California Badminton Academy exclusive preview

[eeyore12345]

yup, normally. I also hope that is the case lol. However, I saw this trend.

open gym before 1-3 dollars
Bintang before 5 bucks
UBC 7dollars
GGBC i think 8 dollars
BAY Badminton i think it was 10 dollars before but maybe 8.

Hopefully with more gym, the prices will be lower. Only time can tell. But most of the players like to play at gyms that have competitive players. CBA grand opening monthly pass of $25 is a very very good price. Definitely going to get one. lol

 

[sjsharks429]

I don't know about you guys, but in a weird way I'm glad that the prices are high. There are a lot of high school gyms in the bay area that have open gym on weekends and these open gyms are vital as far as raising money for the high school badminton teams.

Because of the high prices at Bintang/GGBC/BBC/etc..., people tend to come to the high school open gyms more because we only charge $3-$4. I mean, sure we might not have the best lines and floors, but you still could have some pretty good games here and there.

I always tell my players that our gym is like a Denny's while places like Bintang or GGBC is like Ruth's Chris. Denny's is a place you can afford everyday whereas Ruth's Chris is a place you can go once in a (long) while.

I believe high school badminton is also a major factor as to why badminton has been so popular in the Bay Area and in So Cal. If you look at the tournaments that we have, most recently the UC Davis Badminton tournament, the majority of the participants started playing badminton in high school.

So, in order to keep high school badminton competitive and alive, our open gyms need to be full. And what better way to keep the gyms full then to have our prices lower than the club prices. If those badminton clubs offered the same prices as we do, there would be no way we could compete with that. And that in turn could mean the end of high school badminton.

 

[kwun]

Because of the high prices at Bintang/GGBC/BBC/etc..., people tend to come to the high school open gyms more because we only charge $3-$4. I mean, sure we might not have the best lines and floors, but you still could have some pretty good games here and there.

I always tell my players that our gym is like a Denny's while places like Bintang or GGBC is like Ruth's Chris. Denny's is a place you can afford everyday whereas Ruth's Chris is a place you can go once in a (long) while.

that's an interesting way to look at it.

from the consumer point of view, club offers a bit more than HS gyms, imho. clubs are opened all the time. most places are open everyday till 11pm. that offers a lot of flexibility for the player. most of the HS gyms i have been to are only open a few hours in the weekends. for those who has family, it is difficult to schedule around those hours. most clubs also offer much better flooring and lighting than HS gyms.

i see that majority of club goers are not students and those who are working can afford the slightly higher cost for the quality and convenience.

from the point of view of the club as a business. they need to make enough money to sustain operation.

to charge $3-4 will not be enough. if you gather the info and do all the calculation with rent, salaries, members count, court count. you will find that very interestingly the membership/dropin income is only enough for a club to break-even or make a little money, anything extra comes from coaching fees. so if you drop the membership/drop-in in half, most clubs will have more problem finding enough income to justify the operation.

 

[chris-ccc]

Even if the business breaks even, operators would also close their operations down

Well you know better than me, you live there, but normally a reduced demand in relation to supply brings lower prices, hence why deflation occurs in a contracting economy (amongst other reasons)

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But if the prices drop down real low that the operators lose money, then the operators would close down their operations.

Also what kwun has posted;

from the point of view of the club as a business. they need to make enough money to sustain operation.

Even if the business breaks even, operators would also close their operations down. They would move to other better business ventures. Since most operators are Chinese, they might move to the Chinese restaurant business.
.

 

[kan2005]

What's the money behind the HS open gym? Does CA tax payers pay part of the cost?

 

[chris-ccc]

HS are not hiring out their halls to make profits

What's the money behind the HS open gym? Does CA tax payers pay part of the cost?

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The costs for hall hire from HS are cheaper than from community centres. HS halls are already built (whether they are hired out or not). When HS hire their halls out, they only need to consider the following;
* Electricity cost
* Cleaning cost
* Damage/maintenance cost
* etc......

The above list assumes that HS are not hiring out their halls to make profits, but to allow others to use their halls when sitting idle.
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[jamesd20]

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But if the prices drop down real low that the operators lose money, then the operators would close down their operations.

Yes and so the Supply & demand balance is broken & prices rise in the remaining outlets as there is less competition. There is never total equilibrium.

Relating backto High school Gyms, it is an interesting point that the opening of these larger centres has helped schools (& therfore school badminton) asthey are perceived as cheap now, so more popular...Good news all round..

 

[ctjcad]

off topic-definitely..

What's the money behind the HS open gym? Does CA tax payers pay part of the cost?

..high schools and other public schools in CA are funded by the taxpayers' money. A lot of it from state funding and small portion through local sources (property tax).
Some public schools don't charge a fee to play and some public schools charge a fee to play.
For example, I've played @ a high school gym & @ a public junior college without the need to pay any additional fees.
But i've also played @ public schools which charge additional fees to play. One example is SMC (Santa Monica College) baddy club. They use a public facility yet when we want to play there, they'll charge everyone who plays.

Btw, i just noticed the initials of California Badminton Academy is CBA...and the owner used to play for CBA (Chinese Badminton Association)..coincidence??..

