Places to play in Seattle

[jamesli]

I am looking for a place to play badminton in Seattle. Can someone who are playing badminton in Seattle tell me where I can go? Thanks!

[scchang]

information from http://www.northwestbadminton.org/washington.php

SEATTLE - I.D./CHINATOWN COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: I.D./Chinatown Community Center Address: 719 8th Ave S, Seattle WA 98104 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=719+8th+Ave+S,Seattle+WA+98104&hl=en) Schedule: Sat 9am-2pm Cost: $2 Contact: I.D./Chinatown Community Center, (206)233-0042 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/IDChinatown.htm SEATTLE - JEFFERSON COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Jefferson Community Center Address: 3801 Beacon Ave S, Seattle WA 98108 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3801+Beacon+Ave+S,Seattle+WA+98108&hl=en) Schedule: Tue 6:45-8:45pm, Thu 1-3pm & Adults 6:30-9pm Cost: $2 Contact: Jefferson Community Center, (206)684-7483 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/Jeffercc.htm

SEATTLE - MAGNUSON COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Magnuson Community Center Address: 7110 62nd Ave NE, Seattle WA 98115 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=7110+62nd+Ave+NE,Seattle+WA+98115&hl=en) Schedule: Fri 6:30-8:45pm Cost: $2 Contact: Magnuson Community Center, (206)684-7026 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/magnuson.htm

SEATTLE - MEADOWBROOK COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Meadowbrook Community Center Annex Address: 10750 30th Ave NE, Seattle WA 98125 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10750+30th+Ave+NE,Seattle+WA+98125&hl=en) Schedule: Fri & Sat 7:45-10:45 Cost: $3 Contact: Meadowbrook Community Center, (206) 684-7522 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/meadowbrookcc.htm

SEATTLE - MILLER COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Miller Community Center Address: 330 19th Ave E, Seattle WA 98112 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=330+19th+Ave+E,Seattle+WA+98112&hl=en) Schedule: Tue & Fri 6-8:45pm, Sat 7:45-10:45pm Contact: Miller Community Center, (206)684-4753 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/Centers/miller.htm

SEATTLE - RAINIER COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Rainier Community Center Address: 4600 38th Ave S, Seattle WA Schedule: Mon & Thu 7-9pm Cost: $2 Contact: Rainier Community Center, (206)386-1919 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/rainiercc.htm SEATTLE -

RAVENNA-ECKSTEIN COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center Address: 6535 Ravenna Ave NE, Seattle WA Schedule: Wed 7-8:45pm Contact: Ravenna-Eckstein Community Center, (206)684-7534 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/ravennaecksteincc.htm

SEATTLE - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON
Gym: UW IMA Address: 3924 Montlake Ave NE, Seattle WA 98195 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=3924+Montlake+Ave+NE,Seattle+WA+98195&hl=en) Cost: $7 Notes: UW student, faculty, staff, or their guests Contact: UW IMA, (206)543-4590 Website: http://depts.washington.edu/ima/IMA.ima.html

SEATTLE - WASHINGTON ATHLETIC CLUB
Gym: Washington Athletic Club Address: 1325 Sixth Ave S, Seattle WA 98101 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=1325+Sixth+Ave+S,Seattle+WA+98101&hl=en) Schedule: Tue 5:15pm Notes: You must be a member or their guest Contact: Washington Athletic Club, 206-622-7900 Website: http://www.wac.net/

SEATTLE - YESLER COMMUNITY CENTER
Gym: Yesler Community Center Address: 917 E Yesler Way, Seattle WA 98104 [map] (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=917+E+Yesler+Way,Seattle+WA+98104&hl=en) Schedule: Mon 7-8:45pm Cost: $2 Contact: Yesler Community Center, (206)386-1245 Website: http://www.cityofseattle.net/parks/centers/yeslercc.htm


I am looking for a place to play badminton in Seattle. Can someone who are playing badminton in Seattle tell me where I can go? Thanks!

