S'pore-Difficult to get courts

[Bieffe]

Dear all,

For many many occassions I have trying to get badminton courts at out neighbourhood CC and halls from SSC but always slots seems to be all taken.

I think everyone like myself is working so the 7pm to 10pm slot is always full. What suprise me is how this ppl manage to get it. I understand SSC opens their booking at 7am every Tuesday. So I when online at 7.45am and all the 7pm~10pm slots were already taken.

I then drove around CC to CC within my few neighbourhood and all courts appear to be booked!

How come ppl can get....all wake up so early to go book? I suspect insider support or the places already book this slots themselves to conduct other classes like folk dancing, takaekudo etc.:(

Wonder when and how I can get a court...any tips?

[Arcos]

some ppl wake up and prepare at 7:20am :eek:
so that is one of the reason. quite a number of them are regular players at the certain sports hall this is quite the usual routine for them.

I'm also having problems booking courts during peak hours. With so many courts available in singapore, u have to wonder why its always fully booked most of the time :(

[Netasia]

We are facing the same problem as well. Seem like badminton has slowly becomes our national sport, and more people is playing this sport.

Courts are hard to get at prime time. I know of people that wake up as early as 6am just to get the court, don't forget about the private coaches who needs the court to teach the students.

Anyone tot of setting up a private badminton hall here? :eek:

[Arcos]

We are facing the same problem as well. Seem like badminton has slowly becomes our national sport, and more people is playing this sport.

Courts are hard to get at prime time. I know of people that wake up as early as 6am just to get the court, don't forget about the private coaches who needs the court to teach the students.

Anyone tot of setting up a private badminton hall here? :eek:

lol, i'm with u on that idea of setting up a private badminton hall :p
maybe we can rent a warehouse and convert it to a badminton hall. interesting business prospect? :D

[hongyi_2000]

U could try and book thru phone the day b4...thats wad i usually do...but really have a bad experience yst...book a slot frm 3-5 yst and end up mistaken it as today's booking and my frene was shoke when he heard our court was book frm 12-5:eek: den we change it...so i dun really trust phone booking but u could try...go SCC webby and get no for various court...but if u guys do set up a call i wanna tag along...lolx

[Bieffe]

Well I think comparing phone booking to online I think online is much better right. But no matter how also cannot get leh.

I am refering to the slots after 7pm or so where all Sillyporeans finish work and all chiong to badminton courts. Other times you can basically walk in.

But the thing is how come ppl are always one set ahead...you mean all so KS waki at 6+am and wait online then once 7am all chiong? This is serious man.

Opening private courts not a good idea...cos you will only have business from 6pm to 10pm unless u charge $10/hr ur business will fold.

Alternatively my idea is to make use of the halls of schools. These schools may just have one of the best facilities but they close during the night wasting the courts. If we can some how book these courts with permission officially....then it will be fantastic.
Other then paying....we also get free parking and the school can get additional revenue or at least the Ja gar of the school can.

But who is to take the lead in this matter and usually such arrangements are done on a friend friend basis.

Any teachers or principals here....help us all.

[aerotus70]

I play regularly at tamp sport hall, the auntie there tell me got some hardcore players wait outside around 4am(sport hall only open at 7am) :eek:


Ways to book

1)Every tue 7am booking open to walk in ppl or internet booking only
2)phone booking only open on every tue 1pm onwards

I want to ask u which sport hall u try to book? Tamp sport hall got 19 courts
7pm-10pm for wkdays sure have if u walk in or internet book.

Last wk i walk in book on tue morning 8am+ for wed courts (7pm-8pm) have like 4 courts unbooked and still can choose.

Speaking of schools i saw mayflower sec, dunman high, tamp sec players training in tamp sport hall. Their own hall also not enough for them.

[Netasia]

Having schools to allow us to utilise their badminton hall is definately a better solution than owning 1. I used to played in 1 of the secondary school every tuesday night for about a year or 2, it's very troublesome when the hall is use for exams. You have to shift all the tables and stair aside or stop playing for months. You also need to do area cleaning after each session.

