Badminton is the official sport of our family.  We love it so much that my children gave me a “professional” net for my birthday.  (We were tired of the poor quality of nets we purchased from retail stores.) 

Badminton has an interesting history dating back to 18th century India where it evolved from two children’s games, battledore and shuttlecock. In these games, a shuttlecock was kept in volley across a line using small rackets.

Recently we held the “Stewart Invitation Badminton Tournament.”  My son and I even found a trophy with two “birdies” on it at the local thrift store to use as a prize.  Everyone came dressed in their best badminton “uniforms”.  We ate dinner and then began the tournament. 

Because we had quite a few teams in our so called tournament we played best 2 out of 3 games and only played to 15.

The objective of badminton is simple, that is to hit the shuttle over the net so that it lands in your opponent’s court before it can be returned.

You can hit the shuttle fast, slow, high, flat or low. You can smash it with maximum power or “dink” it gently over the net.

Badminton would be a fun game to set up at your next family reunion and have a tournament that is ongoing during your reunion.  Put up a bracket and make teams responsible for playing each other. If you have a large family make it a single elimination tournament.  Play the championship game at the end of your reunion.

Why Badminton?  Anyone can play, almost anyone.  At our tournament we had players from 6 to 60, pregnant players, and players with chronic illnesses.  We had players that would dive for the birdie and players that had to step over the line to serve.  But no matter what the skill level everyone had fun- at least until the sun went down and it got dark.  Guess the next thing I  need for my badminton court is- lights!

Aunt MO