the yuppies and working class players. Through their badminton cup, Claudio hopes they are helping the youth gain experience and exposure while playing at the court and get acknowledged as they publish results of the competition. At present, 10 to 15 players from the cup were drafted in the national team.

Right now, alternatives to physical sports such as video games and the Internet get the attention of the young. Through the event, Claudio aims to encourage kids to get active even when their young so they can avoid the sedentary lifestyle most adults have today.

“More than building the physical skills, sports like badminton can help players learn sportsmanship, fair play, discipline, hard work and training — essentials to building one’s character,” said Claudio.

A parent of two players in the cup, Jojo Vargas, concurred. He said his kids Anton and Mikaela who play in the cup learned to manage time for both school work and badminton training, unlike before when they were not playing the sport.

Badminton became a popular sport in the country given that it is easy to learn, the equipment for beginners is not costly and facilities are widely available given that the sport became popular in the start of the decade, said Nicole Limon, marketing supervisor of Toby’s Sports.

She said the youngest player joining the event is aged five years.

To let the youth focus on the competition, the event does not give out money as prizes. Winners instead are awarded with apparels and equipment from the event sponsors.

About 1,000 players with ages from 8 to 18 participated in the annual cup, a joint effort between Toby’s Sport and sports gear company Dunlop. Participants hailed from Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga, Batangas, Ilo-ilo and Cebu. Eliminations will run from October 25-31 at the West Drive Badminton Center, with finals slated in November 14-16 at SM Megamall Atrium A.

List of winners for the eliminations will become available October 31.