Can I have a list of people who is interested to play in schools at night regularly? If I have more than 18 committed regular players, I may approach the school director for permission. The cost will depend on the number of players and the term the school offer, however it should not be more than $20/mth/person.

Name, preferred weekday
------------------------
mike, friday

[kiong]

yar agreee...but its onli the night slots always be booked...the courts in the afternoon are seldom fully booked..trying playing in the afternnon.. maybe.. maybe onli.. there is space...however ya all are working adults.tough to play in the evening!! tough luck man.. keep trying...:cool: (jia you)

[hongyi_2000]

Im on...but not on sat plz...got a group already...how bout we try to get the woodlands Ring sec court or Marsiling Sec wan...not too bad...

[Arcos]

Name, preferred weekday
------------------------
mike, friday
Jun Wee, (any day for now, since its holiday for me)

P.S: where are we playing?

[hongyi_2000]

Name, preferred weekday
------------------------
mike, friday
Jun Wee, (any day for now, since its holiday for me)
Gary, anything except sat tell me b4 hand
P.S: where are we playing?

[Bieffe]

I play regularly at tamp sport hall, the auntie there tell me got some hardcore players wait outside around 4am(sport hall only open at 7am) :eek:


Ways to book

1)Every tue 7am booking open to walk in ppl or internet booking only
2)phone booking only open on every tue 1pm onwards

I want to ask u which sport hall u try to book? Tamp sport hall got 19 courts
7pm-10pm for wkdays sure have if u walk in or internet book.

Last wk i walk in book on tue morning 8am+ for wed courts (7pm-8pm) have like 4 courts unbooked and still can choose.

Speaking of schools i saw mayflower sec, dunman high, tamp sec players training in tamp sport hall. Their own hall also not enough for them.Thanks for the info. I stay in Ang Mo Kio area so travelling so far sian man....I tried all in the north like Bishan, Toa Payho, Yishun, Delta etc but not tampenies hahah.
I will try there since have so many courts like what you say.

[Netasia]

I'll try with various school until I got 1 that will allow us to use their badminton hall. Personally I hope to get somewhere central around Toa Payoh. But it seem like no many people support my idea, only a handful of you, I can't approach the school with just booking of 1 court and make use of the entire hall.

[hongyi_2000]

I fully support...

[Kai91]

Area around toa payoh is most likely taken on Mon Wed and Fri... my school hall under renovation thus have to get court outside... Anyway theres something called internet... Find their number and call them make pre-booking best if can make it 3+ days before hand... Yes i stay in toa payoh...

CCs : http://www.pa.gov.sg then go directories and give them a call

Sports Hall : http://www.ssc.gov.sg/SportsWeb/index.jsp

[hongyi_2000]

hey...do anyone know the price of getting a school court? for badminton usage ofcus...cus i might think to get a few court if my plan works out...

Kai: u mind to join my group in weekly basis in woodlands area?

[Netasia]

it's about $240 per night.

[hongyi_2000]

hmm no wonder u guy said uless u got more ppl now i see y...so damn ex

[Bieffe]

Cannot be so expensive lah. I was hoping for something like $5 dollars per person per session (abt 2hrs).

SO if we have 10 then is $50 dollars


it's about $240 per night.

[Netasia]

that's the cost of utilising a hall per night. They don't rent by court at night.

[jeffreyk]

that's the cost of utilising a hall per night. They don't rent by court at night.

how many courts are there in the hall?

[hongyi_2000]

my school only consist of 3...i believe most school too...unless ur school is the Singapore sports school...den thats a totally diff. case

[Lobber]

totally agree that court are hard to get.
If you go sport complex or whatever,it very expensive($7.40 for weekend)

So if you go to CC,i notice some,their floor,lighning and kinda bad...
So if you go to those court below ur block,they are windy and MUCH WORST.

