Places to play near the US Army Yongsan Garrison

**Baddiefan** · 01-02-2012, 05:42 PM

I will be moving to South Korea in March 2012 for 3 years due to hubby being posted there and would like to find a good place to play. I am an intermediate-advance badminton player and have been playing competitively for 15 years. In most clubs, I would qualify at the A-grade ladies level. I found a club at Seoul Foreign School that appears to be around 30 minutes away from Yongsan but am not sure whether they are still playing or how good the players are. Any information would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

**event** · 01-10-2012, 08:27 PM

I guess the SFS is not a bad place to try. Very easy to get to from Yongsan. Just jump on the 110 bus and you're there. I just don't know anything about the level or whether it's still going. They used to post on various forums but I haven't seen anything recently. This link has an email address for the same contact person whose name I first saw about 10 years ago.

They only play once a week, though, so if you want a guarantee of higher frequency, and also to be sure you'll have a high level of players, you can find a Korean club. Unfortunately, Yongsan-gu has the shortest list in the city. Still, Namjeong Elementary School, just west of Samgakji Stn, has a club (#5 on the list) that plays in the evenings. #1 and #3 are both around Hyochang Park, near Soongmyeong Women's University so those 3 are all on the other side of the tracks from you but still not far. #4 is outdoor. #2 is perhaps the closest. They play at the Bosung Girls' Middle School, at the back of Haebangchon, which is north of the base and northwest of Noksapyeong Stn. All seem to play in the evenings.

Some of the bigger gyms are also accessible. The 12-court Magok badminton gym is 1km from Yangcheonhyanggyo Stn. but oops, that's 2 subway lines or more as it's on line #9. The big gym in Dongdaemoon-gu is very near Janghanpyeong Stn, which is not that close, but requires only two subway lines (#6 to #5). Both of these are referred to in this thread. Tanzent has played at the former and david14700 at the latter. I've never played anywhere in Seoul, but I've been to a tournament at the Magok Gym.

**Baddiefan** · 01-15-2012, 11:04 PM

Hi event,

Thank you very much for all the information. I just like the SFS because of ease of getting there and, hopefully, no language barrier. Plus, they had a website I could actually read without resorting needing to translate. I will try out the Koreans club in Yongsan-gu as you have suggested. Time to brush up on my Korean. I have visited Seoul before (just for a week) and taken the subway. Might try the bigger gyms once I get more confident getting around without getting lost

Thanks again for your help.

Baddiefan