[clinton]

Yes, checked the web site:

http://www.northwestbadminton.org/washington.php

Depending on where your live, there're others you can go besides the ones SC listed.

Also, check out and join the Seattle Badminton Yahoo Group which will have the
latest gym hours/closures information also.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/SeattleBadminton/

[rise888]

I just recently moved to Seattle, I play every thursday at the Renton community center, however it would be nice to have regular partners to play with! Let me know if you are interested.

[rise888]

I have not played at any other places in Seattle, could anyone give some insight on some good places to play?

[clinton]

Welcome to Seattle.

Highline High School: (mon/thurs night during school year)
Level: all skill levels
8 courts, low ceiling, not great lighting
Talk to Steve Ellis, he'll set up game for you.

North Sea-tac community center (mon/wed/thur night, Sat 12-4)
Level: all (mon/wed/thur) more advanced players on Sat
4 courts, high ceiling

St Edward (thur evening)
Level: more advanced players
4 courts, ceiling (ok, a little low), not great lighting

We're also in the process of having a dedicated fulltime badminton facility
in Bellevue area. I'll announce it later, looks like a go so far (lease should
be signed by this week).

BCD tournament is coming up in early December. As I mentioned previously,
signed up the Seattle Badminton Yahoo Group, you'll recieve the latest
badminton related news in Seattle/WA area.

[jamesli]

I just recently moved to Seattle, I play every thursday at the Renton community center, however it would be nice to have regular partners to play with! Let me know if you are interested.

I am really interested to have a regular partner to play with also, but I have no idea how to go to Renton community center and the most important thing is, I don't have a car.

[clinton]

One more:

Mercer Island (Friday evening 7:15 pm till ??? somethimes after 1 am)
3 courts, all skill levels.

[DinkAlot]

SCChang: dang Sean, are you sure you live in Irvine and not Seattle? Good info. :)

[Matt]

Does anyone know if the Bellevue - Pro Sports Club is a good place to play badminton?

Added: Those places which have Badminton on Friday, which one is considered the popular one. I never really played badminton in the Seattle area so I'm definately interested in playing tonight.

Thanks

[new2seattle]

I just recently moved to Seattle, I play every thursday at the Renton community center, however it would be nice to have regular partners to play with! Let me know if you are interested.

Hey rise888, I'm new to Seattle too and would love to get some pick-up badminton games with anyone. Let me know if you are interested.

[Matt]

question answered. nm

[rise888]

Anyone know how much membership is at Proclub bellvue? I heard the Redmond one is VERY expensive for anyone not working for microsoft.

[jamesli]

[QUOTE=rise888]Anyone know how much membership is at Proclub bellvue? I heard the Redmond one is VERY expensive for anyone not working for microsoft.[/QUOTE

I have asked them by email about this and they said that it cost about $200 to be a member for a year. It is quite expensive and therefore I will never go there to play badminton.

[rise888]

[QUOTE=rise888]Anyone know how much membership is at Proclub bellvue? I heard the Redmond one is VERY expensive for anyone not working for microsoft.[/QUOTE

I have asked them by email about this and they said that it cost about $200 to be a member for a year. It is quite expensive and therefore I will never go there to play badminton.


Is that ONLY for badminton? Or does 200$/yr include access to the other facilities?
thanks

[clinton]

The $100 to $200 (don't know the exact figure) is the annual fee for badminton
in additional to the regular membership dues (initation fee plus monthly due).
Check out their website membership info:

http://www.proclub.com/

The badminton fee does include shuttlecocks, there're 8 courts. The visibility
is not great and it's fairly crowded most of time.

[Matt]

From what I've heard, Bellevue Pro club initiation fee is like 3K what what the people at the North Sea Tac who played badminton there said.

[rise888]

yep ridiculously expensive :)

[rise888]

Welcome to Seattle.

