For those looking for a new form of exercise that is fast paced, agile, and requires good hand-eye coordination, Cherie Nguyen suggests badminton.
As president of Portland State’s Badminton Club, Nguyen says the club is a welcoming community that will those interested with opportunity to make new friends, get a great work out and have a good time.
According to Nguyen, the club had its roots planted in the PSU soil in 1996 by a group of Indonesian friends that met weekly to play badminton, one of the most popular sports in their native country. But it wasn’t until 2002, when one of those students, Sandrio Elim, officially founded the club. Elim went on to become the first club president.
Currently the club has 37 members and features two different types of memberships: paying and non-paying. The club accepts people from all experience levels, and all are encouraged come out and register. Members are not only trying to promote their club, but also the overall sport itself.
In addition to the established rec club, members field a competitive badminton team. The club participates in tournaments, and hosts a few of its own events here at PSU.
Last spring, they held a collegiate tournament and had a turn out of 35 participants. This January, they held the Winter 2011 PSU Open Tournament, which was open to the public and had roughly 50 people competing for a bevy of prizes, including rackets, gear and other gifts.
They Badminton Club practices on Wednesdays from 7 to 11 p.m., Fridays from 7 to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 3 to 5:30 p.m. For beginners, training sessions are held during Wednesday practices, taught by junior Tomo Muta and club captain and recent grad Phu Sai. The PSU Badminton Club is one of few in the Northwest. Other schools that have competition badminton teams are University of Oregon and University of Washington.
Within the umbrella of the Badminton Club there are two different commitment levels. The club is set up as a “come and go as you please” kind of deal. They encourage people who have time to come in to do so. The team is for those who are looking for a more serious commitment to the sport. The team is set up differently because it has an actual coach, Leslie Arifin as well as having Li Ning sponsor some of their events. Arifin used to be apart of the Junior National Team of Indonesia, in badminton, and is also close friends with the U.S. national team. This allows the club to have excellent resources. As for their sponsor, Li Ning recently supplied all the prizes and equipment for the club’s most recent tournament, which was held on the weekend of Jan. 15.
Registration tables are set up at every practice that anyone can walk up to and sign up at. Then there is also online at www.pdx.edu/recreation/badminton.