4 large clubs in the SF bay area, can we fill them all?

[kwun]

unless you've been in hiding, you should know that soon the SF Bay Area will have 4 large dedicated badminton clubs, they are, in opening order:

Bintang Badminton Academy in Sunnyvale
United Badminton Club in Fremont
Golden Gate Badminton Club in Menlo Park
Smash City Badminton Club in Milpitas

each of them provides at least 8 badminton courts along with training classes.

while having these clubs are good for us badminton players, we cannot help to wonder if there are too many of them. Bintang was the first, the owner Phu has the vision and went into action nearly 2 years ago with a small 3 courts facility in Mountain View, and later moved to a 11 courts facility in Sunnyvale. Bintang then has became the place to go with fully packed gym almost every day of the week.

however, after UBC opened in April, i have been to Bintang in a couple of occasions and i must say that the number of players in Bintang has decreased noticably. there are now court openings in a week day night or a weekend day time, something that was unheard of before in Bintang.

the trend is not very promising as two more clubs are scheduled to be opening in the coming months which will surely dilute the number of attendees in all the clubs further.

as a badminton player, we of course like to see more badminton clubs, and of course none of us wants any of these clubs to go into financial problem due to poor attendance.

what do you think we can do to help out these clubs? certainly we can go play there to play more, a category in which i am guilty of recently. but what else can we do?

the cruel fact is simply this, and i think many will agree: there simply isn't enough badminton players in the bay area right now to support 4 large clubs.

i know owners of those clubs also frequent this forum, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say about this issue. it is something that i am sure they are aware of and will certainly have a close interests in.

having posed the question, here is something i think can help solve the problem:

what i would like to see is the cooperation between clubs. in Europe, there are many more clubs within a much smaller population area. there are healthy competition between these clubs and they all managed to survive well.

things that i can see can be done:


competition on court - setup intraclub league. each club have coaches and teams. i know Bintang has a team, and UBC also has a team. i am pretty sure SmashCity will have one and GGBC may also as well. club owners can cooperate with each other to set up a league each year. i know 4 is a small number for a league, with home and away game, 6 weekends will exhaust all combinations for league match up. but if we ranked the team and then set up semi and finals (like the Sudirman cup), we can extend the matches to 8 or 9 weekends. which is a decent length for a league.
to further the idea, more teams can be added to the system, have more types of league, junior+senior, and then add more teams, outsiders will certainly happy to see teams.
badminton promotion - having clubs work together to promote badminton. if clubs only promote themselves, they are bearing the promotion cost alone, with limited funding, there is only so much they can do. if 4 clubs comes together to promote badminton, much more can be done with the combined funding. maybe a TV commercial in the local channel? there are channels (KTSF comes to mind) who are geared toward the Asian population, in which most of the badminton players are. and nothing stops them from advertising in the more general TV stations either (though i think KTSF probably cheaper)
anything else? i think all the owners of the club are doing it because they love the sport of badminton (i cannot imagine otherwise) and all can help further their love of the game by working together.

[cooler]

well, I applaud them for their entrepreneurship.
we often debated how to get badminton more popular, this chicken & egg debate. Well, here we have some people putting money at the egg level instead waiting for the chicken (media & big name sponsors, those big fat chicken) to come around.

[Winex West Can]

I am sure that after everything is settled, you will find folks staying as regulars at one club and going to the others as they feel the need. The thing is that when Bintang was the only one, folks from around the Sillicon Valley area are coming and now with the new clubs opening closer to home (for some), these clubs will take away some of these clientele but not to say that is bad. Some folks will travel to play in an atmosphere where they fit in.

The idea of interclub league is very good and should be encouraged.

[ctjcad]

Allow me to put my 2 cents in on this..
Personally I feel you guys up north are very, VERY, lucky to have 4 full-time, dedicated badminton clubs within proximities of each other..In comparison to the badminton clubs down here in L.A., where we *only* have 3 full-time dedicated clubs-SGVBC and OCBC and MBBC(which is private)..Add to that the 3 new clubs up north in the bay area are BRAND NEW...

I kind of agree with Kwun's ideas to a certain extent, but let me add my suggestions. Looking at those 4 clubs and the proximity of them all, I have just 2 ideas, this is just for "long term" purposes:

1. PRICE. Make it affordable and reasonable and people will come. Don't make it so "high-end" that regular people who doesn't know anything about the sport will find it "unfriendly" to play in. For intents and purposes, I know these clubs have quite an expensive operational costs. What I would do, which unfortunately might not be popular, is somewhat similar to what Kwun suggested. Have all clubs be a semi-joint venture. Since the market up there is scarce but growing itself, maybe they could join and promote the sports itself first and foremost. How? instead of individual clubs' profit, the way to do it is to make the price reasonable AND attractive. Say, 4x a month, there could be promotional FREE nights. There's another club in OCBC, but the fee to play there is very expensive, thus the club is not as popular to play for the public as SGVBC. The key is, you have to put people in there to play, as the goal should be to popularize badminton as much as possible.

2. ACCESSIBILITY/AVAILABILITY. I'm talking about long-term success. This idea might sound unpopular also, but maybe the clubs could offer FREE lessons to young kids or beginner players. Go out there to parks or public schools or shopping malls and give out promotion flyers and put ads inviting non-badminton people/kids to come along and play for free. Include FREE lessons also for Beginners. Once they're familiar with it, then they'll be more advance/intermediate and if they want to become members, then they can be charge membership fee and so forth. Because if you guys think about it, there are soccer, basketball, baseball and other sports to compete with. You have public parks all over the place having free open courts for people to play for FREE as recreational activities.

Anyway, those are just my ideas..


unless you've been in hiding, you should know that soon the SF Bay Area will have 4 large dedicated badminton clubs, they are, in opening order:

Bintang Badminton Academy in Sunnyvale
United Badminton Club in Fremont
Golden Gate Badminton Club in Menlo Park
Smash City Badminton Club in Milpitas

each of them provides at least 8 badminton courts along with training classes.

while having these clubs are good for us badminton players, we cannot help to wonder if there are too many of them. Bintang was the first, the owner Phu has the vision and went into action nearly 2 years ago with a small 3 courts facility in Mountain View, and later moved to a 11 courts facility in Sunnyvale. Bintang then has became the place to go with fully packed gym almost every day of the week.

however, after UBC opened in April, i have been to Bintang in a couple of occasions and i must say that the number of players in Bintang has decreased noticably. there are now court openings in a week day night or a weekend day time, something that was unheard of before in Bintang.

the trend is not very promising as two more clubs are scheduled to be opening in the coming months which will surely dilute the number of attendees in all the clubs further.

as a badminton player, we of course like to see more badminton clubs, and of course none of us wants any of these clubs to go into financial problem due to poor attendance.

what do you think we can do to help out these clubs? certainly we can go play there to play more, a category in which i am guilty of recently. but what else can we do?

the cruel fact is simply this, and i think many will agree: there simply isn't enough badminton players in the bay area right now to support 4 large clubs.

i know owners of those clubs also frequent this forum, it will be interesting to hear what they have to say about this issue. it is something that i am sure they are aware of and will certainly have a close interests in.

having posed the question, here is something i think can help solve the problem:

what i would like to see is the cooperation between clubs. in Europe, there are many more clubs within a much smaller population area. there are healthy competition between these clubs and they all managed to survive well.

things that i can see can be done:


competition on court - setup intraclub league. each club have coaches and teams. i know Bintang has a team, and UBC also has a team. i am pretty sure SmashCity will have one and GGBC may also as well. club owners can cooperate with each other to set up a league each year. i know 4 is a small number for a league, with home and away game, 6 weekends will exhaust all combinations for league match up. but if we ranked the team and then set up semi and finals (like the Sudirman cup), we can extend the matches to 8 or 9 weekends. which is a decent length for a league.
to further the idea, more teams can be added to the system, have more types of league, junior+senior, and then add more teams, outsiders will certainly happy to see teams.
badminton promotion - having clubs work together to promote badminton. if clubs only promote themselves, they are bearing the promotion cost alone, with limited funding, there is only so much they can do. if 4 clubs comes together to promote badminton, much more can be done with the combined funding. maybe a TV commercial in the local channel? there are channels (KTSF comes to mind) who are geared toward the Asian population, in which most of the badminton players are. and nothing stops them from advertising in the more general TV stations either (though i think KTSF probably cheaper)
anything else? i think all the owners of the club are doing it because they love the sport of badminton (i cannot imagine otherwise) and all can help further their love of the game by working together.

