The day before matches start is accreditation day at Edgbaston Priory, where all the players check in and start to get acquainted with the challenges ahead.
In the 2022 U19 event held in Nottingham, Team USA were the life and soul of the party, and as the 2023 event begins it feels like an American takeover already.
The 10.30 coach to Edgbaston was predominantly Team USA – with a full complement of 50 players and 11 coaches they’d need two buses for a team outing – and the practice courts were mostly USA too!
We’ll see much more of them as the week progresses, but here’s the Team USA coaching squad :
Chris Brownell (Usa), Ronnie Vlassaks (Bel), Linda Elriani (Eng), Laurent Elriani (Fra), Nick Taylor (Eng), Ollie Holland (Eng), Charlie Johnson (Eng), Scott Devoy (Nzl), Luke Butterworth (Eng), Chris Longman (Eng) and Min Jie Teh (Mas).
Plus, there’s Jack Wyant, who has coached Team USA as multiple World Juniors but is attending his first BJO as a proud parent.
Continuing the North American theme, at the University we found Team Canada – 22 players and 3 coaches led by Jonathan Hill in his 16th BJO and still recovering from major knee surgery …
