Badminton, a household sport known by all and tried by all. However, the badminton competitive scene is surprisingly unknown for being such a cheap sport to set up. 

Badminton worldwide is an extremely popular sport, with a rough 220 million people playing it worldwide (mainly in Asia). It is a fast-pace game in which you rally a birdie (a cone shaped object covered in feathers) back in forth with a racket over a net. The first person to 21 points wins the game with each birdie hitting the ground worth 1 point.

As well as being easy to understand its incredibly simple to set up, you just need a net, a birdie, and two rackets. All of this combined cost normally $100 to set up entirely for 2 people, which is quite cheap all things considered. Sports like baseball need a field, gloves, sports gear, bats, helmets, and an entire team of people on both sides.

With all these things going for it you may be wondering why there isn’t any competitive badminton in the ISD and to answer that Ashely Zhang said it nicely

“Because its not widely recognized we don’t get enough venues”

This sums up the struggle of any upcoming badminton player as because its not widely recognized it leads to a trickle effect that leaves the competitive scene of badminton unknown to most. The less people know about competitive badminton the less people pay to show up at tournaments, the less money they make, the less money they make the less venues they can afford to make.

While there might not be a competitive badminton sport in the ISD there is an badminton club. Every Wednesday at 9am Ashely Zhang and 10 others group up to practice some for fun and others to practice. When asked if she would like to meet more Mr. Elliott responded with

“It’s just really difficult with gym space” Mr. Elliott said “So it’s basically a function of having a staff member and the available gym space”

This is another hurdle that badminton club must hurdle with the gym being taken for other sports and district testing. 

Since Badminton club is more of an interest club than a competitive sport here at Skyline they have to have an advisor at all times. Mr. Elliott has been running badminton club for roughly 3-4 years with a brief intermission in-between Covid-19. Badminton club has been around for a while and despite everyone being short on time and short on funding they find a way. When asked why she keeps coming back to badminton Ashely Zhang responded with

“Definitely the competitive because I’ve played a bunch of sports as well and this one makes me the happiest” Zhang said “especially the friends I talk to”

Badminton club being such a small club has allowed people to cultivate friendships while staying physically active. A positive uplifting competitive that turns a front-yard sport into a passion for some or a casual escape from day-today hardships. Perhaps because the club is so small that it lead to a more deep connection to club members and that’s why the club has been around for so long.