Boulder County Badminton

Badminton originated over two thousand years ago in ancient China. It was called Ti Jian Zi. This game slowly evolve into Battledore and Shuttlecock, similar to today’s game except they played with bats instead of racquets. If you thought it was hard now, try replacing that nice carbon fiber racquet with a wood pole. Eventually, it made it’s way to India, and by 1800 it was introduced to the British as a game called Poona. The Duke of Beauford introduced it to British nobles at his estate, an estate called the Badminton House, which is where it gets it’s name.

Before March 17th, I had never played badminton before in my entire life. It looked, fun so I decided to investigate how one would go about playing badminton in Boulder County.

After running a quick search on the web, I found boulder badminton club. I looked through the website and found that they play at the Westminister Recreation Center on Thursdays and Sundays. When I arrived, there were five courts of people playing, all of which were full. When I first entered the gym with a racquet I asked someone, “How do I play.” An odd shaped board was presented to me with named clothes-pins hanging on the edges. The names on the clothes-pins had either names written on them or “guest” followed by a number. Basically, four people go on any given court. Whoever is the “picker” gets the next open court and gets to pick the other three people playing. After the game is over, everyone leaves and four new people who were waiting come and play. This method ensures that games go quickly. Most people, when it is their turn to pick, simply choose the next four names on the list.

I found out they play with shuttle-cocks made with real feathers (thus the name). Each shuttle-cock lasts about one to two games before becoming ragged. Because the shuttle-cocks are so expensive, Boulder Badminton Club would like a donation of $20 for every three months playing. First or second time players, such as myself, can play for the measly $6 entrance fee to the Westminister Recreation Center.

There were players that I was told were nationally ranked and players, like me, who had never played before. I was surprised at how exhausted I was and how sweaty I became after playing only a couple games. I got a chance to play with and against players of various skill levels.

Two things really stood out to me. First, every person playing was having fun. They were laughing and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. Second, there were all sorts of people playing. There were old men and women, young men and women, couples, singles, everything. I also noticed one person who I knew from playing basketball. The good players played mostly against other good players. No matter your skill level, there is probably someone close to your skill level playing.

I would recommend to anyone who is curious about badminton to go and try a Thursday or Sunday. Contact Stefan at boulderbad@me.com for more information or go to the badminton page for more information.