shuttler the
Official Magazine of Badminton Ontario - Volume 2 Issue 2
Lee Wan Wah & Wong Choong Hann formally ranked #2 and #1 in the world, packed the stands at Humber College with an exhibition to be remembered.
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4 10 14 16 18 22
coaches corner change in the feather bon the wall from bats to birds lee w.w. & wong c.h junior pan am champs
With Alfred Lam. Question for the coach? Send an email to theshuttler@badmintonontario.ca
A closer look at the feathers in your shuttle and why man can’t seem to replicate it
Jessie Luo from Soong Badminton Academy in Ottawa applies Newton’s Law to badminton
A tribute to the legendary Don Rogerson
Cover: these Malaysian stars pay Ontario a humble visit
For the first time in ten years, Canada captures gold
Badminton Ontario 209-3 Concorde Gate Toronto, Ontario M3C 3N7 tel: 416 426 7195 fax: 416 426 7346
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Board of Directors
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President: Eduardo Gregorio eduardo.gregorio@badmintonontario.ca
Vice-President: Dave Kumar dave.kumar@badmintonontario.ca
Treasurer: Jeff Sum jeff.sum@badmintonontario.ca
Director: Warren Brownlee warren.brownlee@badmintonontario.ca
Director: Eric Lee eric.lee@badmintonontario.ca
Director: Anne Lim anne.lim@badmintonontario.ca
Director: Jordan Hearn jordan.hearn@badmintonontario.ca
District Presidents
Be a fan!
TDBA: Pry Gnana pry@badmintonbirds.com
WOBA: Jeff Goldsworthy goldy@golden.net
ODBA: Fei Tam kanatajrbc@yahoo.ca
COBA: Russ Le Blanc russleblanc@rogers.com
NOBA: Frank Boulanger nobafb@yahoo.ca
GBDBA: Alan Henry siralan.62@rogers.com
Badminton Ontario gratefully acknowledges the funding support of the Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion and Sport
On the cover: Wong Choong Hann (above) and Lee Wan Wah, top badminton players in the world, showcase their skills at an exhibition to be remembered at Humber College. pg 18.
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2011 of e h t h h wit o Coaced Lam i r a t n O ar Alfr the Ye
S E H C A
CO
R E RN
CO
One of the challenges that coaches face everyday is how to keep badminton interesting for their students. Even the most dedicated of athletes occasionally become bored with their sport. After all, many of the drills that are commonly used have most likely been practiced ad nauseum. The goal is to keep badminton interesting by changing how an athlete trains. Much like changing a work out routine, changing drills will help keep an athlete’s interest and prevent the athlete from reaching a plateau in their performance. At the A. Bujak badminton club, here are some of the spins we add to our drills to make them both more challenging and fun. 1) Feather Picking Feather picking is a simple drill that can be used to improve both fitness and footwork. Using a pile of shuttles, students use a form of footwork to move one shuttle to a second location. This drill can be used to train multiple types of footwork including a side-to-side motion mimicking smash defense, a “V” movement mimicking net play, etc. Feather picking is usually one of the most dreaded drills for most students as it quickly becomes monotonous. A team aspect can be introduced into the exercise to prevent this boredom. Instead of a single student picking up birds and then placing them at a location, create a chain of students and have them pass birds down the chain. By creating a team atmosphere students build camaraderie and are able to motivate each other whenever anyone starts to lag behind. To make things more interesting, create multiple teams to introduce a competitive nature into the drill.
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2) Resistance Training Once students become accustomed to a particular drill, it becomes necessary to make
it more challenging by adding resistance. However, beware of weighted vests as they may lead to spinal compression when performing exercises that place a large amount of impact through your spine such as running and jumping. Instead, try bungee cords attached to a padded belt. From there, students can perform many different exercises while
of resistance can be used for any type of shot on the court. 3) Nets Another way to train students is to replace the conventional net with an opaque net. Opaque nets can be made by sewing lengths of black fabric together and running a string through the length of the net. This change in net helps students decrease their reaction time, as they can no longer see the bird until it has reached at least the height of the net. In addition, students will be unable to see their opponent during net play. Drills involving cross-court net shots become especially effective as they become much more difficult to see. Opaque nets can also be used to practice service reception. Receivers will have to react much more quickly to both short and long serves. 4) Games Changing the rules of the game can have a large effect on all players. Suddenly, everything they know may or may not work depending on the variations of the game. This forces students to adapt to an unusual situation. One popular variation is the “box” game. It is similar to a regular game of half court singles except that the lines are now the doubles service lines. Any shots before the front service line and behind the doubles long service line are out. This game promotes quick, aggressive play since the dimensions of the court are significantly smaller.
