In the wake of the Canada Winter Games tournament, the local badminton community has a tough act to follow.
For six days in February, the city was treated to the spectacle of watching the best under-23 players in the country, some of whom are likely candidates for future Olympic teams, showing how the game is played at its highest national level.
The North Central badminton tournament set for April 10-12 at the College of New Caledonia gym will not feature any of the players who represented their home provinces at the Canada Games. But for many of the local players entered in junior, open and masters categories it's a chance to see how they stack up against some of their club-level peers from the rest of B.C.
Having badminton as one of the featured sports of the Games got people talking about it as a participation sport that can involve the whole family. For Prince George's Lisa Davison, the legacy of the Games is already being felt, especially at the local high school level, where she says more students are now playing the game competitively.
"I had a few goals and that was exposure of the sport for all the people of northern B.C. to see it at its finest, as well as to train some really great minor officials," said Davison, president of Badminton B.C.
"We want to get kids and families excited about badminton. The ages go from young all the way up to old and masters. It's not always about being young and training hard really early, sometimes you can start late and still get to the top."
The Prince George Racquets Adult and Junior Club starts with players as young as six or seven. Like any other sport, the earlier they start, the better the chances it will become a lifelong activity, but that's not always the case. Jason Ho-Shue of Markham, Ont., the men's singles champion at the Canada Games who defeated Andrew D'Sousa of Ottawa, the top-ranked adult player in Canada, has played badminton for only six years.
"It's all about a good coach working with you," said Davison. "Anna Rice (a two-time Olympian from North Vancouver) has always said she never had any talent for it but she trained really hard and was physically fit, so she was prepared.
"You can make an athlete into something big, you just have to be dedicated."
Davison, the P.G. Racquets Club president, says now that Prince George has a proven track record after successfully staging the Canada Games tournament at the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre, the city is ideally-suited to play host to the national badminton championships.
"Within a year you usually want to follow up with a national championship of some sort and I can see that here," said Davison. "It definitely could be done here.
"It's all about showcasing the city and the community of volunteers we have. Most of the volunteers (who served as line judges at the Games) aren't badminton players, they started off not knowing the lines. We had about 90 volunteers and it was amazing how dedicated and committed they were."
The carpets which marked the Canada Games courts at the NSC will be stored at the UNBC building, to be used for higher-level tournaments. The championship matches at next week's tournament will be played on two of the green courts used for the Games.
The North Central tournament coincides with the high school badminton season, which started March 2. Players from PGSS, Duchess Park, D.P. Todd and Kelly Road are preparing for the zone championships at Duchess Park and PGSS, May 7-9.
Tournament categories include under-11 (singles), under-13-15 (singles and doubles), under-17-19 (singles, doubles, mixed doubles - competitive and novice), parent-and-under-15 child, open competitive all ages (singles, doubles, mixed doubles), open novice (singles, doubles, mixed doubles), masters 40-and-older and 45 and-older (singles, doubles mixed doubles), and masters 50-and-older, 55-and-older, and 60-and-older (doubles, mixed doubles).
There is also a para doubles event for wheelchair athletes. To help increase the number of players in that category, Davison is encouraging able-bodied players to try playing from a wheelchair. Badminton will be one of the featured sports at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Davison is also seeking individuals who served as line judges or minor officials at the Games who aspire to become umpires.
To register for tournament play, contact Davison (250-617-5726, lisa@northcourt.ca) or Paddy Wadson (250-962-5088, pwadson@sd57.bc.ca).