[Totoro800OF]

I agree with ctjcad. I have been trying to figure out long ago why Badminton is not popular in the US. I believe it is money. First the sport is expensive for the "normal" people. A feather shuttle is $1 and last you half a game. Then there is the cost of the playing field, at least $3 on average. Compare to Tennis, this is expensive. A tennis ball last forever in comparison to a shuttle. Free tennis fields are everywhere. Then there is the good money in the Tennis tournaments.

I think Bintang is doing the right thing to promote the sport. Get the entry fee of the place to be cheap, so more entry level player will start playing. Also, with the recent FREE training for kids is a great idea. Maybe even a free/or cheap entry level Badminton clinic for adult. In order to feed all these new clubs, we need new blood. However, charging sky high for the sport will not draw new blood.

I admire all these people that have the courage and the love of Badminton to spend time and money to open these new facilities. However, I hope they do more to promote the sport by attracting more players to sustain their operations. It will be sad to see these clubs go away in a few years because of lack of money.

For now, UBC and Bintang are okay. I see UBC as a higher class facility where people who want better floor and cleaner surrounding will go. Bintang is a better place for beginner because Bintang charge a lower fee.

GG is going to be another high class facility with fee equal or higher than UBC. Smash city is unknown for now, but it's location is too close to UBC and Bintang. It's dilution affect is worrisome.

I just pray to the Badminton god that they can all survive.



Allow me to put my 2 cents in on this..
Personally I feel you guys up north are very, VERY, lucky to have 4 full-time, dedicated badminton clubs within proximities of each other..In comparison to the badminton clubs down here in L.A., where we *only* have 3 full-time dedicated clubs-SGVBC and OCBC and MBBC(which is private)..Add to that the 3 new clubs up north in the bay area are BRAND NEW...

I kind of agree with Kwun's ideas to a certain extent, but let me add my suggestions. Looking at those 4 clubs and the proximity of them all, I have just 2 ideas, this is just for "long term" purposes:

1. PRICE. Make it affordable and reasonable and people will come. Don't make it so "high-end" that regular people who doesn't know anything about the sport will find it "unfriendly" to play in. For intents and purposes, I know these clubs have quite an expensive operational costs. What I would do, which unfortunately might not be popular, is somewhat similar to what Kwun suggested. Have all clubs be a semi-joint venture. Since the market up there is scarce but growing itself, maybe they could join and promote the sports itself first and foremost. How? instead of individual clubs' profit, the way to do it is to make the price reasonable AND attractive. Say, 4x a month, there could be promotional FREE nights. There's another club in OCBC, but the fee to play there is very expensive, thus the club is not as popular to play for the public as SGVBC. The key is, you have to put people in there to play, as the goal should be to popularize badminton as much as possible.

2. ACCESSIBILITY/AVAILABILITY. I'm talking about long-term success. This idea might sound unpopular also, but maybe the clubs could offer FREE lessons to young kids or beginner players. Go out there to parks or public schools or shopping malls and give out promotion flyers and put ads inviting non-badminton people/kids to come along and play for free. Include FREE lessons also for Beginners. Once they're familiar with it, then they'll be more advance/intermediate and if they want to become members, then they can be charge membership fee and so forth. Because if you guys think about it, there are soccer, basketball, baseball and other sports to compete with. You have public parks all over the place having free open courts for people to play for FREE as recreational activities.

Anyway, those are just my ideas..

[Qidong]

Another suggestion is to talk to companies in the bay area and help set up inter-company badminton league. Like my company, I play in a inter-company tennis league which is held in a country club. Each team needs to play for $800 per season, but it's paid by the company. The coordinator from time to time will boardcast message to the whole company to recruit players. There are a lot of people in my company who like to badminton but don't know about these 4 clubs. The inter-company badminton league will help advertise the sport within the company.

[HoustonRockets]

Demand cause supply
I hope we have a few more in southern california

[pelegri]

We need to get more kids to play the sport, including kids from families without a badminton culture. Starting from middle school, not waiting to high school. I think we could make that happen with a combination of exhibition games at school, training for school coaches during the summer, and some sort of league between the different gyms.

The World Championship in Anaheim is a great opportunity to get this started.

Badminton is a great sport for kids; very easy to pick-up, but very challenging to play very well. My son is a 6th grader and really loves it. Phu organized a short league for middle-schoolers at Bintang recently and my son recruited several kids from his class - they all really liked it.

I think it would be useful to set up some coordination group that includes people from the different gyms.

And yes, I'm willing to put some hours to help :-)

[MonarchPryde]

I do hope that all these badminton clubs do last forever and good luck to al lthe clubs. I think its a good idead of kwun to have club meets it makes it more competitive and makes others determine to beat the other club. Im a high school baddy person and i would go to UBC more often but the price of the entry scares me away! I think if you want to let badminton grow, you need to expose others to it. With a $7 drop in fee it scares most high schoolers away! If you think about it, most high school players (that i know) love the sport and have the desire to play to imporve their game. But (like i have said before) most of us do not work and get our money from our parents and if we did work we only get paid minium wage and thats $6.75! I believe most of us would want a gym membership but how we going to get the money to pay for it? Our money is from our parents and thats like paying for ANOTHER Cell phone bill if we get the membership. What i am trying to get through is that if you want badminton to grow, there should be some sort of middle/high school student discount, so more students can play. I think it will grow because theres at least 20+ high schools in the Bay Area and each consist of atleast 2000 students at the most part. If they fees were lower we can have much more students playing to fill up the club! But as of right now the fee is sort of high, well atleast UBC is.

[samkool]

i am a bit surprised their is no under 18 discount.

even a $2 discount, from $7 to $5, would be more than made up for on volume.

[julie]

With a $7 drop in fee it scares most high schoolers away!

To be fair, Bintang charges $5 drop-in. Better facilities, e.g. UBC or GG,
should be able to charge more, I'd think :confused: As far as student promotion
goes, they do have non-prime time that typical working class can't use,
but students (at least high school) would be able to:confused:. The best I can see is maybe they can extend this period to 6-7 pm instead of 5:00 pm.

Some random thoughts, hopefully some would be useful (a lot of good ideas had been mentioned in previous posts):

Maybe the discount package can offer more flexibility. That's instead of a monthly pass, how about a pass that offer N number of entries over a longer period. This gives people more leeway, and could encourage more "attendance".
I like UBC's Saturday short-term clinics. Not everyone wants to be the next Chen Hong, or make it into National Team. This encourages people to make gradual incremental improvements to their games (the parts that interested them the most). This also develops a new revenue stream for the club.
Try to round up players from the smaller facilities or multi-purpose gymns. There're only so many players around, at least in the short term. The multi-purpose gymns presumably can convert those badminton times to other sports. What else can you do in a badminton gymn other than badminton?
Help players find partners. Don't know how many people decide not to go because they are afraid no one wants to pair up with him/her. How about assigning dedicated court(s) for Mixed Doubles only. This's only an extension of the Singles only courts. And some people might like to play Mixed Doubles and need to use the partner finding program?
Provide special services to schools, e.g. subcontract out coaches to coach school programs.
To follow up one idea before - contact companies to setup company sponsored memberships.
Develop the under-served kids market. Parents will send their kids (3-6 years old) to learn gymnastics, karate, pianos. What about badminton? Can sensible/fun programs be derived to give these kids orientation, a head start so to speak? Perhaps focus on footworks to begin with.
League play is a good idea. How about a Thomas/Uber cup like idea? Club can do internal selection and then send their best team to compete with other clubs for the ultimate glory - a cup. But I think the fee charged in some club (at least for member) seems a bit high?
Hope they won't enage in any price war; it could be a downward spiral.

