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!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
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!
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.
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!
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!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Martha Stewart plays badminton...?
I've been stopped by people who've read my blog...thanks for the support, guys! :)
Badmintology Flick Serve next weekend...who's excited? Their T-shirt looks amazing, and they have an enormous draw-- get ready for some great games, and don't forget to flick serve!
Meanwhile-- anyone let badminton interfere with their relationship? Maybe that's why there are so many inter-sport relationships...Lin Dan x Xie Xingfang, etc....dating on the badminton court is just so much easier, and you see each other for better or for worse...in sickness and in health...on the badminton court.
Hilarious! And Martha Stewart plays badminton...I'd like to challenge her someday...maybe for a batch of cookies.
Feed your own fish, woman. I gotta go play me some badminton...
Badmintology Flick Serve next weekend...who's excited? Their T-shirt looks amazing, and they have an enormous draw-- get ready for some great games, and don't forget to flick serve!
Meanwhile-- anyone let badminton interfere with their relationship? Maybe that's why there are so many inter-sport relationships...Lin Dan x Xie Xingfang, etc....dating on the badminton court is just so much easier, and you see each other for better or for worse...in sickness and in health...on the badminton court.
Hilarious! And Martha Stewart plays badminton...I'd like to challenge her someday...maybe for a batch of cookies.
Feed your own fish, woman. I gotta go play me some badminton...
Thursday, July 28, 2011
The 2011 World Police and Fire Games
NEW YORKERS!
Your prayers have been answered. Both Howard Bach and Tony Gunawan will be in New York holding an exhibition to celebrate the opening of the 2011 World Police and Fire Games! It's free for you to watch....can you imagine? New York City...where dreams are made of. (Cue Frank Sinatra....or Jay-Z...)
Where?:
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center of New York
655 West 34th Street
New York, New York 10001
For those of you who are curious, the 2011 World Police and Fire Games is a string of athletic events, attended by more than 15,000 athletes in 65 different sports--from our beloved badminton to rifle shooting, paintball, soccer...you name it! Even "wrist wrestling"......badminton athletes should be good at that.
The tournament is a not-for-profit event held for the 10-year remembrance of September 11th, 2001. Athletes will gather together to remember those who lost their lives and give gratitude for the people all over the country and the world for lending their helping hands for New York after the tragedy.
If you're curious, get some more information and/or volunteer here!:
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Canada Open 2011
For those of you who are watching the Canada Open 2011...awesome!
If you don't know where to stream the games, you can check them out here at Badminton Life:
http://www.badmintonlife.com/
What makes it even better is it uses livestream. You can see how many other viewers are watching and join in on the chatbox to the right when some buttface gets in the way of the camera. Of course, the buttface won't hear your screams of frustration....but it's nice to share the pain with fellow fans.
77 viewers watching as I type this -- all at 10 o'clock in the morning! Where did all the day jobs go?!
Oh yes-- and if you haven't been able to check it out, the draws are on tournament software:
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=F3E718F8-19A3-4FEB-9892-947B4E2B53CC
:) Have fun, get those clappers out and keep cheering!
If you don't know where to stream the games, you can check them out here at Badminton Life:
http://www.badmintonlife.com/
What makes it even better is it uses livestream. You can see how many other viewers are watching and join in on the chatbox to the right when some buttface gets in the way of the camera. Of course, the buttface won't hear your screams of frustration....but it's nice to share the pain with fellow fans.
77 viewers watching as I type this -- all at 10 o'clock in the morning! Where did all the day jobs go?!
Oh yes-- and if you haven't been able to check it out, the draws are on tournament software:
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/draws.aspx?id=F3E718F8-19A3-4FEB-9892-947B4E2B53CC
:) Have fun, get those clappers out and keep cheering!
Monday, July 18, 2011
It's that time of year again-- Badmintology!
For those of you who were waiting for the information about the Portland Badminton Club tourney, it has unfortunately been postponed until August 13th (as opposed to July 30th). More information on that soon! But in the meantime...
Season 3 of Badmintology is starting again...let the excitement begin! And what's great about the Flick Serve Open 2011 is that it's at SMASH Badminton Centre (previously called Yumo), so you can test out their courts while participating in a fun tournament!
They've made a few improvements....3rd and 4th place matches and recognition for the participant who plays in the most events for the season....so it can only get better from here! What are you waiting for? Plan a roadtrip and sign up!
Badmintology Flick Serve Open 2011
When?: August 6-7, 2011 (Only two days!)
Where?: Smash Badminton Centre (used to be Yumo) in Richmond, B.C.
How much?: $27 CAD for the first event, + $10 CAD every other.
Deadline?: July 25th, 2011--It's creeping up, SO SIGN UP NOW!
Link: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=DC16F939-C6A7-4F9C-914F-7886D08AE3F9
Why?: It's Badmintology. That should be enough of a reason for you...but if you must....Badmintology is known for running great, organized tournaments with enough room for players of all levels! Cute T-shirt designs, lots of prizes, tons of nice people...and it's not expensive! Great experience for those who have been wanting to join a tournament but haven't gotten around to doing it. But if you play regularly, no problem there-- just sign up for the Red or Blue shell levels and you're good to go!
Can't wait!
____________________________________________________________________
Washington State Games pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonc111/sets/72157627081264645/
Season 3 of Badmintology is starting again...let the excitement begin! And what's great about the Flick Serve Open 2011 is that it's at SMASH Badminton Centre (previously called Yumo), so you can test out their courts while participating in a fun tournament!
They've made a few improvements....3rd and 4th place matches and recognition for the participant who plays in the most events for the season....so it can only get better from here! What are you waiting for? Plan a roadtrip and sign up!
Badmintology Flick Serve Open 2011
When?: August 6-7, 2011 (Only two days!)
Where?: Smash Badminton Centre (used to be Yumo) in Richmond, B.C.
How much?: $27 CAD for the first event, + $10 CAD every other.
Deadline?: July 25th, 2011--It's creeping up, SO SIGN UP NOW!
Link: http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=DC16F939-C6A7-4F9C-914F-7886D08AE3F9
Why?: It's Badmintology. That should be enough of a reason for you...but if you must....Badmintology is known for running great, organized tournaments with enough room for players of all levels! Cute T-shirt designs, lots of prizes, tons of nice people...and it's not expensive! Great experience for those who have been wanting to join a tournament but haven't gotten around to doing it. But if you play regularly, no problem there-- just sign up for the Red or Blue shell levels and you're good to go!
Can't wait!
____________________________________________________________________
Washington State Games pictures can be found here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/clintonc111/sets/72157627081264645/
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