another student holds onto the other end of the bungee cord. This will add resistance in a safe way as long as students are careful to not let go of the cord. To increase the difficulty, add additional cords. This drill is also helpful to the student holding the cords, as they are able to train their arm and core strength when done properly. First time users of the bungee cord should practice moving from the centre of the court to the front of the net first just so they can become accustomed to the pull of the cord on the way back. As students become more experienced, this type
By regularly adding small changes to their training regiment, students can stay interested in their sport while they continue to develop their skills. I whole-heartedly encourage every coach to think outside the box and be creative with his or her lesson plans. By doing so, your students will surprise both you and themselves with what they can achieve. Hau Saang Cheen for life! Peace out! Rock on! Troll PRIDE! Alfred Lam
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NEW INITIATIVE: WBPAC ‘ WOMEN IN BADMINTON PAN AMERICAN FEDERATION’ BY FIONA MCKEE In May 2011, Pilar Carrillo (BPAC office) and Fiona McKee (Canada) attended the inaugural BWF Women’s Forum held in conjunction with the 2011 BWF AGM in Qingdao, China. The Women’s Forum showcased speeches from successful women in badminton from around the world. Madame Lu Shengrong (first female BWF President) in a motivating speech encouraged the involvement of intelligent, dedicated women in administration, coaching, and officiating badminton and to remember to always promote the ‘Stars’ in badminton--the athletes. The major focus of the BWF Women’s Forum was on the findings of the Survey of Participation of women in badminton around the world. These findings showed that there are equal numbers of women and men participating in playing badminton but there is a dramatic decline in women in other areas of the sport; namely, administration, coaching, and officiating. The Badminton Pan Am Confederation (BPAC) has a responsibility to help provide females from all countries of Pan American Zone with the same access and opportunities as males. Therefore, a new initiative, ‘Women in Badminton Pan American Confederation’ (WBPAC), has been formed.
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The WBPAC’s first step towards increasing women’s involvement in all areas of badminton in the Pan American Zone was held at the 2011 Pan American Junior Badminton Championships and Biennial General Meeting this past July in Kingston, Jamaica. Fiona McKee (Canada), WBPAC representative, gave a presentation at the BPAC Biennial General Meeting on the current statistics of female involvement in badminton in areas such as: playing, administration, coaching, officiating and volunteering. Then, the WBPAC hosted a ‘Women in Badminton’ Working Group meeting. At this meeting, women from Pan Am countries, representing officials,
coaches, and players, discussed the current issues that women in badminton in the Pan America Zone face while involved in the sport. This new initiative is hoping to help provide females who are interested in being involved in badminton with the resources they need to succeed. To further this aim, the WBPAC wants to hear from any one across the Pan American zone who is running a program or project that encourages the involvement of girls and women in the sport of badminton. These best practices will be shared among Pan Am countries on a new section WBPAC section of the Badminton Pan Am Confederation’s web site, http://www.badmintonpanam.org/.
For the past couple of years, MPSA have been very grateful to our title sponsor Yonex Canada. This year, for the 3rd Annual Doubles Badminton Championships 2011, MPSA partnered with Badminton Ontario and Victor Canada to introduce a new level of competitive play. Once again, we
Above: Fiona McKee, Madame Lu Shengrong, Pilar Carrillo in China at the first BWF Women in Badminton Forum
Please contact Fiona McKee (Canada), Women in Badminton Pan American Confederation (WBPAC) representative at panamwomeninbad_minton@hotmail.com for more information about this initiative and/ or to submit a description of projects that support women in badminton. MPSA 3rd Annual Doubles Championship (next page) Following the success of the two previous tournaments, MPSA was privileged this year to be associated with Badminton Ontario and Victor Canada to conduct a sanctioned tournament for the competitive BCD players while concurrently conducting the 3rd annual open recreational tournament.
were privileged to have clubs and participants from the cities of London, Hamilton, Oshawa, Montreal, Ottawa, and from the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The event brought about a sense of camaraderie amongst players and clubs, but without a doubt, the diverse ethnic backgrounds of the participants is what MPSA is particularly proud to say have accomplished. The games were evenly contested and this year in particular, a very high standard of matches were experienced due to the partnership with Badminton Ontario. The main focus of these events is to promote and foster the sport of badminton for recreational and competitive enthusiasts. Chairman Tournament Organizing Committee Shehan Andradi a former
2011 3rd ANNUAL DOUBLES CHAMPIONSHIP by TREVOR FERNANDO PRESIDENT OF MPSA seeded player in Canada was ably supported by reputed former seeded and non-seeded players, with strong ties in the sporting communities around the GTA. The organizing committee of MPSA consists of reputed former seeded and non-seeded players, with strong ties in the sporting communi
All Champions and Runners-up for each category including the Consolation Champions and Runners-up received gifts from Victor Canada along with a certificate and a trophy from the Corporate Sponsors.
MPSA is proud to announce the Champions and runners-up for each category as follows:
Victor Men’s Doubles Champions: Derek Hebner & Drew Huerter Runners up: Eugene Yue Hin Lau & Kyle Wong Chew Onn Victor Men’s Doubles Consolation Champions: Mustansar Billah & Prasanna Gunasekera Above: participants of the MPSA Doubles Championship Runners up: Cordell Saunders Par- sons & Bruce Shaw ties around the GTA. These committee members are committed and focused on uplifting the spirit of Badminton, as they believe the sport deserves more respect and exposure in Canada. MPSA as a not-for-profit Association, its main objective as a whole is to organize sporting events throughout the year that bring about community fellowship while promoting fitness and friendship. MPSA and its committee are thankful and proud to have such valuable Sponsors and supporters that assist in making these events a success. As a token of appreciation, a souvenir for the event was published where all Sponsors received exposure and coverage. In addition, Sponsors were promoted through announcements, print material as well on the MPSA website.
