Badminton Demonstration in Chicago - A report

Chicago's Near West Side Community Development Corporation (NWS CDC) had their fourth annual Spring Break Olympics, a community event in the Near West Side/West Heaven just near the United Center in Chicago city. The Spring Break sports camp helps keep youth engaged in fun, safe activities during their Spring Break and allows them to learn about and try new sports, compete in community sports tournaments and participate in workshops on health, wellness and nutrition. For this event, groups within the community apply for time slots and attend as a group. BadmintonChicago, a volunteer supported organization in Chicago, (http://badmintonchicago.org ) demonstrated and introduced about 100 participants to Badminton on April 5, Thursday, 12noon-4pm. This event was organized by World Sport Chicago (WSC) and the City of Chicago. Equipment and gifts were provided by Yonex.

We started the demonstration at 12 noon and the volunteers setup the nets and stands. There were no lines but we improvised! We estimate that about 50 kids in the ages of 10 to 15 participated in the demonstration. There was boxing, basketball and archery going on at the same time in the gym and things got a bit chaotic at times but again the volunteers improvised! We also held a mini-tournament for 20 kids with two winners getting a Yonex badminton racket and shuttle set to take home. We gave out Yonex water bottles or caps to all tournament participants. The demonstration ended at 4:00pm. It was satisfying to see kids enjoy playing badminton and at the end of the day ask us if we were going to do it again or if they could have it in their school. We hope World Sports Chicago can persuade the Chicago Public Schools to make badminton a regular sport at some of the schools in the city of Chicago.

BadmintonChicago would like to thank the Volunteers (especially Paige, Yin, Ahmad and Nae) and Yonex (especially Eric, Derrick, Yoshi and Hiro) for making this Demonstration a success.

Photos from the event are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/100076591719014994722/BadmintonDemoChicago

Volunteers Needed: Thursday, April 5, 12noon-4pm

The Near West Side Community Development Corporation (NWS CDC) is working on their fourth annual Spring Break Olympics, a community event in the Near West Side/West Heaven just near the United Center. The Spring Break sports camp helps keep youth engaged in fun, safe activities during their Spring Break and allows them to learn about and try new sports, compete in community sports tournaments and participate in workshops on health, wellness and nutrition. For this event, groups within the community apply for time slots and attend as a group.

They are requesting help from BadmintonChicago to demonstrate and introduce about 100 participants to Badminton on
April 5, Thursday, 12noon-4pm

We need volunteers to help out.

Location: Crane High School (located at Jackson, not too far from Western). Free street parking will be available off Jackson.
2245 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL
http://maps.google.com/maps/place?&q=Crane+High+School&fb=1&gl=us&hq=Crane+High+School

If you are available to volunteer, please sign-up here:
http://tinyurl.com/2012SpringBreak
or
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/embeddedform?formkey=dE03UGhkOHBYcDkxOVlVNm5IUUQtZlE6MA

Please respond by March 25.

We expect Yonex sponsorships and gifts (T-Shirts, Shuttles etc for this event).

Please help out and also pass on this event information to others.

Thank you
BadmintonChicago.ORG

Volunteers for IHSA State Championships

Volunteers Needed.

IHSA Girls State Badminton Championships, May 13-14, 2010 Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois 61920  Kevin Hussey is hosting the Championships and sent us this note: "...“unofficial” scorekeepers needed. The event begins on Friday at 9:30 a.m. for the scorekeepers meeting.  The matches start at approx. 10:00 a.m. and go until approx. 5 p.m. on Friday, and Saturday from 9 – 2 p.m. ish….... to encourage both adult players and non-tournament participants who are high school “players" to volunteer, I've reserved the gym for Thursday Evening May 12 (8-Midnight), and on Friday Evening May 13 (7-11 p.m.) for the scorekeepers and support staff to play badminton to their hearts content. Volunteers should be 16 years of age or older.......We will even supply the birds for the Thursday and Friday Open Gym Sessions! Sorry, I don’t have a budget to pay stipends, travel, or hotels. However, you can stay in the dorm for a very low cost.."  More details here:  Kevin Hussey (217) 581-2418 (office) (217) 345-7757 (home) Email: kghussey@eiu.edu

Family Sports Fest - Rain or Shine!

We arrived at the venue for the family sports fest at 10:00AM in drenching rain. Midway Plaisance in the University of Chicago campus apparently was filled with water to showcase boats for the Colombian Exposition in 1893. Well, for a while, it seemed that we might need boats again. In the rain, the volunteers from WSC and BadmintonChicago helped setup the badminton nets and a tent and then waited.

By about 12 noon, the rain was gone and soon we had kids and adults coming by to try out badminton. It was fun and the show was on! We wrapped up the demo by about 5pm. It was a very nice experience and while the turnout could have been much higher without the rain, it was fun to be part of this effort by World Sports Chicago. (Thanks Amanda, Scott, Jen).

Thanks to the volunteers - Anand Bedekar and Daniel Yu !
Here are some pictures Thanks Larry!
Here are some More pictures Thanks Alex!

Do join us for the next BadmintonChicago event - we promise it will not be boring!

Voluneers needed for Demo at Northside Prep.

We have another need - Northside College Preparatory in Chicago is one of the top ranked high schools in the country. They have a fledgling badminton program and in the past we have helped them start the program and now they have a regular group of players. They are requesting volunteers from BadmintonChicago to demonstrate and coach them on
Wednesday April 28.
12:45- 2:30 pm

If you are available, please click here to sign-up.
http://tinyurl.com/northsidedemo

Please respond by April 15.

Northside College Prepatory
5501 North Kedzie Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625-3923

CPS Badminton Demo March 30 - Cancelled!

The March 30 CPS Badminton Demo has been cancelled.
There will be other opportunities to volunteer and help.
Thanks!

Chicago SpringFest Postponed to August/September

Broadway Armory is being closed for renovations sometime in May-June - and so the three-day event will be postponed to August/September. Please stay tuned for more details - as this will be an exciting event in the Chicago area for Badminton.