Badminton, according to two local coaches, is the second most popular sport in the world after soccer. Vancouver offers many clubs and sports facilities for people of all ages and skills to play badminton, whether recreationally or competitively. Yet, in Vancouver, the majority of badminton players are of Chinese descent.
Ram Nayyar, born in Edmonton to a family of South Asian descent, serves as the head coach at the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club as well as the High Performance Director for Badminton Canada. He says that badminton is huge in China and many parts of Asia.
“It is to that region what hockey is to Canada,” he says.
Alvin Lau, a coach at the Vancouver Racquets Club (VRC) and an on-call high school business teacher, adds that the Vancouver-based club is also primarily comprised of Asian members.
“Non-Asian players stick out like a sore thumb,” he says.
Diverse origins
Canadian Open with Alvin Lau and Duncan Yao. | Photo by Joseph Yeung
According to the Badminton World Federation, badminton stems from battledore and shuttlecock, a game played in ancient European and Asian civilizations that involves two people hitting a shuttlecock back and forth with a bat to keep it in the air. Battledore and shuttlecock was a particularly popular pastime among the upper class in 17th century England.
Contemporary badminton took its form in the 1800s from an Indian game known as Poona, which introduced a net over which to hit the shuttlecock, explains Nayyar. British military officers stationed in India brought the game back to England where it was popularized after the Duke of Beaufort’s guests played it at his estate, named Badminton, in Gloucestershire, England.
The 1930s saw a rise in popularity of badminton internationally, particularly in Denmark, the U.S. and Canada. The International Badminton Federation was formed in 1934, but badminton was not recognized as an Olympic sport until it was played at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Universal appeal, Asian dominance
“North Americans don’t watch badminton too much because we don’t do so well at it,” says Lau.
Nevertheless badminton is played widely, both throughout Canada and internationally. The game’s appeal ranges from the concept itself to the impressive speeds reached by shuttlecocks –
some travelling in excess of
400 km/h – to its reputation as a lifetime sport, with players ranging from ages under five to over ninety.
Badminton’s particular popularity among the Chinese population in Vancouver can be attributed to a couple of factors, according to Lau. He says that many Asians decide to pick up the racquet for the first time because they like the challenge of a technical sport.
“You don’t see results instantaneously,” says Lau.
Also, unlike sports such as football and basketball where being a larger person is advantageous, badminton attracts many smaller, less traditionally athletic Asians who can learn to excel at the speed and skill badminton requires.
Lau adds that joining a badminton club in Vancouver is not an effective way to improve English language skills while exercising.
“It’s tough for people to learn English in a very Asian-dominated sport because they don’t need to know a word of English to talk at the sports centres,” he says.
All ages and abilities
Alvin Lau at the Badmintology Tournament | Photo By Joseph Yeung
Initially founded as the Vancouver Lawn Tennis Club in 1897, its name changed in 1928 to the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club when the Badminton Hall was built, the first of its kind in North America designed specifically for badminton. Today, the badminton club caters to all ages and stages, offering adult lessons and a junior development program. According to Nayyar, the most rewarding part of his job is seeing positive change in everyone at every stage he works with, not only as an athlete but as an individual.
As a coach at the VRC, Lau teaches both private lessons and larger classes, ranging from elementary school-aged children playing for the first time to experienced high school and university students who engage in competitive play. However, there is also a large population of adults, ages thirty to fifty plus, who attend the VRC.
Lau explains that the large number of older players keeping up with badminton can be attributed to their high skill set, having mastered difficult techniques such as propelling a shuttle from one end of the court to the other and using proper footwork.
“The learning curve for badminton is quite steep, but they’ve gone past it and you can see how they enjoy the game now,” he says. “They’re very competitive.”
Playing professionally
Being a professional badminton player is a difficult job because players are never offered huge contracts, as is the case for other sports such as hockey and basketball.
“Trying to support yourself while doing a full-time competition is quite difficult,” Lau says. “In Canada, there’s only a few focused sports and everyone else is competing in a small pool of money.”
Badminton funding in Canada comes primarily from Sport Canada, a government agency that identifies potential athletes and funds them in what is known as cards. According to Lau, only five badminton cards are given out in Canada, even though a nationals team might have eight or nine players. Those awarded with a card get $10,000 a year, which is supposed to cover training, travel, food and any other expenses.
“I don’t think that people realize how difficult it is,” says Lau. “I encourage people to watch a badminton match and see what the sport is all about to give it the credit it deserves.”
For more information about the Vancouver Racquets Club or the Vancouver Lawn Tennis and Badminton Club, visit:
