Hello to all BF members, My name is Karl, and I am the organizer of the Sunday Intermediate/Advanced Badminton session at the Collingwood Neighbourhood House in Vancouver, BC (more about Collingwood later). It was WOOD_22_CHUCK (Dave), who referred me to this great site, and now here I am signing up to be a member. My History: I started playing backyard badminton as a kid, but quickly got bored of hitting it "nicely" to the other guy and had to try something different (besides, we didn’t know the rules). We decided to eliminate the net and the grass! That meant, we're playing on the street, wacking the rubber bird (yes, the outdoor supersonic tubo-charged ones) back-and-forth to the height of the streetlamps, standing 2-3 houses apart, and trying to negotiate the bird between the tall maple trees. We got so desperate to play that we even tried painting the bird neon-yellow in order to see in the dark! I don't know if we invented the first "yellow shuttle". Fast forward a bit to my first year of junior-high. I easily made it as the junior boys singles (all that street-wacking helped), but unfortunately, the coaching only went up to the basics and nothing more on strategy except "hit it where your opponent is not". I thought, that was as far as I can go and I gave up badminton to try other sports. Skip to my senior-years, I came back to badminton because there was a change in the coaching, plus my hormones noticed a few cute girls playing on the team. By the time I hit university, I had the agility and the power but needed to improve on tactics (for you younger guys, badminton babes looks even better in university!). After taking a course on badminton, I kept on playing against better players, and by osmosis, had developed the tactics I was missing. By this time, I was a “badminton junkie” and needed to play almost every day. Needing “my fix”, I had played almost every drop-in center in Vancouver, though I never liked the idea of joining a “Private Club” (big $$$). Which leads to the Sunday session at Collingwood. Years later, I was giving back to my local community by volunteering my time supervising some of Collingwood’s badminton sessions. I felt there was a need for a place where "better players” can go play, feather shuttles are provided, a fun but competitive atmosphere, and where freshmeat, (ahem) I mean, drop-ins are allowed, and it is not a “Private Club” requiring 6-figure salaries & membership fees. Thus the Sunday session was born. Quote: [So how many years wise are you guys n' gals?] Pending if it refers to 1) age of my DNA, final answer is “D” 2) years wacking the bird, final answer is “C” My Skill Level: Advanced If anybody has any questions about the Sunday session at Collingwood, feel free to send me your email. Thanks Karl COLLINGWOOD NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE 5288 Joyce St. (one block south of Joyce Street Skytrain station, or two blocks north of Kingsway) Phone: 604-435-0323 Time: Sundays 12noon to 2:30pm Cost: $5 includes feather birds Conditions: Good (building is about 8yrs old), with 4-courts, wooden floor, high ceiling, pod lighting. Last Event Held: “BREAK-MY-STRINGS” Doubles Tournament (double knockout) - Nov 16, 2003 Champions: Thinh Nguyen & Jason Ng (prize: Names on a Champion plaque, a tube of Yonex AS-50) Runners Up: Bobby Chin & Tom Nguyen (prize: a tube of Victor Gold) Door Prize Winners: Dong Jian, Wing Wong, Frieda Chong, Dave Bol Shuttles used: Sosan Black
Thanks LazyBuddy Thanks LazyBuddy! It's the love for the sport of Badminton that we all do this. Just like yourself, and all the BFers who takes their time & effort to help other players with their issues, is doing exactly what I am doing, contributing to the sport! Thanks again!