Victor Women’s Doubles Champions Yuti Hu & Linda Lo Runners up: Dora Chan & Regina Leung Recreational Doubles Men’s Champions Abdur Rahman Nanhuck & Jason Situ Runners up: Jacky Ho & Philip To Recreational Doubles Consolation Champions Daniel Cale & Anthony De Silva Runners up: Eardley Balachandran & Suresh Thavalingam Masters Doubles Over 50 Men’s Champions Wilfred Saldanha & David Carroll Runners up: Martin Yiu & Mohamed Mall Masters Doubles Consolation Champions Alfred Lau & Ramsey Wong Runners up: Siva & Sivayogan
On behalf of the Tournament Organizing Committee of MPSA, I take this opportunity to extend our heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to Jolande Amoraal and Robyn Caton of Badminton Ontario and Calvin Holoboff & James of Victor Canada for all their support and encouragement. Let me also take this opportunity to thank all of our Corporate Sponsors and advertisers. Your generous efforts are greatly appreciated and commended. Lastly, thank you to the Volunteers our young and energetic youth from our coaching clinic for their untiring efforts in helping shape this tournament into new heights. Going forward, it is indeed our intention to make this tradition a bigger and better event in the future and also to hold other tournaments to cater for the younger generations. Trevor Fernando President/Coach - Metro Pulse Sports Association
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the level of play at the Champion Nyl CPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB CPB Badminton Open has Yakura, Canada’s topbeen steadily increasing and ranked women’s doubles BPCBPCBPCBPCBpetitive PCBlevel, PCatthis Ba Pfairly C B P C B P C B P C B P C B P C maintained compair and Olympians Charyear’s tourmaine Reid and Nicole nament was the inauguration Grether, and 2010 Youth OlymCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB of a sixth badminton event. In pian Tracy Wong. With over addition to the men’s and 450 matches played over the BPCBPCBPCBPCBmixed PCBevents, Psingles, CBa Pdoubles, C B P C B P C B P C B P C B P C women’s and two days, players and spectarecreational tors alike were treated to some doubles event was added that very exciting and extraordiCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB was designed to encourage nary matches! recreational players to take Of course, the tournament BPCBPCBPCBPCBpart PCinBthisPCcommunity BPCBevent PCBwould PCBnotPhave CBbeen PCthe BPC in what, for many of them, success that it was without was their first badminton the immense support of the CPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB tournament. Some of the badminton community as well top players who decided to as long-time sponsor Black BPCBPCBPCBPCBparticipate PCBPinCBPCBPCBKnight, PCBandPCGold BPSponsors CBPBadC the 10th anminton Birds, Panago Pizza, and niversary of Lemongrass. During the tournaCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB the CPB Badment, players were treated to two full days of prizes, food, and comBPCBPCBPCBPCBOmPiCpn BtePo nnCBPCBPCBpetition PCBinPaCvery BPsocial CBand PCfun included environment. 2011 Junior CPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB N a ti o n a l Kwok Wai Chan BPCBPCBPCBPCBDCPorCuoBbwPl neCBPCBPCB2011 PCBCPBTournament PBadminton CBPCCo-chair BPC Open CPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPBCPB
The CPB Badminton Open remains to be one of the most anticipated tournaments of the year. It has a long history of providing a fun and social atmosphere where badminton players can come together to compete, reacquaint with old friends, and also make new ones. This year, the Mississauga Board of Chinese Professionals and Businesses (CPB) hosted the event at the University of Toronto, Mississauga campus. Over 230 players registered for the 2-day events, making it the largest CPB tournament to date. This year, players travelled from as far away as Ottawa, Thunder Bay, and even outside of Canada to participate! Because
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Retailers can’t make any money off of them, players can barely afford to buy them and the prices keep increasing. Why replicating this natural product seems synthetically impossible.
B
efore digging into the core of the matter, it’s important to understand the difference between the clunky plastic (or nylon) bird you play with recreationally from the hand crafted, hand-picked pieces of art that spiral at speeds of more than 200 mph. A tube of nylon birds will cost you ten bucks and sometimes will even throw in a racquet, but a tube of the Yonex F90 shuttles used at the Olympics, might cost up to $50 a dozen and aren’t even sold in North America.
been washed they are laid outside to dry, where they are hand moved and shaken for quickness. Then they are separated again. Workers then one by one slide them into a machine that punches them into their perfect shapes. They pass them along to the next worker who checks for broken feathers. Then they graded by colour and shipped
With matches using up to 18 shuttles at the Olympics, totalling $75, this could quite possibly be one of the most expensive sports. The main question starts at the root, being ‘how much do goose feathers really cost’? Unfortunately, the only information that turned up was for feather duvets, with down costing about $1,000 a pound. Along with this alarmingly high price tag also come frequent reports of falsely labelled goose duvets. Many well known retailers such Wal-mart, have been found to sell goose down duvets that contain no goose feathers whatsoever. After reading about this fraud against consumers I can only imagine corners might be cut in other areas of goose feather production. The world of shuttlecock production seems to be somewhat guarded and mysterious, with Yonex not offering much insight into their secret processes. But in recent years, in order to defend the rising prices, suppliers have come out with detailed, labour intensive processes. Any shuttle worth its cock is made of 16 feathers taken from the left wing of a goose. Low end versions will use duck feathers which tend to dry and break quicker. The manufacturing process is long and includes 15 main stages. RSL is one of the oldest shuttlecock manufacturers in the world, and uses two different plants to process their shuttles. Although they don’t provide insight about how they acquired their goose feathers, their production process is given in full detail on a YouTube video online.
