Long before the young players walk into the Cairo Stadium Indoor Hall, another important part of the All Africa U-19 Championships 2026 is already taking place.
From 24 to 26 September, 12 referees from across Africa have gathered in Cairo for the BCA Referees Workshop, preparing for the Junior Mixed Team and Junior Individual Championships that will bring together some of the continent’s most promising young badminton players.
The workshop has brought together officials from Benin, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Mauritius, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia, creating an international group of referees who will be responsible for maintaining the standards of play throughout the championships.
Leading the three-day workshop are BWF Assessors Ewald Cejnek of Austria and Karin Bester of South Africa, who are working with the participating referees as they prepare for the demands of the championship.
The workshop is not simply a refresher before the tournament begins. It provides an opportunity for the referees to review the Laws of Badminton, discuss officiating situations and ensure that they are working from a consistent understanding of the rules before competition gets underway.
For a championship involving players under the age of 19, that consistency is particularly important. The athletes arriving in Cairo are at different stages of their development and come from different badminton environments across the continent. Once competition begins, however, every match must be officiated according to the same international standards.
The three-day programme therefore gives the officials an opportunity to prepare together before they take their positions on court.
The presence of Ewald Cejnek and Karin Bester also brings international experience to the workshop, allowing the referees to engage directly with experienced BWF officials and examine the situations they may encounter during the championships.
For the participating referees, the workshop is also a chance to learn from one another. With officials representing eight African countries, the sessions bring together different experiences from across the continent while working towards one common standard for international badminton.
That preparation will become particularly important from 27 September, when the Junior Mixed Team Championshipsbegin in Cairo. The team event will run until 29 September, before the Junior Individual Championships take place from 30 September to 3 October.
The focus of the championship will naturally be on the young athletes competing for their countries. But behind every match will be a team of officials working to ensure that the competition runs fairly, consistently and according to the Laws of Badminton.
Their work begins before the first rally.
In Cairo, the preparation is already underway.
The referees have three days to learn, review, discuss and prepare. Then, when the players step onto court, it will be their turn to put that preparation into practice.
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