[Kai91]

hey...do anyone know the price of getting a school court? for badminton usage ofcus...cus i might think to get a few court if my plan works out...

Kai: u mind to join my group in weekly basis in woodlands area?
Sorry i cant join...

1st : Its too far
2nd : Will be quite bz tho...

[shawn30_k]

ya ive no idea how my coach book on wkends.i think he bks it online.totall agree some cc their floor and lighting is really very bad.you cant even play badminton there.btu you can try hougang cc ahx.that wan not bad except the flooring is tiles,but not that kind of slippery tiles la.
totally agree that court are hard to get.
If you go sport complex or whatever,it very expensive($7.40 for weekend)

So if you go to CC,i notice some,their floor,lighning and kinda bad...
So if you go to those court below ur block,they are windy and MUCH WORST.

[yy_ling]

give them a phonecall and tell them you gonna book my friend did that but i didnt turn up, really made him angry

[sg2303]

lol... u r replying to a 2 year old thread....:p

[storkbill]

Salvation Army Bukit Timah - 4 courts, anyone plays there?

[juste_millieu]

Why can't U wake up early book the court? I wake up 6:45am login internet prepare to book the court every Tuesday. And I have to share with U, once I miss the first chance to book the court, most likely there won't be any available court for me. Especially if I intent to book at Tampines sport hall. Alot of badminton teacher is teaching there. According to a friends, these teachers all book regularly. They pay double the original price to reserve the court. For CC court, U can reserve 2 weeks before the game. CC use to have 2 courts, 1 court can book online another court can only go there book.

[jermaine]

its true, people wake up very very early to book the best courts in tampines sports hall..
singapore is lacking of badminton courts an they should consider building 50 courts in a shot! hahahaa
but tampines lighting and floor not very well maintained... very dirty the floor can slip and fall man

[quik_silver]

its true, people wake up very very early to book the best courts in tampines sports hall..
singapore is lacking of badminton courts an they should consider building 50 courts in a shot! hahahaa
but tampines lighting and floor not very well maintained... very dirty the floor can slip and fall man

Wow people in Singapore are pretty disperate for badminton courts, people will not see that happening in North America, at least in Canada. I wish I was living in the asia countries still.. :( I think my badminton games will be much better. :P

[ants]

Why not just join the grps that is already available in Spore?

[juste_millieu]

Why not just join the grps that is already available in Spore?

Groups already available also mean it is a large group. Which mean this group have to book many courts at the same time and players might not able to play.
We tend to play badminton in a small group -> 6-8 person, 1 court 2 hours.
Btw, sport hall rules -> 1 account can maximum book 4 courts for the same hour :)

[-Silver-]

Courts.....it is really a problem. My brother wakes up at 7.05am in the morning to bk the courts and u know wat? all courts has been book by someone else!!!!:(

So sad. Last time got alot of court and no khakis. Now it is the other way round. Mayb it's time for them to build a new sportshall.

[JBKokKeong]

Courts.....it is really a problem. My brother wakes up at 7.05am in the morning to bk the courts and u know wat? all courts has been book by someone else!!!!:(

So sad. Last time got alot of court and no khakis. Now it is the other way round. Mayb it's time for them to build a new sportshall.


This problem is not new and have been persisiting for long time. You have to log in at exactly 7.00am 1 min late and you can say sayonara to the courts. There is no way you can get privilege booking even if you pay double or triple unless its corporate booking whereby you are a company and you like to use the sports hall for your company's annual sports event.

Therefore you have no choice but to wake up at 645am to prepare to wait for the opening at 7am. :o

[yy_ling]

Victor has badminton camps guess whats in those?
they say one of those has 26 courts!!!! TWENTY SIX!!! and comes with hotel, restaurant and spa and massage kind of things facilities
if victor sets one up here in singapore i met my santa claus, its impossible tho, but seriously you can mess up your PSLE and go to sports school and train up on badminton on free courts

[Ozlee]

Actually there are many courts that are left unused in the evenings all over Singapore in the schools. If these can be opened for public to book, many more badminton enthusiasts and beginners would be happier and healthier.