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The feathers first arrive in Nanjing at their feather processing plant. Here, the feathers are separated and then washed and conditioned to ensure excess particles do not affect the quality. Once they have
Above: A few of the many steps involved in shuttlecock production, a very labour intensive process. Pictures courtesy of RSL.
off to their sister plant in Guangzhou. Here, the shuttles are graded once more for quality, and then a machine inserts them in the cork, which already has holes punched into it for feather insertion. They are sat in a machine that spins them while applying glue to the inserted feathers. Once they are glued, they are left in a room to curl, which al-
lows them to dry properly. They are then inserted into another machine that applies string strategically around the feathers to hold them in place, and glued again. The shuttles are machine tested for flight and speed by a machine that spits them out at different trajectories. After this, the shuttles are ready to be packaged. From the moment the shuttles leave the factory, they already begin to degrade. Inventory is turned over every 2-3 months, so beware of sales on lingering merchandise. Although shuttles can be humidified before play to make the feathers less brittle, anything 6-9 months old is fair warning. The cork in a shuttle also proves to play an important factor, with differences like complex cork, granulated cork and natural cork. Natural is the most expensive. Some products use all three, and few use all natural cork. Some might even say the best cork comes from Portugal, adding an even higher distinction to the world’s most expensive shuttle. It’s hard to determine the cost of natural cork to shuttle cock manufacturers but at up to $10 a square foot for flooring, it paints a dismal picture of what it could potentially cost the manufacturer. In 2003, a bird flu epidemic lasted more than three years, causing the price of goose feathers to increase more than 50%. That along with stricter regulations and monitoring of the feathers during manufacturing to ensure the feathers aren’t contaminated, caused suppliers like Yonex to increase their prices. Although the World Badminton Federation (International Badminton Federation at the time) made a statement that they were ‘trying to move towards plastic shuttlecocks’ in case of a shortage, it seems that finding a suitable replacement is next to impossible.
nylon shuttle (Mavis 300). There is no sensation of positive feedback when hitting the foam shuttle and the flight pattern is very tough to control (goes fast and slows very quickly). I like the idea Mizuno was trying to take with this new shuttle but durability, flight and feel are all well off their competitors.” It seems that suppliers have taken a bit interest in our concern of rising prices and have come up with alternatives (albeit less than a handful). Li-Ning has created its own replaceable feather shuttlecock. To put it simply, if a feather breaks, you simply replace it with your back-up supply of pre-punched feathers. But this is not a new concept. Prince came up with this in 1991 but the price drove away consumers. At the time, this cost $18 a tube which included 10 shuttles. Li-Ning’s new version costs $25 a dozen and claims shuttles will last up to three times longer. The real question is can it overcome the barriers Prince had in the 90’s and be able to win over the heart of badminton consumers around the world? Or will shuttlers continue to buy based on convenience and quality, at up to twice the price? Even though Mizuno’s foam shuttle looks promising, it comes from a sport supplier with no relatable badminton product or history. So with a suitable replacement far from reality, the future looks to be all-natural.
Recently available synthetic versions have been just that, and
Mizuno recently secured a patent for their synthetic shuttle made of polyethylene foam because of ‘sales beyond [their] expectations’. players feel they don’t have the same ‘touch and feel’ as real feathers. Mizuno for example, has created a shuttle that claims to have ‘flight performance close to nature’. It is made of a resin/polyamide shaft, polyethylene foam and natural cork and has produced ‘sales beyond [our] expectations’. In fact, they recently applied for a patent in February 2011 to secure the rights to their profitable invention. But does it perform? Brian Prevoe, director of Badminton at Mandarin Badminton Club in Markham has tested this shuttle to determine its value for his club. “The truth is that no nylon shuttle is close to the feel and performance of a goose feather shuttle. Many companies have tried to break into the market with nylon or synthetic shuttles with no success. The Mizuno foam shuttle is miles a part from even the standard
Top: Yonex AS50 50% natural cork, 50% complex cork Middle: Victor Champion No. 1 50% natural cork, 50% complex cork Bottom: Aeroplane black label EG1130 100% natural cork
Pictures courtesy of Badminton Shuttlecock Research & Design
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my summer
training in by Rachel Honderich This summer I had the opportunity to train in Denmark for two weeks on a trip that was organized by Anna Rice and Bobby Milroy. I was joined by fellow Canadian junior players Danielle King, Jenna Koller and Adriana Holcek. Each day we trained two or three times at a variety of top Danish clubs. One of the groups we trained with was the International Badminton Academy (IBA), which is run by Michael Kjeldsen. Michael is the current coach of Canada’s top world ranked men’s singles player, Stephan Wojcikiewicz, and he is also the former coach of Peter Gade, Bobby Milroy and Anna Rice. The IBA group includes players from several countries, along with some of the top junior and senior players from Denmark. We also trained several sessions at the KMB Badminton Club, which consisted of top junior players who are our age. In these practices we got to do drills with them, as well as challenge them in some singles and doubles games. A third place we trained was at the Greve Badminton Club, which is currently Denmark’s strongest badminton club as they won the Championship last season and they consistently produce players that are named to the junior and senior National Team. At Greve we trained with some top international players from all over the world, which was intense but also really fun. We did a combination of physical and technical drills that were done with a high level of intensity.
