Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Portland Badminton Club - FUNDRAISER TOURNEY!

Ready to play for a good cause? Up for a road trip?

The Portland Badminton Club is running a fundraiser badminton tournament September 24, 2011 to raise money for CRY- Child Rights and You. Not only will you be playing badminton for a great cause, but you'll also be able to have fun and win prizes donated by Li-Ning and Cosmic Monkey!

The tournament is organized as an "Any Combination of Doubles", so keep in mind that there is no separation between Women's Doubles, Men's Doubles and Mixed.

Portland Badminton Club
When?: September 24, 2011
How much?: $30 the first event, +$10 every additional event (Under 17 is $15 for the first event, +$10 every additional)
Where?: Portland Badminton Club
7275 NW Evergreen Parkway
Bldg F#250
Hillsboro, OR
Deadline?: Monday September 19, 2011
Why?: You'll be playing for CRY, defending children's rights, and you'll be eligible to win prizes from both playing and from raffles from Li-Ning and Cosmic Monkey! It's a great way to end a long summer or start fall, and you don't have to worry much about trying to figure out who to play with for what event--there's only one event! Just focus on playing!

KEEP IN MIND, though, that you will have to supply your own birds if you want to play with feathered-- plastic will be provided by the club.

To register, entry forms should be posted on the Portland Badminton Club website soon.

While you're there, be sure to visit the sandy beaches of Oregon and do some surfing--I've heard great things about the view on the coast!

Saturday, August 13, 2011

SUMMER BREAK: HAWAII!

Aloha!

My friend, who seems to have made numerous trips to Hawaii within the past year, was telling me how perfect Hawaii would be if it just had badminton.

Funny enough, there were none listed in NorthwestBadminton.org, either! :(

WELL...NOT TO FEAR!

After a little research (....or just searching Google), I found the e-mail to an incredibly nice man named Robert Kishi, who gave me a few tips on where to play on Oahu!


1) Aiea Recreational Center gymnasium (99-350 Aiea Heights Dr, Aiea; phone: 808-483-7859): Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursday from 7:00 pm to 9:30 pm. Tuesday nights have instruction and/or drills. Sunday and Thursday nights are for members of the Hawaii Badminton Club, but visitors are welcome. For more information, contact Andy Tanabe at attatt63@gmail.com
2) McCully Recreation Center gymnasium (831 Pumehana St, Honolulu; phone: 973-7269): Mondays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. This is the closest gym to Waikiki.
3) Kaneohe Recreational Center gymnasium (45-660 Keaahala Rd, Kaneohe phone: 808-233-7308) Tuesdays, Thursdays & Fridays from 9:45 am to 12:45 pm. No badminton during Summer Fun. Contact Michiko Watanabe at mwhiusabadminton@gmail.com 
4) Kailua Recreational Center gymnasium (21 S Kainalu Dr, Kailua: phone: 808-266-7652): Fridays from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm; Wednesdays from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.  
5) Koko Head Recreational Center gymnasium (423 Kaumakani St, Hawaii Kai phone: 808-395-5189): Tuesdays & Fridays from 9:30 am to 11:30 am (private club play - limited membership) Contact Michiko Watanabe at mwhiusabadminton@gmail.com; Also, Thursdays from 5:00 pm to 6:45 pm, or 7:00 pm to 8:45 pm, call gym to confirm time.  
6) Honolulu Badminton Club (1336 Dillingham Blvd, Honolulu; phone: 808-354-0146 or e-mail: info@honolulubadminton.com): This new facility is the closest venue to Waikiki (about 3 miles) and is the only private badminton club on Oahu. Classes available. Non-members welcome. Check out their website at:  http://www.honolulubadminton.com


As usual, try and call or e-mail ahead of time to make sure that they're not closed/renovating.

:) Frolick in the sun and ENJOY! (and take some pictures...let me know how it goes!)

(And thank you, Robert Kishi!)

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Lean, green badminton machine

I'm an avid recycler. I'm PEMCO northwest profile #17:




Unfortunately, for me, my brother is the opposite. Well, when it comes to badminton rackets, at least. That, and my brother is a big local stringer here in the Northwest...let me explain.

When it comes to rackets, my brother has broken one-too-many rackets throughout his badminton career. He never has the heart to throw them away, though, so we've stashed them Harry Potter-style in the closet under the stairs. Friends thought this was hilarious so, for some reason, they thought their trash was our treasure and proceeded to give us all of their broken rackets. Needless to say, we have...many. Any racket you can name-- we have them. Broken.

This is a little heart breaking to me because
#1) I clean the house. Or, attempt to. These rackets aren't helping me much.
#2) I hate to see this $100-$300 dollar rackets go to waste.

What to do? Well the good people at badmintoncentral (along with founder Kwun H.) compiled a great list of things to do when you want to recycle your old racket!

Here's what got me gawking with awe:

AMAZING?! My house is going to become an inky mess when I try my hand on making these!! What pen do you use? Oh, you know, I like them light so I have a Nanospeed 9900...easy on my hands, but sometimes I wish I had an Armortec so I could smash that final essay to oblivion. Feeeeeel the power.....

Any more ideas?

FIRST OF ALL, before you get overexcited and take your saw out (which, by the way, is very hazardous to one's health), make sure that your warranty is expired and you can no longer return it for a new one. SECOND, ask around your local badminton groups and see if anyone does repairs-- some mysterious character here does it for $30 dollars a racket. Not as good as new, but close enough!


1) Friends of mine have also taken old rackets and duck taped the head like crazy or covered the head with a racket cover and used them for wrist training. I wonder how much the amount of ducktape needed would cost, though...

2) I'm embarrassed to say that broken rackets can be used for funny [facebook profile] pictures, too-- breaking the racket on someone's head, putting it through their arm etc....(personal experience...sigh)

3) FLY SWATTERS! I thought this would be a little more obvious.

4) Outdoor BBQ/Picnic fun. (embarrassing personal experience #2). Friends and I got bored at an outdoor party and attempted recreate Fruit Ninja with a potato we dropped. We weren't as precise as we thought, though, so we ended up using a broken badminton racket and took turns swatting at the poor potato. Ended up raining fries all over the lawn....

5) Allow your child to be a badminton-prodigy by allowing him to dissect the racket. (This is a joke. Please don't.)

6) And don't forget, you can always take out the grommets and keep them for future rackets!

What about birdies? That's something I haven't really been able to figure out yet, but students at the local badminton clubs have cut off the remaining feathers and thread colored string through the holes on the bird and made cute little keychains. (In my honest opinion, the threaded-birdie-clad Christmas tree is hideous...but as keychains, they're quite creative!)

:) Get your toolbox out and be creative!