Passion fuels club badminton
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 23, 2009 9:54 p.m.
At the conclusion of an open-gym Thursday at Pardee Gymnasium, student athletes gulp down water while donning their sweat-soaked athletic garb, creating a scene that’s nothing like the traditional perception of badminton as a backyard sport played at family reunions.
A group of devoted student athletes, the UCLA Badminton Club, meet at the John Wooden Center three times a week to train vigorously and work on their techniques and footwork.
One of those students is Alex Liu, a graduate student in computer science. Liu is entering his sixth year with the club, having been involved since his first year as an undergraduate at UCLA.
“Once you start to play, you’re kind of like, “˜Wow, this is harder than it looks.’ And after going through some training, you can really start to enjoy it,” Liu said.
The club was founded by a devoted former student with only two resources: a love for the sport and the need to get out and share that passion with the campus community. Since its founding in 2003, badminton has flourished as a club sport at UCLA and now boasts some of the largest participation numbers on campus.
The club has about 100 members and houses a Southern California Collegiate Badminton League team made up of 15 to 20 of the club’s best players.
“The team here is really laid back. We focus on developing the club aspect as well as our team, but we still compete,” club president Molika Seng said.
Competing at a high level is something Seng and her teammates are very familiar with. UCLA finished second overall in last year’s SCCBL standings.
The club holds “club hours” twice a week for members, providing shuttlecocks and racquets, but there are also open recreation hours for those who just want to try it out. In order to make the SCCBL team, there is a tryout held within the club each year.
As far as team play goes, the Bruins travel to several schools in Southern California for their conference schedule, which runs throughout the spring. Many of the UC schools compete in the SCCBL including UC Irvine, UC San Diego and UC Riverside. Some of the other schools involved are Cal Poly and crosstown rival USC.
The club has come a long way since 2003 in terms of funding for transportation and equipment. The annual Bruin Open tournament was held at UCLA Oct. 10-11 in the Student Activities Center and Pardee Gymnasium in the Wooden Center.
This year’s Bruin Open featured 273 participants of all ages and skill levels. Proceeds from the event went to prize money for the winners, funding for the club and donations to the Wishing Well Foundation, which grants wishes for terminally ill children.
Every Bruin has a different story about how they came to love badminton. Seng began playing badminton as a way to get out of a physical education requirement in high school and was instantly hooked.
The club’s tournament director, Jamie Subandhi, has been playing since she was six and has trained with prestigious club teams such as the Orange County Badminton Club. Additionally, Subandhi has played in many international tournaments including the Pan American Games and the Badminton World Federation Championships.
Because the badminton has yet to arrive at the top of the sports pyramid, club members and officials have to do a lot of work to keep the club up and running.
For starters, the team is player-coached, meaning the more experienced members are responsible for teaching the newcomers technique and strategy.
Liu recognizes some of the challenges that the squad continues to face.
“The thing about badminton club is that it’s obviously not a mainstream sport, and there’s not a lot of support for us. So it’s really up to the students to get things done,” Liu said.
As the Bruins gear up for the 2010 SCCBL season, they’re hoping to avenge last season’s second-place finish to UCSD and enjoy another year of growth for the club. But the team members aren’t forgetting their roots.
“What makes our club unique is that we got started because one guy just wanted to get out and play, and now look,” Seng said.
Liu offered similar sentiments.
“It was hard at first to find people that shared my passion for badminton. Once I did find those people, it was a lot easier to connect,” Liu said. “Everyone has a passion for the sport and is willing to contribute, and that’s what keeps us going.”