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Throughout our stay in Denmark we were fortunate to get many private sessions with a variety of top coaches. In Greve we worked with head coach Nadia Lyduch, as well as her brother Jonas, who is the U-17 Danish National Coach. We also got to train with Danish National technique coach Master Lian Zhang, who taught us several new techniques that I’m excited to practice in the coming year. We also had sessions with Anna and Bobby, which was fun as I hadn’t worked with them much before. One of my favorite sessions of our trip was a private session we had with former World Champion and overall cool guy Peter Rasmussen (see picture). In all of our training sessions we had an amazing level of coaching from a variety of suc-
cessful players and coaches, which really allowed us to learn what it takes to be a top international player. Not only did we get to work with top players and coaches, we also had the opportunity to watch the Danish National Team practice. It was so cool to see some of our favorite international players training right in front of us, such as Viktor Axelsen, Peter Gade, Jan Joergensen, Tine Baun, Kamilla Juhl, Mathias Boe and Karsten Mogensen. All the players were really nice and gave us autographs and even t-shirts. Tine gave us a small motivational talk, which was really inspiring. It was incredible to watch these top players train, because even though the drills they do aren’t much different from us, their intensity and work ethic really demonstrates why they are at the top of our sport. On both weekends of our trip, we participated in local Danish tournaments. One of them was the Hilleroed Junior Mester and the other was the Skelskoer Junior Mester. We all did really well finishing in the top three in both tournaments. Since there are so many badminton players in Denmark, they have five different levels of tournaments, and we competed in the Mester level, which is the 2nd highest. I was really happy to finish first at both tournaments, as it means I would be allowed to play in the top level tournaments if I return to Denmark in the future. There were around 20 girls in the U-17 category, which is amazing because there were 3 other tournaments on the same weekend, and this was just the girls in the Mester level. Another fun aspect of this trip was the cultural experience of staying in another country. The first week we stayed together in an apartment in Copenhagen and had fun cooking our own meals and hanging out mostly with each other. For the second week we billeted with Danish families who had kids that play badminton at the KMB badminton club. Going into the second week all of us were really nervous because we weren’t sure
how much English our billets spoke and how their lifestyle would differ to ours, but it ended up being so much fun. Our billets were the same age as us, spoke perfect English, and were even able to teach us some Danish! During our time off from badminton we would go shopping, tour downtown Copenhagen, have traditional Danish meals and go for the BIGGEST ice creams ever (see picture for evidence). This trip to Denmark was an incredible experience. I learned so much that I really believe will help my badminton so that hopefully one day I can become as successful as some of the Danish players I met. Rachel Honderich
Above (from left to right): Karoline Keller, Adriana Holcek, Danielle King, Jenna Koller, Peter Rasmussen, Rachel Honderich, Anna Rice and Camilla Bilgrav Rachel Honderich was the U16 female athlete of the year for 2011. She trains out of Granite Badminton Club under the guidance of Mike de Belle. She was a triple crown winner at the 2011 Ontario Junior A Championships in the under 16 age division. At the 2011 Junior National Championships she won gold in singles, in a very close 2 set battle!
e badminton club exhibition E Badminton Club, one of Toronto’s many badminton facilities, held their own exhibition this summer. Run by Efendi Wijaya, their aim was to promote the sport in their club, encouraging each athlete to take the next step in their game. “The reason to hold the exhibition is to promote the badminton sports, to motivate all the players (all level) to reach to the international players level, to bring those recreational players or beginner players to practice more.” Efendi rallied his own champions, Jason Ho-Shue and Michelle Tong to help him and the other exhibitors put on a good show. It is athletes like these that help motivate other athletes in his club; it gives them something attainable to reach. Jason Ho-Shue, only 12 years old, was a triple-crown winner in the U14 age division at the 2011 Junior National
Championships and the Ontario U16 male athlete of the year. Michelle Tong was a double-crown champion at the 2011 Junior National Championships and is the Ontario U14 female athlete of the year. These athletes continue to excel and continue to motivate others. Along with the local stars were Nandang Arif Saputro, former Indonesia National team member, and Efendi Wijaya, E Badminton’s head coach. Guest players included Kevin Li (Badminton & Racquet club), Nathan Lee (Suria Badminton Club) and Jody Chan (B&R and also Ontario’s U19 female athlete of the year). These stars attracted around 60 people to the event which was held in June 2011. After a successful exhibition, Efendi plans to hold more exhibitions at schools in the future with the support of the local badminton community.
