Blog
Scott in Sport: Badminton
Thursday 21st January, 3-5pm, Main Hall, Sports Centre.
So next on the list was Badminton, which I went along to as a welcome break during a pretty hectic day in the office. I even managed to convince our very own YUSU President, Tim Ngwena, to come along and join me for a spot of sport!
We arrived about half-way through the session and weren't made to feel awkward or silly for being late, but were welcomed and given pegs each. I opted to become "Guest 3" for the session as Tim became "Guest 2". These pegs ensure fairness in waiting time and playing time, as everyone at a session has a peg, which are all put onto a board in order, so when a court becomes to available it is the people who have been waiting the longest who get to play. Once you pay your membership you get your own peg rather than just having to be a guest! There's an incentive for you!
The Badminton Club train in the Main Hall in the Sports Centre, which has four badminton courts on it. That means, with everyone playing doubles, sixteen people are playing all the time, so there's never too long to wait to get on court.
Once our pegs came up, Tim and I got on court and worried a little bit whether we were going to embarrass ourselves when taking on two club members! Once we got on court we realised quite quickly that we were both rather rusty, but we did have some decent rallies! It didn't take long for Tim to pipe up that badminton's "not like tennis, where you can just... whack it?" as both of us kept attempting to smash, but failing!
On the badminton court it really didn't matter that it was our first time there and it certainly didn't matter that Tim was YUSU Prez - he found himself on the receiving end of some smashes he certainly wasn't going to return! Unfortunately, despite us putting up a hard fight, Tim and I were defeated 21-6, but it was great fun nonetheless.
We then waited on the side of the courts, chatting to other people and watching games going on. Frequently there was a shout of "shot" in admiration of particularly good shots and the atmosphere was really sociable. It wasn't long until we were up again, this time with different partners and taking on each other! My partner did well with what could be seen as the disadvantage of having me and Tim found himself on the losing side!
The Badminton Club welcomes everyone, regardless of ability, to their club sessions which happen thrice weekly: on Monday evenings from 7-10pm (beginning in the Tent, but moving into the Main Hall at 8.30pm), Thursday afternoons from 3-5pm and Sunday mornings from 9am-12noon in the Main Hall. It doesn't matter whether you can make all the sessions or only some of them, but just go along when you can to play some badminton and make some friends. I spoke to a beginner who had been coming for just over a term, who described the club thus: "Really nice club, very well run, everyone's very friendly. I consider it my second home." Now I'm not sure I'd agree with the second home part, but the rest of the quote pretty much summed the club up!
So if you fancy a bit of badminton, why not go along to one of the club sessions? You don't need to bring a racket with you if you don't have one as the club has a few for people to borrow. I definitely hope to be down again soon!
Emily xo