[TrunkZ69]

I think the fee is resonable.... i mean most parents are just being cheap when they won't pay for a gym membership. Many parents spend thousands of dollars for their children to pay other sports. I don't think their is a problem on filling up gyms though because... just seeing say about 10 different students from 2-3 HS in a gym at once fills the gym up very quickly. I was at UBC the other night and it was packed... just because about 10-15 kids from a few different HS came. Their will only be so many adults playing at one time, but their is always a huge HS badminton population hiding, mainyl because of lack of knowledge of open gyms or just not that drive to play more. Once they start getting dragged on by their friends, im sure they'll be hook and go more often. I think the 4 gyms will fill out nicely. BTW i heard from a few different people that GGBC is going for more lessons than open gym, any conformation on this? Very possible because they are suppose to have a nice flooring system, and open gym players tend to be the roughest on the floor due to many beginners sneaking in with shoes that don't belong...

[Qidong]

Our money is from our parents and thats like paying for ANOTHER Cell phone bill if we get the membership.

As a father myself, I don't have problem paying my daughter's badminton membership. But I will hestitate to give her a cell phone which I think is a luxury. :)

[ctjcad]

Hmm, this post 'adds' more to my opinions above...Basically as you noted, price is one issue and the other is 'lack of knowledge of open gyms'..The thing is, badminton is not a "popular/mainstream" sport in the U.S...Then imagine badminton, a not-so-popular sport, charging entrance fee and so forth and there are membership fees etc....
In comparison, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, even volleyball and swimming have much more followers than badminton-what makes some of them even more "attractive" is the public parks around the cities/communities provide those avenues and 'accessibility/availability' for FREE...

Now, as a non-badminton person who doesn't know much about the sports at all, how can he/she be interested(long-term) and enjoy the game(long-term) realizing that he/she *'must* pay beforehand to play or learn whilst he/she can enjoy other sport/recreational activities for FREE or even less cost...
But it's true, I agree that it must start from schools earlier on, teach the young ones about the sport...Even junior colleges is still OK as they can instill and start their own program..

adding more of my 2 cents..:).


I think the fee is resonable.... i mean most parents are just being cheap when they won't pay for a gym membership. Many parents spend thousands of dollars for their children to pay other sports. I don't think their is a problem on filling up gyms though because... just seeing say about 10 different students from 2-3 HS in a gym at once fills the gym up very quickly. I was at UBC the other night and it was packed... just because about 10-15 kids from a few different HS came. Their will only be so many adults playing at one time, but their is always a huge HS badminton population hiding, mainyl because of lack of knowledge of open gyms or just not that drive to play more. Once they start getting dragged on by their friends, im sure they'll be hook and go more often. I think the 4 gyms will fill out nicely. BTW i heard from a few different people that GGBC is going for more lessons than open gym, any conformation on this? Very possible because they are suppose to have a nice flooring system, and open gym players tend to be the roughest on the floor due to many beginners sneaking in with shoes that don't belong...

[Totoro800OF]

Julie has very good points maybe later Kwun should compile a list of all the suggestions and pass it out to the various gyms founders. A minor adjustment regarding the non-prime time is the current non-prime time is from 10-3PM which is NOT for student while they are in school. This time slot is more for working people sneaking out from work:) A better time for student is immediately after school, say from 3-6PM.



To be fair, Bintang charges $5 drop-in. Better facilities, e.g. UBC or GG,
should be able to charge more, I'd think :confused: As far as student promotion
goes, they do have non-prime time that typical working class can't use,
but students (at least high school) would be able to:confused:. The best I can see is maybe they can extend this period to 6-7 pm instead of 5:00 pm.

Some random thoughts, hopefully some would be useful (a lot of good ideas had been mentioned in previous posts):

Maybe the discount package can offer more flexibility. That's instead of a monthly pass, how about a pass that offer N number of entries over a longer period. This gives people more leeway, and could encourage more "attendance".
I like UBC's Saturday short-term clinics. Not everyone wants to be the next Chen Hong, or make it into National Team. This encourages people to make gradual incremental improvements to their games (the parts that interested them the most). This also develops a new revenue stream for the club.
Try to round up players from the smaller facilities or multi-purpose gymns. There're only so many players around, at least in the short term. The multi-purpose gymns presumably can convert those badminton times to other sports. What else can you do in a badminton gymn other than badminton?
Help players find partners. Don't know how many people decide not to go because they are afraid no one wants to pair up with him/her. How about assigning dedicated court(s) for Mixed Doubles only. This's only an extension of the Singles only courts. And some people might like to play Mixed Doubles and need to use the partner finding program?
Provide special services to schools, e.g. subcontract out coaches to coach school programs.
To follow up one idea before - contact companies to setup company sponsored memberships.
Develop the under-served kids market. Parents will send their kids (3-6 years old) to learn gymnastics, karate, pianos. What about badminton? Can sensible/fun programs be derived to give these kids orientation, a head start so to speak? Perhaps focus on footworks to begin with.
League play is a good idea. How about a Thomas/Uber cup like idea? Club can do internal selection and then send their best team to compete with other clubs for the ultimate glory - a cup. But I think the fee charged in some club (at least for member) seems a bit high?
Hope they won't enage in any price war; it could be a downward spiral.

[wooden_racket]

The new gyms opening is definitely going to cause some unrest for the existing gyms. People always want to try out the "new", "much talked about" things. However, when the dust settles, people will trickle back to wherever they feel the most comfortable, and in the case of badminton, wherever they have the most fun. I have been to all the gyms and talked to many of the people who play there, and it seems that each gym draws a different crowd. (Of course there will always be those who hop around and play wherever they feel like playing.)

But just doing some quick math, UBC has 9 courts (2 of which they reserve for training up until 7:30 and 2 which are for singles). In that case, it takes 4 + 20 = 24 people to fill up their courts and make their gym look full. On the other hand, BBA has 11 courts (1 of which is for singles), so it takes 2 + 40 = 42 people to fill up their courts and make their gym look full. That is almost double the number of people! In that perspective, UBC can look a lot more crowded, but in reality, have only the same if not less people attending.

I was just at Bintang last night and it was pretty packed. All the courts were full and the waiting areas were almost full as well. I saw a lot of new faces and people whom I've never seen before (at any of the gyms). It's a sign that more people are picking up the sport and that's a great thing. I spoke with Phu briefly and he mentioned that there has been a lot of new players showing up. With even more gyms opening up within the next few months, it will take everyone more work to uncover new players and create the demand. It will be interesting to sit back a year from now and see what has become of badminton in the Bay Area.

[dzz12345]

Can someone leave the address to the above mentioned clubs here? New to this forum and am looking for a place to play.

[krantikt]

Go to forums->places to play->usa west

and you will see sticky notes for each fo the four clubs mentioned.



Can someone leave the address to the above mentioned clubs here? New to this forum and am looking for a place to play.

[kwun]

The new gyms opening is definitely going to cause some unrest for the existing gyms. People always want to try out the "new", "much talked about" things. However, when the dust settles, people will trickle back to wherever they feel the most comfortable, and in the case of badminton, wherever they have the most fun. I have been to all the gyms and talked to many of the people who play there, and it seems that each gym draws a different crowd. (Of course there will always be those who hop around and play wherever they feel like playing.)

But just doing some quick math, UBC has 9 courts (2 of which they reserve for training up until 7:30 and 2 which are for singles). In that case, it takes 4 + 20 = 24 people to fill up their courts and make their gym look full. On the other hand, BBA has 11 courts (1 of which is for singles), so it takes 2 + 40 = 42 people to fill up their courts and make their gym look full. That is almost double the number of people! In that perspective, UBC can look a lot more crowded, but in reality, have only the same if not less people attending.