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Applying Newton’s Third Law to Badminton Coaching
According to Newton’s Third Law
of Motion, for every action, there is
an equal and opposite reaction. Consider the flight of a badminton bird; the bird
toe at the net!” These constant reminders reflect the zealous attitudes of my
coaches and their endless determination
to better my playing. They are the ones who inspired me to become a coach to further inspire others.
uses its feathers to push the air in one
amount of force to push the bird in the
technically and psychologically. Little Billy
direction, while the air uses the same
opposite direction. Don’t worry; I’m not
here to give a lesson on physics. Rather, this idea of interaction between pairs
fascinates me. Applying Newton’s Law, can you find the correlation between coaches’ effort and
As a SBA coach, it is so re-
warding to see our players improve
would come to summer camp on the
Monday with a nervous face, reluctant to even rally with the coaches. By Friday, he would be laughing, playing games,
and sharing emails with his newly found friends. It is also
their players’ suc-
always great to hear
cess?
campers share their
stories with us; to be
I’ve been
able to do so means
fortunate enough
that they have trust in
to have experi-
us. By taking the ef-
enced both sides
fort to encourage open
of the game: as
communication, play-
a player and now
as a coach. Starting off as a skills
ers can easily interact
Above: Soong BA coaches sharing fun with campers at the SBA summer Fallingbrook camp in Orleans
and develop crucial
development player, I have trained and
teamwork skills.
Academy over the past half a decade.
technique has soared, my network of
technique, it may not be enough to im-
grown up with Ottawa’s Soong Badminton Thanks to my coaches, my badminton
friends has greatly expanded, and my passion for the sport has surpassed
my love for chocolate, which is pretty
rare! Through these years, I’ve caught
on to my coaches’ phrases—“Contact the bird in front… Snap and pull… Have heel
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amongst each other
While coaching technical skills is
important in helping to improve a player’s prove his or her performance. A “good” coach is someone whom the student
can talk to on court and off court. For
example, after four hours of drills, would
the coach know anything about the player besides their badminton skills? I think
B.On th e wall
not. Coaches should give players
the opportunity to talk about their achievements and to express
their concerns, so that on court training could be more personalized. For our camps, we make
the best use out of lunch time and swim days, when we would
socialize and play games with the campers. It is so important to find that common interest be-
tween the coach and the player, because it builds the foundation
to their interest in your coaching abilities and in badminton training.
As for the answer to
my earlier question, you should’ve already figured it out. There is a
its reflection would represent the magni-
tude of reaction. Whether we, as coaches, want to see a lengthy reflected beam or not, depends on the amount of light we
create. Much thanks to the players whose smiles and positive energy have continuously extended the light in my coaching experience! Sincerely,
Jessie Luo, Level 1 NCCP Coach Soong Badminton Academy
positive correlation between the
amount of effort the coaches put in their teaching and the actions of their students; the greater
the effort and time, the greater
the return. As coaches, we should try our best to motivate, support, and provide constant feedback to our players. Similarly, as players, we should thank each coach for his or her contribution to our playing success.
If an action was a beam
of light and shone onto a mirror,
Above: Jessie Luo sharing smiles/energy with camper Marley
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Opninions expressed in this column are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the opinoins of Badminton Ontario.
On May 28, 2011, the badminton world lost one of the key builders of the sport in Mississauga when Don Rogerson, my father, passed away in his 91st year. Although long retired from his role as president and founder of the Mississauga Badminton Federation and Erindale Junior Badminton Club, right up to the end, he still maintained his interest in the progress of the club and the lives of the young people he had helped sculpt and shape.
where he became the VP of sales and which prompted the decision to move our family to Mississauga. In September of 1963, Dad started the first junior badminton club at Tomken Road Senior Public. 40 kids showed up without even advertising the program. The Director of Parks and Recreation in Mississauga came by to check on this new program and insisted that Dad move it up the road to the Applewood Secondary School to accommodate the growing demand. Here he joined forces with other volunteers to start an instructional program that continued to grow. The following year’s registration saw 100 children show up. Many came from Malton and Dad recruited two parent volunteers from that area. In September of 1965, when 200 kids registered with almost half of them from Malton, Dad asked Parks and Rec for a school in the Malton area and was given Morningstar Public to which half of the Applewood Club moved. In 1967, Dad started a new Club, the Erindale Junior Badminton Club at the recently opened Erindale Secondary School. With three clubs operating, he started the Mississauga Badminton Federation to incorporate all three clubs under this umbrella.
In the words of Roger and Margaret Wallis, founders of the Etobicoke Jr. Club, “Don was a true gentleman: kind, generous, fair, interested, enthusiastic, and dedicated. Don made a huge contribution to badminton overall, but especially at the base of the pyramid, providing young people with a place to learn to play and then helping them to achieve their best.” From an early age, Dad always had a love of sports. He started writing a sports column for the Mimico newspaper while in high school. In exchange for his popular column, he was given a press pass for free entry to cover lacrosse and baseball games. An excellent baseball player himself, he made a name for himself in the Toronto area as an up and coming young centerfielder. He was inquired after by one of the scouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates but didn’t get the opportunity to see where that may have led. He’d been called to war the previous day to do his part as a signalman on corvettes during World War II. Upon his return to Mimico after the war, Dad started playing ball again. One day, a young boy recognized the lanky centerfielder walking down the street and asked if he would teach him and a few of his friends how to play ball. When Dad showed up at the ball diamond that Sunday, there were about 50 kids there eager to play. With that much enthusiasm, Dad decided to start a kids’ baseball league. Thus was the start of Dad’s many volunteer years as an organizer and instructor in bringing the joy of sport to young players.
