Although new traditions and team culture are difficult to establish, North’s unofficial athletic organizations admirably display initiative by building communities from the ground up. The badminton club, a fully student-led organization, focuses on finding passion and companionship in the frequently overlooked sport.
The badminton club meets three times a week in the SOA for morning practice and once a week after school during Tiger block. It also has an informal WIN block with dedicated space and nets, sharing a location with other sport-related clubs.
According to sophomore Alan Tao, a captain along with juniors Hannah Sun and Justin Yee, a typical practice begins early for the core members of the club as they have to set up the nets and collect equipment. “There are definitely more people who come in Tiger than those who come in the morning,” said Tao. “Mornings are kind of only for the main recurring members. There are about 12 of us, four of which come in early to set up.”
After setting up, more team members roll in and begin to practice casually. On the occasional days when someone new attends the practice, the captains lead individual lessons consisting of form techniques, according to sophomore Amber Ou.
Tiger block tends to introduce many more people, which results in a different setup than the morning arrangement. It begins with the captains splitting up members based on what they are looking to do at the practice, which often consists of students simply wanting a place to play with a ball and racket. For those interested in learning more about form and technique, one of the captains will provide a private lesson, going over the basics of form and technique.
“The beginning of Tiger is usually when like we get to catch up as a team, but it’s definitely more crowded during that time,” said Ou.
Over the duration of the 24-25 school year, the bonds that the team has built are displayed both within its practices and its lighthearted, passionate dynamic outside of them. According to Tao, the team has a badminton group chat that consists of planning practices, making jokes, and encouraging each other to attend practices.
“It is so funny to be on that group chat, it’s kinda a bit of everyone flaming each other and a bit of us actually doing productive stuff. Either way, we use it basically everyday so I would say we are all pretty close,” said Tao.
The team is also completely open to others who want to join, according to Ou. They put a barcode on the wall of the SOA for students to scan and automatically join the group.
Being entirely student-run and having such a close-knit community, whether or not the club should rally to become an official sport is a natural curiosity. In response to this question, the majority of the team members prefer to stay as a club.
“We are mostly self-sufficient, I love our practices and I can’t imagine doing them with some adult coach telling us what to do. We plan a lot of our own stuff, and I think we all like the informality of the practices and the team. Most of us do things with badminton outside of school anyway so this is more just like a break to have fun,” said sophomore Theresa Ni.
This idea was reflected by the team as it saw the club as simply an opportunity to hang out with their friends and play casually. This is not the case for everyone, however. “I’d love for it to be a sport, I think it matters just as much as tennis or any other sport,” said Tao.
According to PEHW teacher Robert MacDougall, adviser of the badminton club, the comparison between tennis and badminton is another aspect that sets it apart from other teams. “It’s about to be spring tennis season, and they’ll be using the courts. The sports are very different, and I’ve never felt like they’re frustrated about tennis,” he said. “They co-exist, the club has to be just that much closer to be level.”
As the badminton club is separate from North’s pre-established athletic teams, the captains must regularly search for tournaments to attend, the next one being an annual one occurring in May. MacDougall is detached from the process, allowing the club leaders’ drive and initiative to shine through and speak for itself.
According to Ni, the team is determined to expand upon its growth as the school year progresses. The club has already doubled in size since last year, and Ni added that even the WINs have an inspiring array of different people, sustaining motivation to host practices.
As the year continues and spring veers closer, the team has begun to practice for its upcoming tournament as well as narrow down on leadership roles for next year. According to Tao, the spring period is the busiest as the teams’ numbers dwindle and the core members must remain focused to keep the club running smoothly.
North’s badminton club serves as inspiration to both the school community and other sport-related clubs that might want to begin but do not know where to start. The foundations in community and functionality built by the club set an example that when there is passion for a sport, people will come together to pursue it.