I was just at Bintang last night and it was pretty packed. All the courts were full and the waiting areas were almost full as well. I saw a lot of new faces and people whom I've never seen before (at any of the gyms). It's a sign that more people are picking up the sport and that's a great thing. I spoke with Phu briefly and he mentioned that there has been a lot of new players showing up. With even more gyms opening up within the next few months, it will take everyone more work to uncover new players and create the demand. It will be interesting to sit back a year from now and see what has become of badminton in the Bay Area.

wooden_racket,

i very much agree with you.

from the reaction of guys in my gang, the 3 largest concerns of gym choices seems to be location, cost and court quality. some balk at the higher offered cost of US$5+ dollars for drop-in. it is a higher cost than what most people pay now, which is US$5 (in Bintang). but to be fair, US$5-10 for a whole afternoon of entertainment is actually quite cheap when compared to others. i don't even know how much a 18-hole golf course will cost, but my guess is it will be 10x of that, and not to mention that golf offers 1% the amount of exercise when compared to badminton.

location-wise, the 4 gyms will be covering the bay-area fairly well, with GGBC covering the northern-side of the peninsula, UBC covering east bay, and then Bintang and SmashCity covering the south.

it is good to see that the pioneer Bintang is seeing a good turn out. to be honest, Phu's gym does provide a cheap and friendly entry into badminton for the casual player. the atmosphere is friendly and the owners are as well. perhaps in the future when there are more availability of courts, the casual beginners won't feel as initimidated stepping into a badminton court as they used to.

many of us have predicted and worried about the feasbility of having many more gyms, and it looks like it may be turning out fine. the starting of summer vacation for students should also provide a good strong start for the new gyms.

[Qidong]

location-wise, the 4 gyms will be covering the bay-area fairly well, with GGBC covering the northern-side of the peninsula, UBC covering east bay, and then Bintang and SmashCity covering the south.

To me, Bintang (Sunnyvale) and SmashCity (Milipitas) are still considered north because I live in South San Jose quite near Morgan Hill. I need to drive 25 miles from my house to Bintang or SmashCity. There is a community center open Friday night for badminton, but it is so crowded. I wish someone will consider open one in the south. :)

[cooler]

"If you build it, they will come." :)

It work for baseball, why not badminton ;)

[aznphi1osopher]

Judging from the tone of all the post ive read so far concerning this topic... highschool students should be a target for these clubs to maintain a steady number of people. However, there are many community colleges that has a pretty decent number of people aching to play badminton that can be reached as well. Lets face it , although there are 4 big mainstream badminton places to play , there are ALOT of little tiny places where badminton is free or even extremely cheap to play as well. I for one do thing , the price is a very important factor in all this , considering actully driving to bba,ubc etc etc... is quite a drive... (gas prices -_- ) and its rather discourging..... i for one have limited myself to going to these places to play down to once a week. Im sure if the prices were a lil cheaper , i would be there more often. Take for a exmaple UBC, if it wasnt for the $7 thing but if it was just $5 offpeak and peak... i would probably be going there alot more ... "just because" . $2 might seem really little difference, but in our minds .... sometimes $1 can be the deciding factor if we are going to do it again. And most likely people will deem the $5 a more attractiin price that might in turn make them come twice a week or something. So instead of $7 a week for one perseon, if the person comes twice at a $5 price... its $10.

[LazyBuddy]

i for one have limited myself to going to these places to play down to once a week. Im sure if the prices were a lil cheaper , i would be there more often. Take for a exmaple UBC, if it wasnt for the $7 thing but if it was just $5 offpeak and peak... i would probably be going there alot more ... "just because" . $2 might seem really little difference, but in our minds .... sometimes $1 can be the deciding factor if we are going to do it again.

No offense, but I think ur guys in west coast are well spoiled with a great facility for just $5-7 a day. ;)

On east coast (i.e. new york), us players paying $10+ - $20 per session, using just regular HS gym, with no A/C or even no heating system. Did I ever metion some clubs, we even need to tape the court in order to play? :crying:

Think about this, $2 extra, I am sure we can figure out a way to save it. Just go out for dinner 1 less time, we can easily save $15-20 at least. And this 1 dinner can just make up the difference for 7-10 sessions. :rolleyes:

[TrunkZ69]

No offense, but I think ur guys in west coast are well spoiled with a great facility for just $5-7 a day. ;)

On east coast (i.e. new york), us players paying $10+ - $20 per session, using just regular HS gym, with no A/C or even no heating system. Did I ever metion some clubs, we even need to tape the court in order to play? :crying:

Think about this, $2 extra, I am sure we can figure out a way to save it. Just go out for dinner 1 less time, we can easily save $15-20 at least. And this 1 dinner can just make up the difference for 7-10 sessions. :rolleyes:


Agreed, i find it easier to just... buy a membership at one place. Instead of $7 per day.... its like $45~ for 28 days of open gym a month ;)

[goldenbear]

I don't think we are spoiled?
It's just too bad that you have to live in a city where the cost of living is way through the roof.

That's like saying that paying $3.50 US dollars for drop in play (they provide you with shuttlecocks too.. unlimited use) is dirt cheap when that's about the standard drop-in fee in Taiwan.

WE'RE NOT SPOILED.
We're just good bargainers.

[scchang]

I think the answer depends on the living expenses. The number differs from city to city. Therefore, it might be not fair to use Taiwan as an example. How much could a salary person make for a month in Taipei or other cities? I worked with the government in Taiwan back to '96 and my compensation was about NT$40K a month. $100/$40000=1/400. Then I think that people in CA should pay $12.5 for the drop-in play (with birdies provided) if they make US$5k a month.

The drop-in fee is in a way like the shuttlecocks: you get what you pay. In So Cal, you can either pay $20 to play at OCBC or $7 for SGVBC. For Nor Cal, you can spend $5 for Bintang, $7 (later would be $10) for UBC. Anyhow, the facilities are not the same and I believe it is hard to say which one is a bargain. However, the prices are set by the owner and the market mechanism; we, the customers, barely go the chance to bargain or haggle that.

BTW, if I spend $20 to play OCBC and got a chance to have one game with Tony Gunawan or Halim Haryanto, then I would say it is a darn bargain.

-SC


I don't think we are spoiled?
It's just too bad that you have to live in a city where the cost of living is way through the roof.

That's like saying that paying $3.50 US dollars for drop in play (they provide you with shuttlecocks too.. unlimited use) is dirt cheap when that's about the standard drop-in fee in Taiwan.

WE'RE NOT SPOILED.
We're just good bargainers.

[Qidong]

I think the answer depends on the living expenses. The number differs from city to city. Therefore, it might be not fair to use Taiwan as an example. How much could a salary person make for a month in Taipei or other cities? I worked with the government in Taiwan back to '96 and my compensation was about NT$40K a month. $100/$40000=1/400. Then I think that people in CA should pay $12.5 for the drop-in play (with birdies provided) if they make US$5k a month.

Don't forget all these fed/state/social security tax, health/dental insurance premium - 5K/month ends up 2K/month net pay. So $5 is about right. :)

But one thing I like to add is that all these gym owners are not building gym for making profit. They are trying to promote the sport. If we can pay 1 or 2 dollars more, it's not much to us, but it help the gym owners a lot to continue.

[ctjcad]

true, i concur with these comments..
actually i was one of the first few posters on this thread that mentioned price as one of the key factor. however, the free price should act solely as a "promotional tool", esp. for those beginners or for those who are not familiar with the sport at all or students who are not earning incomes...plus imagine other people choosing other popular activities that can be played for a lesser cost and/or for free...

don't get me wrong, i totally agree with charging some fees to play(in regards to the maintenance and operational costs), especially to us working folks/an intermediate or advance players, but how are they going to promote the sport if not thru using "reasonable" pricing..

reality is, it's already "tough" to promote the sport here in the U.S. so the badminton clubs should do everything possible to make it popular, which i'm sure they are doing so..and i remember, there's a saying also "you have to give/sacrifice some, in order for you to get some"..

just my 2 cents..


Don't forget all these fed/state/social security tax, health/dental insurance premium - 5K/month ends up 2K/month net pay. So $5 is about right. :)

But one thing I like to add is that all these gym owners are not building gym for making profit. They are trying to promote the sport. If we can pay 1 or 2 dollars more, it's not much to us, but it help the gym owners a lot to continue.