 

[kwun]

the other interesting part about the HS gyms is that they are already built and most of the time sitting idle as the school cannot utilize the venue fully. so there is little cost to open up a HS gym for open gym. of course they cannot do that full time like a dedicated club do.

i think both will co-exist in this market. the HS gyms will be low cost to play in, cheap to operate but provide limited time and amenities. the dedicated clubs will cost more, however they open full hours and have dedicated flooring, lightings as well as coaching services.

 

[shreky]

I always tell my players that our gym is like a Denny's while places like Bintang or GGBC is like Ruth's Chris. Denny's is a place you can afford everyday whereas Ruth's Chris is a place you can go once in a (long) while.

yeah but ..... i would rather go to ruth's chris? .... the only time i'll go denny's is when it is 3am and there is no other place that is open ....

 

[raymond]

Relating backto High school Gyms, it is an interesting point that the opening of these larger centres has helped schools (& therfore school badminton) asthey are perceived as cheap now, so more popular...Good news all round..

I don't think that's what was said. I think the OP said it's fortunate that the larger centers do match the prices with that of H.S. THink about it. Before any of these centers open, everyone has no where to go but H.S. Now that some clubs are opened, they'd only server to take "customers" away. So do expect a net loss of players to H.S. But it's not a total loss...

 

[raymond]

So the H.S. badminton open gym organizers looking at the higher prices of these clubs and breath a sign of relief. And we large-club goer would also breath a sign of relief, because otherwise, we'd have no place to play without waiting for a long long time.

Just look at the crowd during Summer or even Friday evenings, when H.S. players arrive in drives to some gym. While they seem to have lots of fun even when they're not playing (well, I guess they enjoy the socializing anyhow)... others would have to wait.

 

[jamesd20]

I don't know about you guys, but in a weird way I'm glad that the prices are high. There are a lot of high school gyms in the bay area that have open gym on weekends and these open gyms are vital as far as raising money for the high school badminton teams.

Because of the high prices at Bintang/GGBC/BBC/etc..., people tend to come to the high school open gyms more because we only charge $3-$4. I mean, sure we might not have the best lines and floors, but you still could have some pretty good games here and there.

I don't think that's what was said. I think the OP said it's fortunate that the larger centers do match the prices with that of H.S. THink about it. Before any of these centers open, everyone has no where to go but H.S. Now that some clubs are opened, they'd only server to take "customers" away. So do expect a net loss of players to H.S. But it's not a total loss...

I think sjsharks429 said what I inferred. It is good for the development of HS badminton & more people coe to HS as a result.

I don't know if it is true or not, I just commenting on what was said.

 

[chris-ccc]

School kids get to play against more experienced outsiders

I think sjsharks429 said what I inferred. It is good for the development of HS badminton & more people come to HS as a result.

I don't know if it is true or not, I just commenting on what was said.

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This is good if sessions are organised by the schools. The school kids get to play against more experienced outsiders (adult players).

However, sometimes schools hire out their halls to outsiders to organise sessions. And these outsiders do not welcome their school kids to play with them.
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[jamesd20]

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This is good if sessions are organised by the schools. The school kids get to play against more experienced outsiders (adult players).

However, sometimes schools hire out their halls to outsiders to organise sessions. And these outsiders do not welcome their school kids to play with them.
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In UK most clubs hire school halls for their clubs only. Pupils are not allowed on school grounds out of school hours anyway.

I was surprised that the money made appeared to go to the school badminton team. It is a good idea that funds derived from one sport go directly to that sport (even if the pupils are not involved IMO) in the UK these ancilliary funds just go to the school and get lost in the admin & other "priorities"............

 

[Aedgy]

I've run HS Gym for open badminton before.

As I remember it, the majority of the cost that required us to charge the visiting players were primarily due to insurance requirements of opening the said gym to public.

Depending on number of people, $3-4 was minimum per person that we needed to charge to safely come out even on insurance costs.

HS badminton teams can't fund-raise effectively via this method unless significantly raising the price.

I remember organizing an open tournament was enough to fund-raise for entire year even after all expenses.

Just my experience.

 

[raymond]

Would be very nice if we can have 1 more photo of the inside when most of the work is done.

 

[badminteniss]

all 18 courts will be covered with tournament badminton court mats. the total padding will be a full 10mm thick which should be adequate to dampen shock from continuous badminton activities.

It seems to me that 10mm padding is not a lot. Does this 10mm include the badminton mat itself? And is it cement or wood underneath the padding?

 

[kwun]

It seems to me that 10mm padding is not a lot. Does this 10mm include the badminton mat itself? And is it cement or wood underneath the padding?

total.

as a reference, BBC3 is 11mm. and i think GGBC as well as other BBC are similar.

 

[badminteniss]

total.

as a reference, BBC3 is 11mm. and i think GGBC as well as other BBC are similar.

I played at BBC3 once, and the floor feels not too hard, it is however harder than than United Badminton Club in Fremont. I'd probably be concerned of my knees of floors harder than BBC3.

The floor my knees like is Bintang, which is said to mat "suspended" on wood frames.

Do you know if the mat at CBA is laid on top of cement or wood floor?

Thanks.