While most people regard badminton as a back-yard, family-fun kind of game, played with an adorably named “birdie”, it is actually a blindingly quick-paced sport requiring fast reflexes, steady concentration and extraordinary hand-eye coordination. Vincent Li, a junior at AHS, has been playing for two years and after realizing our school’s lack of a badminton team, has been restlessly trying to start one. Schools around the San Gabriel Valley that do have such a team include Alhambra High School, Mark Keppel High School, Pasadena High School and San Gabriel High School. Apparently, Vincent didn’t like the idea of Arcadia High School being left out of that list. Encouraged by many staff members and students on campus, Vincent is motivated by their support and enthusiasm for the sport, hoping that the future AHS Badminton Team will be able to send a team to compete at CIF and even introduce badminton into the life of every student at Arcadia. Having acquired over 300 signatures on a petition to show school officials that there is indeed an interest in playing Badminton at AHS, it is obvious there are many students out there who share a love of the sport and look forward to having a competitive team to be a part of. According to junior Alex Chen, who is excited about this future team and intends to make room for it in his busy schedule, “I’d love to be apart of the team. It’s really fun and really gets you fit.” Apparently, Alex’s opinion is not alone as sophomore Venus Tong agrees and says, “Badminton has always been an interesting sport to me. People too often underestimate this sport, which is why Arcadia must lead the way in promoting this lesser-known sport. Arcadia needs a badminton sport’s team.” In fact, undiscovered yet brilliantly talented Badminton players are senior Iris Wang who is a member of the U.S. Olympic Badminton team and her sister Rena Wang who is equally talented as both Wang sisters have placed first at the 2009 Pan American Junior Badminton Championships.
Currently, this unofficial badminton team plays at a local gym which allows all AHS students to play completely free. Arranged by Vincent with the help of Mr. Wilmhurst, president of the Southern California Badminton Association, the Arcadia Badminton Club, located on 12336 Lower Azusa Road, Arcadia CA, 91006 provides gym space and birdies to interested students completely free of charge on Mondays to Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Vincent is now also trying to start a Badminton Intramural tournament which would perhaps start in late March or early April. In response to a question about his hopes for the future club, Vincent answers, “Instead of solely working on starting the badminton team, I’m trying to provide every Arcadia with more chances to play badminton.”
Currently, this unofficial badminton team plays at a local gym which allows all AHS students to play completely free. Arranged by Vincent with the help of Mr. Wilmhurst, president of the Southern California Badminton Association, the Arcadia Badminton Club, located on 12336 Lower Azusa Road, Arcadia CA, 91006 provides gym space and birdies to interested students completely free of charge on Mondays to Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Vincent is now also trying to start a Badminton Intramural tournament which would perhaps start in late March or early April. In response to a question about his hopes for the future club, Vincent answers, “Instead of solely working on starting the badminton team, I’m trying to provide every Arcadia with more chances to play badminton.”