[Han]

The pricing is very reasonable ranges from $5-$10 depending on the location of the gym and how well the gym is equipped. Golden Gate Badminton Club will be the most expensive among all with $10 entrance fee(after the pomotional period) but it's close to SF with higher rental cost and the least would be Bintang(Sunnyvale) and Smash City(Milpitas) each with $5 while United hanging in between at $7.
For those who play only once every week or less, how's the $5 vs $10 be any different and for the regulars just join the member of the club and pay for monthly fee to compensate the "high price" feeling. Only nomad player like Kwun will feel the pinch as he travel/play around, but then this VIP may be getting free entrance :-)
I think the price range is more than reasonable, we're not just spoiled by the weather but also the vast selection of badminton gyms.
CA dude, Han

[LazyBuddy]

I don't think we are spoiled?
It's just too bad that you have to live in a city where the cost of living is way through the roof.

That's like saying that paying $3.50 US dollars for drop in play (they provide you with shuttlecocks too.. unlimited use) is dirt cheap when that's about the standard drop-in fee in Taiwan.

WE'RE NOT SPOILED.
We're just good bargainers.

It's not fair to compare US with TW, as we have totally living standard between 2 regions. If a TW gym (not top lvl private club) offers US$10 just for several hrs of drop in, I doubt they can stay in business for long.

However, the living standard / salary / tax between NYC and CA is not that much, at least, not like 5:1 or worse ($25 for regular HS gym vs $5 for A/C well equiped gym). Therefore, just enjoy whatever u have here, and I will try my best to move to west coast, if i can. :D

[MidBadder]

It's not fair to compare US with TW, as we have totally living standard between 2 regions. If a TW gym (not top lvl private club) offers US$10 just for several hrs of drop in, I doubt they can stay in business for long.

However, the living standard / salary / tax between NYC and CA is not that much, at least, not like 5:1 or worse ($25 for regular HS gym vs $5 for A/C well equiped gym). Therefore, just enjoy whatever u have here, and I will try my best to move to west coast, if i can. :D

Welcome to California !!!!:cool:

[LazyBuddy]

Welcome to California !!!!:cool:

Lol... one day... one day I will be there... ;)

[Han]

We are talking about the IBF approved mat floor, I think Bay Area is the only place that has it for regular use at $5-$10 entrance fee. I don't think the national players of any nations even have chance to practice on mat floor except in real IBF tournament. What else can we ask for?

[kwun]

The pricing is very reasonable ranges from $5-$10 depending on the location of the gym and how well the gym is equipped. Golden Gate Badminton Club will be the most expensive among all with $10 entrance fee(after the pomotional period) but it's close to SF with higher rental cost and the least would be Bintang(Sunnyvale) and Smash City(Milpitas) each with $5 while United hanging in between at $7.
For those who play only once every week or less, how's the $5 vs $10 be any different and for the regulars just join the member of the club and pay for monthly fee to compensate the "high price" feeling. Only nomad player like Kwun will feel the pinch as he travel/play around, but then this VIP may be getting free entrance :-)
I think the price range is more than reasonable, we're not just spoiled by the weather but also the vast selection of badminton gyms.
CA dude, Han

i agree. where else can you get a good afternoon of activities and workout in a private and managed facility for only US$5-10 a person?

as for being nomadic, yes, the dilemma is there. my regular group of baddy friends tend to move around different gyms on different days of the week. so getting a membership in one place doesn't make a lot of sense. while it may end up with a slightly higher cost, we have the flexibility to visit all different gyms, see different people, get used to different lighting... etc. etc.

[Pete LSD]

Hey, I thought you wanted to live in Vancouver?!? :confused: :D :D


Lol... one day... one day I will be there... ;)

[harrycoomer]

Bintang Advantages
Affordable - specially for old time members.
Easy pick up games
Lots of waiting area
Manageable queuing system
Lots of waiting area
Lots of parking


UBC Advantages
Excellent Courts
Nice waiting area
water fountain!!!!
Exercise area (to be)
Excellent computerized queuing system
Relatively empty at lunch, great for drills.
Nice shower facilities
Free lockers :)
Lots of parking

GG Advantages
Excellent courts
Excellent showers

From a completely biased perspective I will simply go to the courts where my friends go. Otherwise going to the nearest court makes the most sense. If one is willing to drive, I like the bustle of Bintang. If money and driving were no object, I would go to UBC - the water fountain and the computerized queuing tips it for me.

[dummyvar]

Bintang is still very crowded on week days, which is good for the sport in general, but the quality of players is poor compared to other gyms.
Smash city has a lot of good players, and better floor, and also the system is better for now atleast, as most of the times you can play best of 3.

No body good plays singles anymore at Bintang, I remember once there used to be lot of clips on singles court. now only 1 or 2 average players play most of the time. The Bintang team players also dont show up for open gym, so the quality really low.

i dont go to ubc or ggbc that often, how is the standard there ?

[harrycoomer]

When I visited smash city, it was relatively emplty and I did not see that many good playerrs. UBC does seem to have some good players but is not that full either.

Bintang seems to be crowded during their competition. Otherwise it does not seem that crowded.

Players seem to have dispersed to the different gyms as expected. This great for playing time, but I hope the gyms make it.



Bintang is still very crowded on week days, which is good for the sport in general, but the quality of players is poor compared to other gyms.
Smash city has a lot of good players, and better floor, and also the system is better for now atleast, as most of the times you can play best of 3.

No body good plays singles anymore at Bintang, I remember once there used to be lot of clips on singles court. now only 1 or 2 average players play most of the time. The Bintang team players also dont show up for open gym, so the quality really low.

i dont go to ubc or ggbc that often, how is the standard there ?

[Joseph]

Bintang is still very crowded on week days, which is good for the sport in general, but the quality of players is poor compared to other gyms.
Smash city has a lot of good players, and better floor, and also the system is better for now atleast, as most of the times you can play best of 3.

No body good plays singles anymore at Bintang, I remember once there used to be lot of clips on singles court. now only 1 or 2 average players play most of the time. The Bintang team players also dont show up for open gym, so the quality really low.

i dont go to ubc or ggbc that often, how is the standard there ?

Are you a regular at Bintang? When do you usually go? On some days there are some pretty decent players on the singles court, but the good ones are mainly playing doubles. As far as the Bintang team players not showing up for open gym, most of them leave early around 7:30pm.

[Locomoco]

It's been said, but I really think there should be some sort of inter-club league system with multiple skill levels: A division - best players, B division - good players, C division - intermediates, D division - beginners/for fun/social (give or take a division level).

I play in a inter-bar darts league, and I know the dynamic is somewhat different because bars usually host leagues because they can guarantee a certain amount of food/drink sales during matches... this probably won't be the case in a badminton league. What it does provide is a good healthy sense of local competition and club pride. How the clubs would generate additional income from the teams would be up to them...

Teams could be structured as teams of 4 - 8 coed members to allow a certain number of singles, doubles and mixed double matches. The clubs could set aside one or two courts per division per night. Divisions could be played over different nights... A/B divisions on Tuesdays, C/D divisions on Wednesdays (or something like that).

I don't know if these ideals help at all, but I know I would welcome something like this. :D

[harrycoomer]

play against myself and come out a winner :).

I think this is a great idea. I hope the clubs do it.


It's been said, but I really think there should be some sort of inter-club league system with multiple skill levels: A division - best players, B division - good players, C division - intermediates, D division - beginners/for fun/social (give or take a division level).

I play in a inter-bar darts league, and I know the dynamic is somewhat different because bars usually host leagues because they can guarantee a certain amount of food/drink sales during matches... this probably won't be the case in a badminton league. What it does provide is a good healthy sense of local competition and club pride. How the clubs would generate additional income from the teams would be up to them...

Teams could be structured as teams of 4 - 8 coed members to allow a certain number of singles, doubles and mixed double matches. The clubs could set aside one or two courts per division per night. Divisions could be played over different nights... A/B divisions on Tuesdays, C/D divisions on Wednesdays (or something like that).

I don't know if these ideals help at all, but I know I would welcome something like this. :D

[kwun]

so now we have 5 dedicated gyms. APACS, Bintang, GGBC, SmashCity, UBC.

what are ppl's thoughts on the attendance? SmashCity is always full, GGBC is also quite full during weekdays. what about APACS? Bintang? UBC?

