Badminton boosters At 82 and 77, former Elizabethtown couple crusades to pitch badminton as a sport. By Joan Kern Lancaster New Era Published: Jan 05, 2007 2:54 PM EST LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - It’s the world’s fastest racket sport, ahead of racket ball and tennis. It’s a full medal sport at the Olympic Summer Games. According to Olympic officials, it requires “the agility of an acrobat, the killer instinct of a panther, the accuracy of a marksman, the power of a racehorse, the speed of a sprinter and the stamina of a marathon runner.” What is it? Badminton. Believed to be born in China thousands of years ago, played in “poona” matches in India and brought to England by British military officers, badminton was named after the palatial home of the Duke of Beaufort. Today, Great Britain boasts 2 million competitive players; China has 5 million registered players. Locally, Elizabethtown natives Ben and Alma Shank are poster “seniors” for badminton, which they have played for more than 20 years. “We want to show the world that it is a sport,” Mrs. Shank said, “not a wimpy backyard game.” The Shanks — Ben, 82, and Alma, 77 — have been independent residents since 1993 of the Lebanon Valley Brethren Home in Palmyra, where they are busy volunteers. The active couple devoted to the life sport formerly raised chickens on an Elizabethtown area farm. They met at a Friday night square dance at the Rheems Fire Hall. Now retired, they credit badminton with keeping them fit and giving them a healthy outlet for their frustrations, including the occasional husband-and-wife tiff. The Shanks, married 57 years, challenge all players to a game of badminton at the Elizabethtown Area Community Center, 70 S. Poplar St., from 11 to 11:30 a.m. Wednesdays or 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays or at the Lebanon YMCA gym at the Veterans Administration Hospital, 1700 S. Lincoln Ave., from 9 a.m. to noon Mondays or 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays. To schedule a game, call them at 838-0705. In the years before moving to Palmyra, the Shanks played indoor badminton regularly at the Elizabethtown center, one of the few public places in the county offering badminton. On Wednesday, they joined some of the regular players there. The couple began playing badminton after Mr. Shank took a job off the farm. A neighbor and mechanical engineer, Ron Summers, converted the floor of their razed chicken house to a badminton court. They learned to play the sport from former Elizabethtown College professor Carl Heilman. For about 20 years, the Shanks have competed in badminton, among other sports, at the Pennsylvania Senior Games. Last year, they both competed in badminton doubles, mixed doubles and singles. He took a gold medal in mixed doubles. She took a bronze medal for high jumping 2 feet, 8 inches. “There were only three of us,” she said. “That’s what makes the senior games fun.” Mrs. Shank, who enjoys a brisk early morning walk in the fresh air about five times a week, also competed in the 1,500-meter walk and 400-meter dash. She also swims occasionally. “I would swim more often, but I’m too busy,” she said. Mr. Shank, an avid golfer, also won a bronze medal in golf and competed in bocce in last year’s games. Mrs. Shank promises one day to write a story about how her husband disparaged golfers before being won over to the game. They might need a friendly, or not so friendly, game of badminton after the story is released. The couple, parents of two daughters who now live in Maryland and Texas, were both born and raised on Elizabethtown-area farms. It took them a long time to learn to play. “We were taught to put away childish things when we became adults,” Mrs. Shank said. “We were always workers. We never played anything, other than Pinochle now and then.” Then badminton came along, with its three-ounce racket that can send a shuttlecock zooming at 200 mph. Before Mrs. Shank faces off against a player for the first time, she asks, “Do you want lots of mercy, some mercy or no mercy?” She can’t stand a sore loser, but she insists that once she walks off the court, she forgets who won and who lost. “We’re a congenial group,” she said of the regular badminton players. And no matter how competitively her husband and she play, “we always walk off the court with our arms around each other,” she said. “That’s what we’re celebrating.” CONTACT US: jkern@LNPnews.com or 481-6028 --------------------------------------------- Ben and Alma Shank, arm in arm after a game of badminton, a sport that keeps them physically fit and happily married.
Its good how players can bring badminton to an area unknown about the sport. All i can say is good on 'em.
Wow, a nice little story.. (rest of article snipped for brevity).. ..wah, what a story and a couple.. .Wish *IF* i reach their age, i can still run and swing my racket..From the pic, they look healthy and in shape..
That's fantastic!! Although I can't believe their last name is shank... what irony is that, heh. (for those that don't get it, any time you mishit the bird or hit it with the frame it's referred to as a 'shank'... at least, it is in Canada)
