Badminton Club offers engaging experience despite being short-lived

Though it lived a short life this year, Badminton Club was still a club to remember. It was one of the most productive clubs, especially with it being a sports club. First, it is important to understand exactly what kind of sport badminton is and where it originated from. 

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the sport originated in England. Badminton is a court game that is played using rackets and a shuttlecock, also called a birdie. Badminton was first played around 1873, and has roots from ancient Greece, China, and India. 

Badminton tends to be played indoors to avoid the birdie being affected by the wind. A net is used when playing the sport, much like with tennis. Two players on opposite sides of the net will be needed to play the game efficiently, as it is a competitive sport. The birdie must be hit back and forth across the net by each player. If the birdie touches the ground on one side, the  player who hits the birdie from the opposite side scores a point. The birdie cannot be out of boundaries during the matches. A player can win the match if they score 21 points while having a 2-point advantage on the losing opponent.

To fully experience Badminton Club, I participated in the club every Thursday for four weeks. Badminton Club first started on Feb 23.  I played badminton with two of my friends each week: Malaya Villalovos, a sophomore in Silverado, and Kaylee Ziff, a junior. We would often switch sides around the court since the number of players was uneven, and one of us would have to play against two opponents. The club would end at 2:30 p.m., and we would all walk out exhausted from going around the court and hitting the birdie. The club officially ended on March 16, being short-lived despite so many students going every week.

Villalovos expressed what sparked her interest in joining Badminton Club. 

“I used to do tennis, and after doing a unit of badminton in PE I liked it more,” she said.

She also talked about her difficulties when she started playing the sport. 

“The more difficult part [about badminton] would be keeping the birdie from going out of bounds,” Villalovos said.

Kaylee Ziff also spoke about her thoughts on the sport and the club itself. When asked about whether she’d play badminton outside of school or not, she responded with a positive answer. “Yes, I have [played badminton] before too.”

Badminton Club overall is an exciting sport with lots of engagement. The exhaustion from running around the court is all worth it once you hit that birdie and score a hard-earned point. Badminton is a sport that anybody can get into at any age, even without much experience.

As for the club itself, I am looking forward to another year of badminton, and am hoping for the club to last even longer than it did this year.