[drowsysmurf]

With all these gyms around, you'd think that one of them would be 24 hrs (especially on weekends) :p I would soo be there in the dead middle of the night especially on weekends (friday night, saturday night) :rolleyes:
This is why I love SGVBC, go in dead middle of the night and u still see ppl playing (sometimes for "prizes" :eek: ) hahaha...:D

[Viper2005]

You probably saw me playing the POT/side bet, 1am in the morning.:D :eek:

We're so lucky to be blessed with 24hr SGVBC.:D :D :D

Let's see if other clubs will step up and match the competition.:rolleyes:


With all these gyms around, you'd think that one of them would be 24 hrs (especially on weekends) :p I would soo be there in the dead middle of the night especially on weekends (friday night, saturday night) :rolleyes:
This is why I love SGVBC, go in dead middle of the night and u still see ppl playing (sometimes for "prizes" :eek: ) hahaha...:D

[drowsysmurf]

You probably saw me playing the POT/side bet, 1am in the morning.:D :eek:

We're so lucky to be blessed with 24hr SGVBC.:D :D :D

Let's see if other clubs will step up and match the competition.:rolleyes:

I've only been to SGVBC like 4x :eek: I just know what's going on in there cuz i have a friend down in socal that goes often. as for the bet, i've only heard it once in the 4 times i was there and yes it was later in the night :p and if i was there i wouldn't join it cuz i'll get my butt kicked :crying: poor badminton player with poor footwork...:(

[ctjcad]

...since this thread was started, plus the news of additional clubs opening up, all i've got to say is, the question in the thread's title has been answered: NorCal/SF Bay area has EXCEEDED all expectations and you guys have, literally, FILLED them all...and definitely you guys up north have surpassed us, in the SoCal area, with the no. of available badminton clubs..GREAT JOB!!;) :cool:http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[drowsysmurf]

we still need that 24 hour badminton gym in norcal tho :crying: socal surpasses in that area :mad:


...since this thread was started, plus the news of additional clubs opening up, all i've got to say is, the question in the thread's title has been answered: NorCal/SF Bay area has EXCEEDED all expectations and you guys have, literally, FILLED them all...and definitely you guys up north have surpassed us, in the SoCal area, with the no. of available badminton clubs..GREAT JOB!!;) :cool:http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[ctjcad]

we still need that 24 hour badminton gym in norcal tho :crying: socal surpasses in that area :mad:
..personally, i think having more *full-time* badminton clubs is an advantage as well, as there are more viable options for players to choose and play:cool: ..So to "combat" the lack of *full-time* badminton clubs in SoCal, i think one of the reason for the 24 hr. badminton club, in SoCal(SGVBC) is because frankly, it is one of only, 2 or 3 *full-time* badminton clubs serving the SoCal community(the other 2 clubs, i don't think they offer 24-hr service)..Even then, it can get pretty packed/booked on certain days of the week...Imagine if it doesn't open its doors for 24 hrs..:p
I'm not too sure abt the situation up in NorCal, but we do have quite a lot of public/recreational/part-time facilities/gyms which allow badminton activities..;)

[kwun]

wow, demand in the bay area must really be high coz where i live in south san francisco, somebody is also planning to open one soon. at least that's what i heard from my parents. no idea how many courts though.

wow. another one?

that's cool. when we do have 7 gyms, that will be really crazy if we can fill them all.

[kan2005]

It would be nice if there is one in the east bay tri-valley area

[monto]

wow, demand in the bay area must really be high coz where i live in south san francisco, somebody is also planning to open one soon. at least that's what i heard from my parents. no idea how many courts though.
Interesting news, can you ask them the name/location? I work in SSF, so... time to duck out during lunchtime!

[DinkAlot]

This is why I love SGVBC, go in dead middle of the night and u still see ppl playing (sometimes for "prizes" :eek: ) hahaha...:D

Yes, we at SGVBC take or "Gatorade" seriously. :p

[hybridragon]

The problem I feel is just the location of the gyms. Most gyms are situated in the southern part of the Bay area. This is out of reach for most high schoolers who live in North bay, or San Leandro/Hayward part of East bay and upward. Keep in mind, that most high schoolers don't have a mode of transportation, so it makes it hard to go to these gyms regularly. At peak hours, I don't think the gyms lack customers at all.

There's also APAC, which I haven't visited yet, so it might be a fifth potential large club in the bay area.

[felisha]

Interesting news, can you ask them the name/location? I work in SSF, so... time to duck out during lunchtime!

my parents are not sure where the location is, but they heard that one of the owners of smash city may be involved

[kwun]

my parents are not sure where the location is, but they heard that one of the owners of smash city may be involved

hm.... Wayne? any details? ;)

[smashndrop]

You all should be lucky to have so many places to play in the Bay Area. Where I am in Sacramento, so far we only have UC Davis, CSUS and Folsom Middle School.

For those of you in the Sacramento area, if you're close to Natomas, I'd like to get together to see if we can form a club in the North Natomas area. I just relocated from Boston and I sure miss the many more opportunities to play back in Boston.

[kwun]

so here are all the existing and confirmed futured gyms in the bay area visualized in a map.

[Pete LSD]

I have a feeling more badminton facility will come online possibility to fill the gaps.

[DinkAlot]

so here are all the existing and confirmed futured gyms in the bay area visualized in a map.

That's nice, that's quite a few clubs. Are any of them 24 hours or proposing to be?

[DinkAlot]

I have a feeling more badminton facility will come online possibility to fill the gaps.

Your post made no sense. Stayed up late stringing rackets? :p

[drowsysmurf]

i think he meant north bay gaps... cuz most of these gyms are in south bay and ppl have to travel like 1 hr to get to them sometimes.

[kwun]

i think he meant north bay gaps... cuz most of these gyms are in south bay and ppl have to travel like 1 hr to get to them sometimes.
yeah. the north bay has a lot of gaps. ideally, any new gyms should be opened in these areas:

- Oakland/Berkeley/San Leandro (along northern part of I-880)
- south San Jose, Cupertino, Campbell (south I-85/I-280 corridor)
- Pleasanton / Livermore / Dublin (along I-680 corridor)

i didn't list SF as i don't think it will be cost and space effective there.

[Pete LSD]

Yeah, you read my mind :D. Been staying up late . . . but not stringing.


i think he meant north bay gaps... cuz most of these gyms are in south bay and ppl have to travel like 1 hr to get to them sometimes.

[Pete LSD]

Give the stressed out guy a break :p :D!


Your post made no sense. Stayed up late stringing rackets? :p

[Loh]

Kwun,

Thanks for showing the map. At least now we, in this part of Asia, know where San Jose and Santa Clara, where you reside are. Can't help noticing the famous Silicon Valley where Palo Alto is located. Sounds like a lot of Spanish names. Is there any Spanish connection in the history of this area?

How long will it take to drive from your place to San Fransico up north? This must be the "Gold Mountain" that attracted lots of Chinese? Do the Chinese still have a sizeable community in SF?

Interestingly, San Franscico Bay looks like the map of peninsula Malaysia. If many Malaysians are thus attracted, the badminton prowess around this place must be quite formidable!

[Pete LSD]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_francisco

[Loh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_francisco

Thank you for referring me to much more interesting information on SF. Some of the names of tourist attractions came back to mind. It was many years ago that I last visited around the mid-80's. Then the internet was not available for us to find out more before we visit.

Interesting to note that the Chinese first went to SF as railroad workers.

[Qidong]

....
- south San Jose ....



100% agreed. I need to drive more than 1/2 hour just to play badminton in Bintang or Smash City. :)

Hope one of these badminton owners read your post.

[SystemicAnomaly]

Kwun,

Thanks for showing the map. At least now we, in this part of Asia, know where San Jose and Santa Clara, where you reside are. Can't help noticing the famous Silicon Valley where Palo Alto is located. Sounds like a lot of Spanish names. Is there any Spanish connection in the history of this area?

How long will it take to drive from your place to San Fransico up north? This must be the "Gold Mountain" that attracted lots of Chinese? Do the Chinese still have a sizeable community in SF? ...

Actually, Palo Alto is only a small part of Silicon Valley. SV consists of the South Bay (San Jose, Santa Clara, etc), part of the SF Peninsula (Palo Alto & adjacent communities), and parts of the East Bay (Fremont & adjacent). The center of Silicon Valley is pretty much the northern parts of Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, & Mountain View.

