‘Come and try’ badminton tonight

Tonight the Princess Anne Hall at Tereora College will stage the Cook Islands’ first badminton event in over 10 years with a ‘come and try’ evening from 5pm.

The general public is invited to give the sport a go and find out how much fun can be had with badminton.

Brothers Hugh and Robert Graham are behind the revival of the sport which they both remember as being part of the physical education curriculum at Tereora College when they were schoolboys back in the 80s.

On a recent trip to China, Hugh Graham purchased a number of badminton racquets and shuttlecocks. He has garnered the support of Oceania Badminton and is keen to see more people get involved.

He has also received fantastic support from Air New Zealand, which waived the excess weight fee to transport the gear to Rarotonga.

“Air New Zealand was very pleased, as part of our community involvement, to be able to assist both volleyball and badminton, especially in the revival of badminton in the Cook Islands,” says Air NZ Cook Islands manager David Bridge.

While Graham was told by the president of the national sports body Sir Geoffrey Henry that badminton is not a ‘priority sport’, Graham has received plenty of support from the general public which is keen to get the sport up and running in the Cooks.

Graham foresees forming a committee to push the sport along.

He will be donating most of the gear he bought in China to said committee and he will also take some gear to Mauke to introduce the sport to the island’s youth and community at large.

All people need to bring to Princess Anne Hall tonight is comfortable clothing, a water bottle and a gold coin donation to help with the venue hire and get the sport up and running.