Advance Players find group in Hwajeong or other places in Seoul

Discussion in 'Japan / Korea' started by Hienlawyer, Oct 21, 2008.

  1. Hienlawyer

    Hienlawyer Regular Member

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    Hi All,

    We are overseas students for Master course would like to find some groups to play badminton. As far as we are concerned, the nearest badminton court to our place is Hwajeong Subway Station so we are very happy if we can join some groups in Hwajeong sport complex on Friday afternoon and evening.

    Could you please also give me some information as to the groups which we can join to play in Friday, Saturday, Sunday ? On weekend, we can travel to some other places to have some friendship games. :)

    We have just come Seoul for roughly 2 weeks, so we could not find any groups to play. Please help us.

    Thanks in advance. :p

    Please feel free to contact at: Hienlawyer@yahoo.com (Mr.)

    Sincerely,

    Tran Anh Hien.
     
  2. event

    event Regular Member

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    So, are you related to the Hienlawyer who posted to this thread? Odd that I didn't get the notice about that thread update. Hwajeong and Samsung are quite far apart. Hwajeong Stn is actually part of Goyang City, rather than Seoul proper. Oops. My mistake. You said Samsong.

    Okay, so that means that you're looking for clubs in Goyang. Does your reference to "Hwajeong sport complex" indicate that you've already found a gym there and are simply looking for people to play with?

    If you're looking for groups, try PM'ing Taehyun. He has been very kind and helpful to other BC members with information and invitations. I live in neither Seoul nor Goyang so I'm not much good in that department.

    If you're looking for places to play, there is a list here in Korean. The first on the list, the Haengshin Club, says it plays in a dedicated badminton gym. In my experience, that means that you can ignore the club fees and just pay the admission charged by the operators of the facility itself (usually a municipal gov't that is also subsizing it). The club fees in situations like that buy you soju and dead animals every month and also obligate the other club members to include you in games and are also necessary if you wish to play in tournaments. If you are an advanced player, other good players will likely want to play with you even if you aren't in their club.

    Does your post mean that you have been here for 2 weeks or that you will only be here for 2 weeks?

    Anyway, I'll wait to hear from you on whether you have found the gym and just need people or need to find a gym where more/better people play.
     
  3. event

    event Regular Member

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    Goyang has a few dedicated badminton gyms. However, does not seem to be what I described earlier. It seems the city has a contract with a local club that lets said club have sole access to all but one or two courts in the gym and other citizens can use the sole remaining court(s) for free but they'll have to wait a while. In cases like that, good independent players are unlikely to frequent the gym. If you are good, again, the club members might ask you to play and deign to let you on their courts. The contracts are only good until the end of December. Either they'll be renewed or the gyms will start charging admission. A few of the gyms in Suwon have followed the same progression and they all have admission fees now so once you pay, you can play on whatever court you want. The local club will still be entrenched and they can still encourage you to sign up and ostracize you if you don't but at least you feel like you have a right to be there.

    As for the gyms nearest you, the Masang Park gym might be one of them. It is near Goyang City Hall, north of Hwajeong Stn and west of Wondang Stn. It has 5 courts but only 1 is not restricted to club members.

    6 stops away at Jeongbalsan Stn is this gym. It has 6 courts, 2 of which are supposed to be free access.

    I think I've finally figured out where that Haengshin club plays. It is apparently behind a McDonald's near the Haengshin KTX station. It should be adjacent to the Haengshin-2-dong office. That's about 2km due south of Hwajeong Station. The club's site is useless.
     
  4. Hienlawyer

    Hienlawyer Regular Member

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    Hi Event,

    I have been realizing that you are an enthuasiastic member of this forum. Thanks for what you have been helping others.

    Coming back to my circumstance, maybe i made some mistakes led you to wrong place which i have stayed. :). Basing what you provided, i think i used to stand in "Hwajeong sport complex", which consists of swimming pool, badminton court, footbal yard ect.

    I asked the receptionist as to the schedule of badminton court (she can not speak English), and i guessed that the sport hall will be used for badminton players on Monday, Wednesday and Friday only. Therefore, i will come back to "Hwajeong sport complex" on this Friday afternoon so that i can find some groups and play with them.

    I and my friend are going to stay in Seoul during the next two years. :)

    I am researching the places which we can play badminton and will revert to you with my questions. Ok?

    If you have any concrete/detail information of any badminton groups, please give me the particulars .. so that i can contact them to ask for permission.

    Many thanks in advance.

    Sincerely,

    Tran Anh HIen.

    P/s: I am also post your mentioned thread. However, because nobody pays attention to my question so i post this thread to find the favour. :)
     

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