Yes, (Alta) California was settled by the Spanish in the 1700s and was part of Mexico for quite a while. Many of the cities with Spanish names were originally towns that grew up around the multitude of church missions set up by Spanish (Catholic) missionaries. Calif was later annexed by the US in the mid-19th century.

Chinatown in SF is one of the largest in North America. Cupertino (Apple HQ) and adjacent communities have become predominantly Chinese in the past 2 decades or so.

Drive time from Santa Clara to SF is about 45 minutes (or much quicker if you don't get caught speeding on Hwy 280).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_Valley
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silicon_valley)
SF Chinatown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinatown%2C_San_Francisco%2C_California)
.

[SystemicAnomaly]

so now we have 5 dedicated gyms. APACS, Bintang, GGBC, SmashCity, UBC.

what are ppl's thoughts on the attendance? SmashCity is always full, GGBC is also quite full during weekdays. what about APACS? Bintang? UBC?

Bintang isn't usually very crowded on Mon nites & I've heard that Tues nights ain't too bad either. On Wed nites, it gets a bit crowed from 7 til 9pm but quite often we can play past 11pm.

I've heard that quite a lot of high level players play at Smash City on Thurs nights but, alas, that is one of my tennis nights.

[kwun]

yes. there are quite a few good players on Thursday nights in SmashCity.

it looks like Monday is universally a low traffic day on most gyms.

[Viper2005]

Kwun....time to change the title of this thread to 6 large clubs in the SF area....:D:D:D

By next year, it may be 7.....more news to come.:D

[badpanda]

7? where is the 7th gym????? Berkeley, Oakland or in between.

[greatwall]

It sounds like Viper have some information for any new gym, can you please share with all the badminton fans? I am new in bay area, nice to see so many place to play...:D:D:D

[greatwall]

I only been here for a few months, I saw APAC open and only few months later Ben Lee announce that Bay Badminton Center is opening soon and feature 40000 sf, this sound like a mega center. This is a good news to me, in the past few months I've been playing in Chinatown on thursday night, there is not easy to find parking, I hope Burlingame is easier to find parking.

[Ben Lee]

Hello All,

Yes, Bay Badminton Center will be open soon and easily accessible from the San Francisco area. I used to play in Chinatown and the Sunset gym myself. Now, we can provide a world class gym to everyone around the Bay Area. With 16 courts and a state of the art cueing system, we hope to cater to everyone's badminton cravings. Remember, keep your eyes and ears open....BBC IS COMING!!!!!!

BBC Team

[Viper2005]

Hahaha, I do hear alot....:D:D:D
Here is my next prediction......next 2 gyms to open near Oakland and Cupertino.

Let's hope there are enough badminton members to go around all these wonderful gyms.:)


It sounds like Viper have some information for any new gym, can you please share with all the badminton fans? I am new in bay area, nice to see so many place to play...:D:D:D

[azabaz_ipoh]

wow!!! badminton is rocking in san francisco! i am happy. i want badminton to be the game everybody can and want to play. i hope the US will be future contender in the pro league. start em young people say, and it seems you guys are on the right track. :D

[badpanda]

Hum... I am glad to heard BBC is opening soon cuz i am only few miles away from there.

but, i hope this will not be another gym that fill with stuck-up "A" players hugging the courts, stinky "D" players sitting in the court, "spoiled" elite team only trains during busy hours and most of all i am "stupid" enough paid and just watching.

[shreky]

are you guys opening a branch in New Jersey? :D:D:D

[shreky]

That's nice, that's quite a few clubs. Are any of them 24 hours or proposing to be?


24/7??? You're probably from SGVBC .... :D:D:D

[greatwall]

Woh! That's another good news, thinking about paying extra $4 for toll plus gas... Ah! Let me think about it...

[DinkAlot]

24/7??? You're probably from SGVBC .... :D:D:D

What would make you think that? ;):p

[Pete LSD]

Hey, what about VRC?!? :p


24/7??? You're probably from SGVBC .... :D:D:D

[Viper2005]

hahaha.....G2 is coming soon....:cool:

Badpanda, which gym(s) are you referring to?

[shreky]

Hey, what about VRC?!? :p

opps sorry .... didn't know .... only been to VC once (when i was on my way to whistler for some snow fun) ..... now i know :cool:

[drowsysmurf]

Hum... I am glad to heard BBC is opening soon cuz i am only few miles away from there.

but, i hope this will not be another gym that fill with stuck-up "A" players hugging the courts, stinky "D" players sitting in the court, "spoiled" elite team only trains during busy hours and most of all i am "stupid" enough paid and just watching.

hey... someone asks which gym ur referring to... i can only guess 2 gyms from the following list:
1)APAC
2)Bintang
3)GGBC
4)Smash City
5)UBC

only few gyms that would qualify for the description is Smash City and UBC. APAC is pretty new and does not have a lot of training there. most players at APAC are of lower level and hard to find much A players there. Bintang as a lot of average players from D to B and no real A players. The overall group is also pretty friendly. GGBC caters to the richer group, so there usually aren't stinky "D" players and i think the training hours aren't particularly during open gym times. Smash City seems to hit all of the mentioned descriptions as they are mostly A and Bs players or beginning players. High D and Cs players make up an extremely small percentage at this gym. UBC is also highly training oriented and their students don't really play with drop-ins and also they dedicate like 8 courts to training even during open gym hours sometimes. Their gym A players are pretty much the student and a few non students. Also UBC is so out there in the middle of nowhere that i doubt stinky "D" players bother driving that far to play when APAC and Smash City are prolly closer to where they are =P there, u have a break down :p but this breakdown is not to say that there isn't nice people at smash city... itz just harder to find sometimes with so many people going in groups. breaking into groups are hard.

[shreky]

maybe the BWF should take a look at what's happening in the Bay Area and should consider having the Super Series Finals here in America. It might even be better than the 2005 WC in Anaheim. I can't believe they haven't announced where the super series finals would be though.

[kwun]

GGBC2 discussion moved here:

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45127

BBC discussion moved here:

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44960

[B3nny H4nn4]

Badpanda, can you please shed some light on what grounds you can assume that the WHOLE elite team (of the gym i think you are referring to) is spoiled...because you specifically said "team" which constitutes the fact that you are referring to the whole team. I personally know (and have trained with) many team members from the major gyms that the guy above me listed and most of them are training because it is their passion . Some of them even find a jobs to make money so that they can pay for training (I myself included) either because their family is too poor to afford the training or whatever reason. Therefor you have no right to say that a WHOLE elite team is spoiled. Second, many kids in general are spoiled these days anyways, the are FREAKING KID deal with it! EVERY Single gym has spoiled kids! badminton or not

My point is NOT to attack you BUT to show you that you CANNOT use your reasons to degrade and in this case attack the reputation of a gym whom is loved by many people and it is a place where many players go to play every day. I understand that this is your opinion, but I am here to give you my opinions as well.

Thank you




Hum... I am glad to heard BBC is opening soon cuz i am only few miles away from there.

but, i hope this will not be another gym that fill with stuck-up "A" players hugging the courts, stinky "D" players sitting in the court, "spoiled" elite team only trains during busy hours and most of all i am "stupid" enough paid and just watching.

[drowsysmurf]

i think he meant to say that no one plays with him because of his skill level. (that sense of spoilt) i don't think he means that they don't work to pay their own passion.

[bintangclub]

Hahaha, I do hear alot....:D:D:D
Here is my next prediction......next 2 gyms to open near Oakland and Cupertino.

Let's hope there are enough badminton members to go around all these wonderful gyms.:)

Yes, you were almost right! Bintang Badminton is opening up its second facility in Campbell, CA, in November 2007! That should be very close for all Cupertino and West/South San Jose badminton enthusiasts. :D

[ctjcad]

Yes, you were almost right! Bintang Badminton is opening up its second facility in Campbell, CA, in November 2007! That should be very close for all Cupertino and West/South San Jose badminton enthusiasts. :D
..congrats again!!..:):cool:
O.T.:Btw, how's everyone doing today up in NorCal??..I heard there was a minor quake early this morning up in the Bay Area...kwun, you guys alright??..:confused:

[jdileo]

Yes, you were almost right! Bintang Badminton is opening up its second facility in Campbell, CA, in November 2007! That should be very close for all Cupertino and West/South San Jose badminton enthusiasts. :D

WOW, that is exciting! Where exactly is it in Campbell? Hoping to bike over...:D

[kwun]

..congrats again!!..:):cool:
O.T.:Btw, how's everyone doing today up in NorCal??..I heard there was a minor quake early this morning up in the Bay Area...kwun, you guys alright??..:confused:

quake? i slept through the whole thing!

