“My big dream is to see Argentina at the top of the podium,” says Gaston Harkes, Argentine coach and training coordinator for the Argentine Badminton Federation, who aims to continue developing badminton in his country to rank it among the best on the continent. .
Gastón, who has also held leadership positions in his local federation, learned about our sport many years ago and accidentally. After some years as a player and representing Argentina in international tournaments, he dedicated himself to sharing his knowledge and continuing to train the future stars of Argentine badminton.
“I started in badminton accidentally. I did athletics a long time ago, in ’92, and then they invited me to meet badminton. I loved it and started playing it. First I was a player but in a short time I was already training children in my city.”
Already as a coach, Gastón has taken various trainings to strengthen his knowledge and contribute to badminton in his country. Among these courses was the BWF Coach level 3 course developed last year in our region.
“The course was very positive and constructive. It ‘forces’ us to advance more in critical thinking, not taking any dogma for granted. And that makes us see the behavioral way we are used to and see how to implement constructivism and that our players reflect. This course challenges me to work, work and work. Change structures and demolish old myths and cultures. Think of a much more open and reflective badminton, and work hard on the bases and trainings.”
Already with several experiences, Gastón analyzes his transition from player to coach as something natural, since he has given his best as a player and is ready to give everything as a coach.
“The change from player to coach was natural. I played as much as I could and always liked teaching. So I started training the youngest in my club and then I was growing and advancing in training levels.”
Gastón, a former player and current coach in Argentina, dreams of seeing his country at the top of the podium in a badminton competition, and they are working on it, but aware of the bases that must be established first in order to fulfill that dream.
“My big dream is to see Argentina at the top of the podium but also to continue developing badminton and have more and more numerous tournaments, where there are many children and of good level.”
As a representative of the local federation, Gastón thinks big and with emotion for what they can achieve based on effort and constant work. In this way, the objective set is to be able to locate Argentina as one of the best countries in badminton in the region.
“Our great objective is to be in the top 3 countries in South America and to make good progress on a continental level. We are working hard on the structures and we have certain players who have a good level but the idea is to massify and train good high-performance athletes.”
