Badminton plans business house comp

Regular badminton players are set to have more structured competitions starting with the code’s first official tournament starting on June 7.

Badminton was revived and registered as an official sports federation in February and since then the code has enjoyed a growth in popularity.

However, badminton president Hugh Graham says that he and his committee feel that a more structured playing environment must be adopted in order to keep growing the sport and drawing players back to the courts. Currently badminton is run and played on Monday and Thursday evenings at the Princess Anne Hall, Monday nights for students and social players and Thursday nights reserved for the more ‘serious’ players as competition is heating up.

Current players, new and intending members and the general public are invited to grab a racquet and hit the courts at the Princess Anne Hall where players can register for the June 7 tournament.

Graham says the interest and composition of players will determine the tournament divisions.

Badminton vice president Chris Rahui will coordinate the tournament, which is expected to continue over the next few Thursdays on a weekly basis.

All games will be at the Princess Anne Hall on Thursdays starting just after 6pm.

Intending players who do not have racquets, don’t worry, the club has some spare racquets that can be used with playing fees just $5 per player.

As well as the weekly competition for club players, the committee is planning on running a business house tournament to generate funds for the further development of the sport.

The competition is set to start in a few weeks on a Friday night at the Princess Anne Hall.

Graham says the aim of the tournament is to introduce the sport to the wider community and importantly raise much needed funds for the code.

Initially, Graham expects that there will be up to eight teams in the competition and it will be played over 10 weeks.

This will see all teams play each other for the first seven weeks followed by playoffs.

Each team will have a men’s doubles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles pairing.

There is no limit to the number of players you can have play for your team, however once you play for a certain team you cannot play for any other team.

For more information contact Hugh Graham on hugh_grahamhenry@yahoo.com or Chris Rahui on christmas2425@hotmail.com or mobile 57085.