[ctjcad]

quake? i slept through the whole thing!
:)..glad you slept through it....:p:)

Hmm, with so much news on new badminton clubs sprouting up all over Northern California, i'm now left to wonder:
What is the key for all of this sudden boom?? Is it because of available lands? Is it because of demands? Is it because of logistics(close proximities of cities/areas)? Or is it because there are more "well-funded" badminton folks up north??..:confused::p

[samtruong200]

oh man so is it like 7 places to play now? we still need one in hayward area!!!

[drowsysmurf]

wow. another one?

that's cool. when we do have 7 gyms, that will be really crazy if we can fill them all.

kwun... i think the craziness gonna begin soon?
APAC (east bay, union city)
Bay Badminton (upper west bay, s. san francisco area)
Bintang (south bay, sunnyvale)
GGBC (lower west bay, menlo park)
GGBC2 (upper east bay, emeryville)
Smash City (lower east bay, milpitas)
UBC (mid to lower east bay, fremont)
*anything past bridge, i dun consider bay...(less ppl from around there)
...that's 7...

[bintangclub]

WOW, that is exciting! Where exactly is it in Campbell? Hoping to bike over...:D

It is right off of HWY-17, on Hamilton Avenue.

[kwun]

here is the current map. pretty good coverage now.

[kwun]

kwun... i think the craziness gonna begin soon?
APAC (east bay, union city)
Bay Badminton (upper west bay, s. san francisco area)
Bintang (south bay, sunnyvale)
GGBC (lower west bay, menlo park)
GGBC2 (upper east bay, emeryville)
Smash City (lower east bay, milpitas)
UBC (mid to lower east bay, fremont)
*anything past bridge, i dun consider bay...(less ppl from around there)
...that's 7...

you missed bintang2, which just got announced.

[drowsysmurf]

wow... opens in november... i live right between bintang and bintangII -_-;;; they couldn't open it closer to me? =P

[Dummey]

I want one in San Leandro =D

[Qidong]

wow... opens in november... i live right between bintang and bintangII -_-;;; they couldn't open it closer to me? =P

It's only 20 minutes from bintang1 to bintang2. That means it's only 10 minutes for you to go to either one. You are asking for too much. :rolleyes::cool::D:p:o:(;)

[kwun]

It's only 20 minutes from bintang1 to bintang2. That means it's only 10 minutes for you to go to either one. You are asking for too much. :rolleyes::cool::D:p:o:(;)

totally agree. i used to travel 30+mins to go to badminton. i can't believe ppl are complaining about 10-15 mins... ;)

[shreky]

30 minutes??? i travel 60 minutes to play badminton .... 90 minutes if i take the train ... :( .... someone told me before that some even travel 2 hrs just to play badminton. i believe they guy works in a farm in cali and obviously there is no badminton in their area ....

[remix441]

Out of the clubs in the bay area which one do you guys think has the best badminton training program. Which ones helped you improved the best, and helpful. SmashCity, BinTang, UBC.

[illusionistpro]

i travel 25-30 min to play when im up north and almost 45 min when im down south. a socal car trip can EASILY take 2x as long so 1:30 -2 hrs to play, good thing sgvbc is 24 hrs :p cant wait til bbc opens up :D

[remix441]

I've recently paid a visit to all 3 gyms in the Bay area. SmashCity, BinTang, UBC. All 3 gyms were pretty good.

Bintang i liked the computerized system that they had, it made it easy to play some court games especially the singles court/doubles. It had a great atmosphere the pepople there were friendly, but the thigns i didnt really like was the ceiling was a bit low, everytime i would try to hit a clear it would hit one of those post in the cieling. But thats no big deal, it would be great if there were water fountains there. I loved the mats there were not too soft nor too hard. Overall an enjoyable place and feel for badminton.

SmashCity i feel is a very-large place. They put the courts so that there is alot of room in between, so poeple can watch or walk around without any nuiscanes. I like it because it is very big and spread out. It has out of the 3 gyms a larger variety of badminton gear, and items. I like the fact that it has water foutains, but it seems there were no queing system for court games. It was more like first-come first serve. Whenver i go there, people just hop on courts and play and until their tierd they leave. However great place

UBC is a godo place in a desolate area. It looks great on the outside, the ocurts are nice but i find them a bit too soft. I liked the computerized system on BinTang more becasue it was easier to use. The UBC computerized system felt a bit complicated. But still it was nice that it was there. It was easy to find pick up games there. Great place but need more courts

Out of the 3 i think i SmashCity becuase of the spacious areas. However i like BinTangs system of court games. In SmashCity i find it hard to find a partner to play, becuase most people have their partners and want to play with themselves. Overall great experience

[shreky]

remix ... have you tried Golden Gate Badminton (GGBC)? they have good floors like Bintang but better lighting (in my opinion).

i agree the UBC courts are too soft. someone i played with in cali told me that they have carpet underneat the floors and that is good for training purposes (i think it makes you work harder because the mat kinda slows you down - not really sure).

layout wise, smash city is the best. but the floors are too hard. lighting is great as well.

i believe there is a water fountain in Bintang (i think it is near court 11). i always bring my own drink so i don't pay much attention to them.

but hold on, 3 more gyms are on the way. BBC and GGBC2 are opening soon. Bintang2 will be in November .... 3 more reasons to move to cali :D

[shreky]

i travel 25-30 min to play when im up north and almost 45 min when im down south. a socal car trip can EASILY take 2x as long so 1:30 -2 hrs to play, good thing sgvbc is 24 hrs :p cant wait til bbc opens up :D


traffic in socal is crazy .... i thought NY/NJ area was bad until i hit socal

[remix441]

nope, i havent tried GGBC, yea SmashCity layout wize is the best everything is spaced out the only thing is just courts are hard. I heard it is layed on top of concrete. It feels someowhat like concrete. But Bintang is better if you dont got a partner becuase u can just play on the singles court and things. Anyone feel that SmashCity doesnt have a queing system it is just who jumps on a court first?

[shreky]

i forgot the Apac gym .... i haven't been here but the pictures look nice .... i'll try this place soon

http://www.apacsports.com/home/

[remix441]

the layout of apac kind of reminds of bintang, but more spacious

[skunklover]

i personally prefer UBC, i just show up, and i will always see sumone from my HS there at some time during my visit, and i usually spend like 10AM to 5PM, stop only for lunch

[hybridragon]

My two favorites are APAC and GGBC at the moment. I've been to Smash City and it looks nice but I haven't played in it, so I can't judge it at the moment.

APAC is good for me mainly because it is convienent to get to for me and the floors are not bad. The lighting is also decent (I've played in almost every kind of lighting, so I'm okay with almost anything), and it's quite spacious. People there are also pretty friendly. Getting a court usually isn't that hard, but when it's busy, some people don't like to rotate out even when their time is up. Or they sign up for multiple courts or multiple times. I think APAC still needs to fix up its rules so that such loopholes don't exist and ensure equal playing time for everyone. But other than that problem at peak hours, I think it's a fine gym.

GGBC is pretty nice and has probably one of the better floors that I've played on. Lighting isn't also bad, and the queuing system they have ensures equality in playing time. Downsides for me is that during the day, the gym is too humid/hot, but at night it seems good enough. Another one would be that it's too far for me, but with GGBC2 opening, it'll be much closer to me.

UBC isn't bad, I like the players that goes there, but I don't like how most of the courts are taken for 'training classes' and if you don't know when they have practices, you pay to get in, and then you wait for an hour or two just to play. I also don't like their inner courts that have 'bumps' on the flooring mats.

I haven't been to Bintang, but I'm looking forward to visit it at least once despite its distance from me.

[remix441]

yea, UBC seem to have one court that has a huge buble bump.