Badminton club fosters family environment

Gym 163 in the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation is lined from wall to wall with five badminton nets as people from college kids to baby boomers bat shuttlecocks back and forth.

These members of multiple generations convene in this gym from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. every Friday and 2 to 6 p.m. on Sundays for badminton club practices.

Freshman secretary Amy Zhang’s experience with the club is indicative of the type of organization it is. Zhang has been around the club since she was young because her parents have been a part of it since the early 1970s.

Club president and senior Yuen-Suo Yang put it simply.

“This is more like a Bloomington club than a student club,” he said.

Yang further explained Zhang’s situation of getting involved with the organization through her family is not unusual. He said many former students who have gotten jobs in the Bloomington area have stayed in the club for years.

“This is more like a community than just for students,” Yang said. “We’re a big family basically.”

Despite that, Yang said the club wants to add more undergraduate members in an attempt to gain Group B club status. These groups are based solely on the number of members.

With about 60 to 70 students, the badminton club is currently classified under Group C, which means they are required to have two social events and three competitions along with their twice-a-week open practices.

If the group were to move up a class, they would have more events and competitions.
These functions are funded by member fees, which are $10 per semester for students
and $15 per semester for others.

The intercollegiate competition comes in the spring, when five or six students comprise a team that either travels or hosts other Midwestern schools. Yang said the clubs normally contact each other via e-mail and that he isn’t picky about traveling.

“It doesn’t really matter to us. We just want to play,” he said. “There’s only five or six of us, so we can just take a van or something.”

Despite the competitions, Yang repeatedly described the club as “laid back.”

“It’s not really competitive,” he said. “It’s not like ‘Oh, I’ve got a secret way of beating you, so I’m not going to tell you.’”

Yang said the more experienced members often dish out constructive criticism to the less-experienced players.

“People are really friendly, but they’re direct,” he said. “They’re like, ‘OK, you suck, but here’s why you suck,’ and then they help you.”

Members of the club enjoy it for a variety of reasons.

Zhang said it’s a good form of stress relief.

Graduate student Jason Shen, a member for two months, said, “I come here just for fun and also for some exercise.”

Yang takes only a slightly more serious approach. He views the game as a challenge and something he can constantly improve.

“It’s pretty tough in terms of endurance, and it’s such a small court, and you can’t let it hit the ground,” he said. “It takes insane reactions, especially when people smash it at you and you’re both at the net.”

Shen shared his philosophy on the traits of an effective badminton player.

“There’s two ways to be a good badminton player: one is skill and the other is being active,” he said. “Being active compensates for lack of skill.”