Editor's Note: The North Coast Section badminton playoffs begin on Saturday. Dougherty Valley High's team will have two girls doubles teams. They are Alisia Lu and Rebecca Wan, who won the MVAL title, and Lucy Wang and Lily Wen. DVHS badminton captain Satveka Ilango wrote the following column with help from Wan on why the team likes to play badminton.
Are you a bit bored?
Do you often just end up going home and vegging on the couch after a hard day’s work?
Are you stuck and not sure what to do with life? Do you wish you had a way to get fit, have fun, vent your frustrations, and make some friends all in one go?
If so, here are reasons why I think you should put down that bowl of ready-made noodles and join the DVHS BADMINTON TEAM!
1. Fun Fun Fun!- Badminton is seriously epic. You can play singles to increase your fitness, or you can play doubles if you want to have a bit more fun. It’s definitely more enjoyable than squash, and unlike tennis, with badminton you can play all year around!
2. Social- If you join our team, you’ll find that you’ll be off court occasionally. During those times, you’ll get to mingle, socialize and make lots of new friends.
3. Pace- Badminton is the fastest racquet sport in the world; bar none! Experienced players can smash the shuttle at speeds of over 200 mph. When you learn to return those kinds of shots you get a serious rush! Just be warned though if a shot like that hits you in the head, you’ll walk around looking like you’re being targeted with a sniper rifle for a while!
4. Reflexes- With great power comes great responsibility and with badminton you will develop lightning quick reflexes.
5. Fitness- If you like to sweat then badminton is for you. With badminton you burn off the equivalent of a chocolate bar every 30 minutes or so.
6. Agility- With badminton you have to learn to get from one side of the court to the other extremely quickly and so after a while you develop the agility of a cat. Meow!
7. Competition- You can keep it a strictly social thing, but if you like to be competitive then you will be in the right place. You’ll get to compete against other and really show who you are.
8. Skills- Whilst also learning to hit the shuttle at speeds that would even make a red Ferrari blush, and resemble a slug, you will also develop the softest touch. You will be able to just drop the shuttle over the net so it trickles over and hits the ground quicker than your opponent can say ‘ZOIKS SCOOBY’!
Furthermore, badminton isn’t just a sport to have fun but to learn how to win as a team. Even though badminton is a sport played with one or two people on the court, one needs moral support from others to do it. Overall, badminton is a complete new experience for everyone! So why not come try it?
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
