Grinnell’s badminton club was formed around 2007, died away in 2009 and has been recently revived.

Last semester, the president of the club, David Reda ’14, along with a few other students, thought the sport was grossly underrepresented at the College and brought back the club.

“It started out as me and a couple of friends who really enjoyed playing badminton, and in order to reserve the [Auxiliary Gym]to play, we had to have some sort of a club,” Reda said. “That was one reason we started the club. And the equipment that the school owned was really bad, half-broken, and so, as a club, we could apply for funding and get new equipment. … In addition to those two reasons, I wanted to start a club to spread the popularity of badminton here.”

Badminton is both a fun way to work up a sweat and an easy game to get accustomed to playing.

“It’s [open to] all levels of experience, so if you’ve never played badminton, you can come in or [if] you’re a pro almost, which some of us are pretty close to being, you can come too. There’s no commitment so you can just come any time,” Reda said.

“I decided to join the club because I wanted to socialize as well as play my favorite sport,” said Doug Bui ’17. “It’s pretty fun for such a simple club.”

While the club doesn’t have any coaches or trainers, a balance of skilled and novice players creates an atmosphere in which everyone can improve their game. All the members work together and give each other advice on how to improve. Even without actual instruction, the presence of experienced players gives everyone a form to emulate.

“We have about 90 people on the mailing list and about 30 to 40 people who come. It sort of varies, one day you’ll have 10 people and there are some people who come almost every time,” Reda said. “Another great thing is that I can actually see the people improve. At the beginning of the semester, a lot of people who come in would be beginners and a couple weeks in they’re already improving dramatically.”

To accommodate as many people’s schedules as possible, the club meets Mondays 8 to 9 p.m., Thursdays 4:30 to 6 p.m. and Saturday mornings 9 to 10:30 a.m. It’s not only open to students—faculty and staff are also invited.

“Badminton is pretty much my number one passion. … It’s fast-paced, dynamic, you get to run a lot, you get to use your strength, your flexibility—it’s a really good workout,” Reda said.

Badminton club offers a relaxed atmosphere and a challenging game—something for everyone.