Badminton club nets ‘rewarding experience’ for entire IU campus

While badminton is often portrayed as a sport white-collar senior citizens play in their backyards, Dobrin Bossev, assistant physics professor, has a different perspective.\nBossev, a member of the IU Badminton Club, said the sport is an aerobic game that requires physical fitness and utilizes the strength in the knees, elbows, shoulders and wrists. He called it a “very rewarding experience,” both physically and emotionally.\nThe IU Badminton Club offers an opportunity for all IU students, faculty, staff and members of the community to participate both competitively and recreationally in the sport. The club is a member of the IU Club Sports Federation, the Midwest Badminton Association and the United States Badminton Association.\nEstablished in 1980, the club currently boasts a membership of 35 and meets twice a week. The club also fields a competitive squad which competes at tournaments and meets against clubs teams from other colleges from all over the Midwest, said junior and club president Yuen-Suo Yang.\nThe club is all about fitness and improvement, Yang said. \n“The people here are competitive, and you have fun playing with them,” Yang said. “The cool part is they teach you how to play.”\nBossev prefers the exercise the sport offers compared to other traditional work-out methods. He said running sometimes can become “too monotonous,” but with badminton, you can “push yourself as much as you want.”\nThe emotional rewards of badminton come from the beauty of the sport, Bossev said. The sport requires a combination of physical skills and mental prowess. Strategy, deception and anticipation are all as equally important as speed, agility and awareness, Bossev said.\nAdditionally, the club is a lot of fun because of the social atmosphere, said Push Wijegunawardena, a staff member at Eigenmann Hall. Wijegunawardena said the club is diverse and a great way to meet people from other cultures. The atmosphere is relaxing and friendly, he said. Practices tend to be full of laughter and joking around. \n“I can’t think of a better way to start my weekend than by playing badminton on Friday nights,” he said. “I love it.”\nThe club meets at 7 p.m. every Friday and at 3:30 p.m. every Sunday in School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation room 163. Club dues are $10 per semester for IU students and $15 for non-students. For additional information regarding the IU Badminton Club, e-mail Yang at ysyang@indiana.edu.