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While playing baseball at Earl’s Court diamond in Toronto, Dad noticed a beautiful young woman who’d been at many of his games; his future bride, Shirley. After Mom and Dad got married in 1954, they moved to Guelph. Always one to do anything he set his mind to, Dad decided that he would build his own house. With the help of an architect friend, Dad built the family home. Always lending her support and a hard worker, Mom was right up there on the roof hammering away while 8 months pregnant, eager to complete the house before their 1st child, Donna was born. I think Dad hung up his hammer right after the completion of the house, though, because while I found it amazing that he’d actually built it, I don’t remember him doing much in the way of fixing things around the house. Years later my husband, Doug, gave my
Nick Volpe is handing Don the award for his induction into the Mississauga Hall of Fame (2011). Nick was an inductee in 1981 for his involvement in football (Toronto Argonaut 2 Grey Cup triumphs) mom a tool belt because she was always the handyperson in our family - not Dad! Although Dad didn’t construct any more houses, he did continue his passion in building and developing sports programs for kids. Still playing baseball in Fergus, he took up badminton to keep in shape during the winter months. Noting that there were no kids playing badminton at the Guelph armory where he and Mom played, he started up instructional classes for kids there. One of the earliest memories of badminton that my sister, brother and I shared, was as toddlers with racquets almost a big as us, hitting the bird suspended from the rafters in the basement. Years later in Mississauga, while many kids were shooting hoops with their fathers in their driveway, we were hitting birds with our father on the court he’d painted on the asphalt parking area of our driveway. Later still, the court was used as a dance floor when I got married outside at home. After my brother, Rob, was born, Dad was offered a job at Vanguard Steel in New Toronto
While we were children and well into our teens, our whole family life was centered around badminton. Mom helped organize and run club tournaments and acted as Treasurer. My brother, sister and I were playing in tournaments almost every weekend throughout the winter. As a NCCP level 3 coach, Dad spent many hours in the early morning and evening hours as well as Saturdays and Sundays training 9 provincial champions during his tenure. Dad and other parents would drive the competitive group off to Kitchener, Woodstock, Niagara Falls, Ottawa, Hull, Lewiston, NY, and Flint, MI as well as many local tournaments. As we got older and more competitive one of Dad’s philosophies was that if somehow we couldn’t outplay other clubs, we could certainly try to outlast them! Before our practices we ran for at least 1/2 hr either outside or through the school halls in the winter. After running practice we would have another 1/2 hour of exercises to warm up before play. All this physical activity led the Erindale players to be among the fittest on the circuit at the time. Dad was constantly striving to improve his coaching skills and bring new ideas to the club. He and one of the instructors from Malton travelled to an instructor’s conference in Sweden to upgrade their coaching levels. Many dinnertime discussions were based on new instructional ideas Dad would bounce off us to constantly improve the skills and create interest on the part of the young players. Very young beginners were moved from station to station where after learning to “shake hands with the racquet”, they developed their hand-eye coordination through various games like the balloon bounce, scooping the bird out of the air or off
the ground with their racquets, bouncing the bird off the walls and races carrying the bird on the racquet. They had the opportunity to earn badges throughout the seasons as they progressed through the various skill levels right up to instructor level. The standards Dad set became the model for community run badminton programs all over Ontario and they are the standards the Mississauga Badminton Federation continues to operate under.
over the past 25 years”. And finally, in June of 2010, Dad was thrilled to receive a lasting tribute at the 36th Mississauga Sports Council’s dinner when he was inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame as one of the “Builders of Community Sports in Mississauga”.
Dad also had very high personal standards and wouldn’t hesitate to express his opinions. Roger Wallis, of the Etobicoke Jr. Badminton Club remembers “how at Toronto District Badminton Association meetings, if Don didn’t agree with something, up went those bushy eyebrows and everyone knew that he had something to say on the matter.” And the occasional junior player will remember the “Look” and raised eyebrows if they dared to swear or hit a racquet against the floor in anger! We were taught that you always shake hands at the end of the game – win or lose. When in doubt on a call, always call it in favour of the other player. This was just plain good sportsmanship!
Just over a year ago, Dad was very proud to be honoured at the cake cutting ceremony celebrating the 45th anniversary of the Erindale Jr. Badminton Club. After attending a tournament at the club this past spring with his daughter, Donna, who had been a volunteer with the Erindale club for many years herself, he spoke of how very appreciative he was that the club is still thriving and of the excellent coaching jobs done by the instructors. In fact, he often spoke of the help of the many, many tireless volunteers over the decades that had helped him achieve his dream, and especially the support of his successor, Minton Wing. “Don was my friend, my mentor and the leader that I tried to emulate,” wrote Minton Wong, upon Don’s passing. “He showed me what passion and commitment can achieve and I was honoured when he entrusted his legacy to me.”
