Ian Mergen hits a drive to opponent, Oliver Bergen, in a U19 match at the 2014 North Central Tournament

Prince George, BC – There's an impressive 1:1 ratio of volunteers to competitors at this weekend's North Central Junior, Open & Masters Badminton Tournament underway at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre.

With just under 50 athletes from BC and Alberta participating, Jim Condon says there are expected to be as many – if not more – volunteers helping to stage the three-day competition.

Condon is the Results Rep for Badminton for the 2015 Canada Winter Games.  This weekend's tournament is the 11th out of 12 test events scheduled this winter to help organizers prepare for next year's Games.  Next weekend's BC Judo Provincial Championships, also at the Northern Sport Centre, will mark the end of this test season.  Local prepatory events will begin again late next fall and run right up until the Games begin in February.

This weekend's tournament is a combination of three age categories to give organizers some sense of what the Games will be like, although Condon says there will be many more badminton athletes here next February.

It's also meant to help organizers to determine what works, and what needs tweaking before next winter.  The court mats were rolled out yesterday morning and Condon says the set up, take down, and field of play are key areas concern.  As are processing the results. "We actually have umpires coming from all over BC to umpire the two main courts and we have live scoring that's done electronically, so we're testing that out, as well."

The tournament is open to the public and there is no admission charge.  Condon is encouraging city residents to come check it out.  Today's draws begin and 9am and run until 5:15pm.  Action on Sunday begins at 9:45am and wraps up at noon.