Highline High School: (mon/thurs night during school year)
Level: all skill levels
8 courts, low ceiling, not great lighting
Talk to Steve Ellis, he'll set up game for you.

North Sea-tac community center (mon/wed/thur night, Sat 12-4)
Level: all (mon/wed/thur) more advanced players on Sat
4 courts, high ceiling

St Edward (thur evening)
Level: more advanced players
4 courts, ceiling (ok, a little low), not great lighting

We're also in the process of having a dedicated fulltime badminton facility
in Bellevue area. I'll announce it later, looks like a go so far (lease should
be signed by this week).

BCD tournament is coming up in early December. As I mentioned previously,
signed up the Seattle Badminton Yahoo Group, you'll recieve the latest
badminton related news in Seattle/WA area.

clinton, I received a PDF about the upcoming dedicated badminton gym in bellvue...however it did not mention the cost for drop-ins. How much will it cost for a drop-in?

[doodoo]

last time i heard was $10 for the whole day

[cooler]

Badminton more than just a backyard pastime

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

By RICHARD SEVEN
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWS SERVICE



By sound alone you know that this is not barbecue badminton. Clean, crisp thwacks reverberate from the five courts at the Bellevue Badminton Club, east of Seattle. Players of various skill levels abuse the featherweight shuttlecock back and forth.


Rob Hankins, a former junior champion, smashes the birdie over and over -- each the kind of rocketing smack that would send a tennis ball flying 20 feet too long. But the birdie's zoom abruptly slows just enough, and his opponents are deft enough, that nearly each one is returned and challenging in its own right.

The other courts are filled with doubles matches. Some just volley. Some work on drills. Each player, each game shows a bit of the sport's grace inside the converted Factoria warehouse. Badminton is a fast sport. You don't put in the running you do in tennis, but you get a surprising amount of legwork. In a competitive match, a player can cover more than a mile in darting, start-and-stop movements.

Good players must combine power with touch, grace with quickness, endurance with creativity. The striking motion is akin to throwing a baseball, but the sport is so quick -- some say it is a combination of tennis and karate -- that a player must alter his or her motion and intent at a moment's notice.

Geoff Stensland, a chemical engineer, began the club, which he says is the first fulltime badminton court in the Northwest. He had been able to play serious indoor badminton only when he could find a spare court off to the side of tennis courts. Still, he was ranked 12th in his classification as a 7-year-old.

He was too small to compete in sports like football and basketball, but was blessed with quick reflexes, so he stayed with it. As a teenager, after finally finding a permanent place to play, he became four-time junior singles champion. He later played at Arizona State University on one of the first collegiate badminton scholarships.

Stensland, 46, returned to Seattle in 1989 and soon began looking to start a club of his own. After several forays, he finally found a site and investors to make the club happen. He already wishes he had more courts. More than 125 participants joined a tournament hastily arranged just two days after the building opened.

Still, Stensland says above the thwacking staccato, he's happy with what he's got. "The place probably won't ever make a profit, but it will help promote the sport and give a place for people to play consistently so they can improve. The game is simple, but complex, too."

Wendy Carter, once the third-ranked female singles player in the world, says the game requires, among other traits, quickness and focus, which is why some hockey goalies play it in the off-season. One of the classic badminton drills sends a player sprinting to the net to recover a drop shot, then rush to the back line to recover a lob.

Because it requires fast, twisting movements, you should take time to warm up before going all out. Badminton, especially popular and well-played in China and Indonesia, is a stealth workout in that your focus is on the game, not on how hard your body is working. The World Badminton Association, to prove its point, compared a tennis championship match featuring Boris Becker and Kevin Curren with the World Badminton Championships of the same year. The badminton players competed for half the time, yet ran twice as far and hit nearly twice as many shots, the association claims.

In other words, you are sadly mistaken if you think this is just a backyard sport.

[clinton]

Yes, this is the club. The article is from Seattle Times about 2 Sunday ago.