The schools would have to engage janitors to administer and lock the courts in the evenings and weekends. Maybe this will create additional job opportunities for people who want to take on a part-time job.

Actually have emailed MOE and Sports Council to suggest this but of course, no reply. :confused:

Also asked if SSC would consider spreading the badminton booking over the week - instead of all 7 days booking on Tuesday morning at 7am. This way, it will relieve the system of a surge of traffic every Tuesday morning causing some connections to hang (i am sure it happened to many of us). The other advantage to this is that if i want to play on Wednesday, i do not have to wait till 1 day before the game to confirm the courts. I can book 1 week ahead.

Again, no response other than "looking and reviewing"... in the meantime... its camping on the website from 6.55am on Tuesdays and hoping that my clock is synced with SSC's. :rolleyes:

by the way, anyone know if SingNet, Starhub or PacNet is faster?:D

[modious]

Actually there are many courts that are left unused in the evenings all over Singapore in the schools. If these can be opened for public to book, many more badminton enthusiasts and beginners would be happier and healthier.

The schools would have to engage janitors to administer and lock the courts in the evenings and weekends. Maybe this will create additional job opportunities for people who want to take on a part-time job.

Actually have emailed MOE and Sports Council to suggest this but of course, no reply. :confused:



This came out in the news recently actually. In the near future, we should be able to use the courts in schools.

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37042

[Ozlee]

This came out in the news recently actually. In the near future, we should be able to use the courts in schools.

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=37042

Was aware of this, thanks... read the other thread too... just a possibility... no promises, he does "not rule out" that possibility...school principals will have to agree to the additional work....

and schools will all get their indoor courts by 2014... so, we we have to wait till 2014 to serve the shuttle?

maybe its time to write to the Education, MCDYS and Manpower ministers with that suggestion... or just the revamped feedback unit.;)

[Linus]

Actually some schools already open up some days in the week. But not all school courts are really ideal as they are built as multi-purpose hall, either the flooring is slippery or the lightings are inadequate.

But looking from the school side, I think there are more then some cleaning-up or locking-up, there is a whole lot of security issues once the school is opened up for public in the evening. If they are collecting fees for the usage, then someone has also administer the booking and payment etc. I can understand why some schools would feel reluctant to go down this path.

Having said that, it is still a welcomed option. At least it gives the die-hard badminton fans a fall-back option if they really cannot find any courts at the sport halls.

[chorlaw]

Hi Ladies and Gentlemen...
:)

would appreciate if anyone could advise me how to make my desktop work faster so that I can snatch court successfully on every tues morning...
currently using SINGNET broadband 10k kps (if i am not wrong...)
fujitsu desktop dunno what either.... ( :-P )
anyway it is a new desktop bought in this yr IT FAIR...
I hv been doing disk cleanup and disk defragmentation...

but still today...while submitting selected courts ...the PC hanged on me
I couldn't get to the payment page...hence no courts successfully booked...

Is my PC not fast enough or is it those internet settings been wrongly configured??

THANK YOU VERY MUCHIE......IN ADVANCE

cheers
chorlaw

[Ozlee]

Chorlaw
did your PC hang on you or did the iBook server fail you?

sometimes it is not something you can do on your pc cos the congestion is at the iBook server side.

what may have happened is that you selected say Delta court 1, and someone also selected Delta court 1 at the same time but beat you in submitting... the system is not able to assign the court and it hangs because you are not able to progress to the next step.

by the way, after getting the confirmation that you have the court, plan to make online payment only after 9am.

good luck.

[chorlaw]

THANKS OZLEE
You are right

I believe that the IBOOK server could have fail to respond to the correct terminal when 2 or more appears to have snatch the same court number....

I usually cant proceed to the next screen upon clicking of submit button...ie to the payment page...

Need to do something to my pc so that it is fast enough to submit the selected court....
:P

thanks once again

CHEERS
:D