Over the many years, the Mississauga Badminton Federation organized and was the host club for the Ontario Junior Badminton Championships at Humber College. In September 1983, the MBF introduced the Don Rogerson Award and presented it to club members who exemplified the best qualities and highest
Currently the Mississauga Badminton Federation continues to operate the Erindale Jr. Badminton Club and continues its service to the community as an affordable non-profit organization run by dedicated volunteers with an average annual membership of 160 members. EJBC also hosts 2 novice tournaments
Three Head Coaches of Erindale Junior BC with Don at the 45th MBF Anniversary. From left to right Fred Carruthers (president EJBC), Joe Piette (vice-president EJBC) and Minton Wing (past president EJBC). standards as a member of the Erindale Junior Badminton Club. One of proudest moments of Dad’s coaching career, was being recognized by his peers for his many hours of dedication with the Keith Holland Award, the highest award for badminton volunteers in Ontario. Years later, his successor, Minton Wing also received this prestigious award, making the Erindale Junior Badminton Club the only club in Ontario to have more than one member to receive this honour. In 1985, Dad retired and handed over the strings to Minton Wing who became the president of the club from 1985-2007. In 1990, the Erindale Jr. Badminton club relocated from Erindale Secondary School where it was first started in 1967, to its current location at John Fraser Secondary School in Mississauga. Dad received lasting recognition from the sports world in Mississauga. Award winning sports journalist and previous long-time editor of the Mississauga News, Mike Toth called Dad, “the pioneer of badminton in Mississauga” in his book “Birth to Millennium: Mississauga’s Sports Heritage”. On June 3, 1987, at the 13th Annual Mississauga Sports Council Dinner, Dad received an award for his “Outstanding Contribution to Community Sports”. In 1999 he was awarded a medal at the 25th Annual Mississauga Sports Dinner as part of a special tribute to the “The 25 Most Influential People in Community Sports in Mississauga
“Don was a true gentleman: kind, generous, fair.”
Don, with wife Shirley, at the 25th Mississauga Sports Awards Dinner, was recognized as one of the “Top 25 in Mississauga Sports”.
each year. The singles tournament held in January is called the Don Rogerson Tournament in honour of their founder. Dad’s dream was to bring the opportunity to kids from all walks of life to participate in the character-building joy of sports. Through not-for-profit community run programs he was able to not only enrich the lives of many kids, but through his dedication and the support of the many volunteers, offer an exceptional quality of badminton instruction that allowed his players to compete at the level of top private clubs. The long lasting effect Dad had on many young lives was brought home in a wonderful letter Dad received not too long ago from a retired police officer Dad had coached as a young boy around 50 years ago in Guelph. This player expressed his thanks for what a profound influence Dad had on his life from the moment he’d placed a racquet in his hands, to the present when he is still enjoying competing at a national level. And as to whether Dad’s legacy to young players will continue into the future, in the words of Minton Wing, “As long as the Erindale Junior Badminton Club functions, Don’s contribution to grass roots badminton in Mississauga will always be remembered”.
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Malaysian Stars lee wan wah and Wong choong hann
“events like this generates extra “buzz” around “the badminton community and it shows how popular this sport is.” Eddie Kung
On August 16, 2011 Humber College hosted the exhibition of the year, featuring former #2 doubles player Lee Wan Wah and former #1 singles player Wong Choong Hann. Malaysia is a strong country in the world of badminton and these two are no exception. Showing us that they can be both competitive and light-hearted about badminton, they led the crowd to their feet in a showcase of entertainment. Lee Wan Wah started competing internationally in 1996 and continues to play with his regular doubles partner, Choong Tan Fook. They represented Malaysia at the 2004 Olympics and the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. After Beijing Lee Wan Wah left the Badminton Association of Malaysia to start a club with close friend Wong Choong Hann, called Pioneer Sdn Bhd, that hopes to produce world class athletes for Malaysia. His highest world ranking was #2.
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above: lee wan wah picture by chewy chua
Wong Choong Hann’s career started in 1991. He eventually played at the 2004 Olympics, losing to Taufik Hidayat in only the 16th round. At the 2006 Thom-
as Cup he snapped his Achilles tendon, which set him 6 months of competition. Upon return it was evident that he had a long ways to go to gain his form back. At the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he this time defeated the reigning Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat. His highest world ranking was #1. Over 650 people came to watch these high class athletes perform with local elite players, a rare opportunity for many of our local players to watch and get coaching from such high profile players. Sponsored by La Difference Time Centre, and organized by Mandarin Badminton Club, the event required coordinating volunteers, arranging an elite camp with the special guests as well as an autograph and media session. “We had about 25 volunteers with each volunteer spending about 8-10 hours each for the event,” says Eddie Kung, club administrator for Mandarin Badminton Club. Local websites and media picked up the event and were there on site to interview the stars. Five newspapers and websites as well as five additional T.V. and radio stations covered the event, giving it the
“the quality of badminton that was played was exceptional and will forever be one of the highlights for us in hosting an event” Doug Fox Athletic Director, Humber College
recognition it deserved. “Events like this generates extra “buzz” around the badminton community and it shows how popular this sport is in the community and how many people are enjoy playing this sport,” Eddie says.
below: lee wan wah & wong choong hann at the mandarin/humber exhibition
The biggest supporter was Humber College, who donated the use of their facility for free. Doug Fox, Athletic Director of Humber Athletics values the importance of supporting high performance sport in his community. “We chose to support the event as part of our partnership with Badminton Ontario for elite programming. We have had a few opportunities to host international events and professional teams in other sports but the quality of badminton that was played was exceptional and will forever be one of the highlights for us in hosting an event. Hosting some of the best players in the world is a very prestigious opportunity to showcase our college and our athletic facilities.” The exhibition had a little bit of everything for everyone, including a celebrity match which featured Wong Choong Hann and Michael Chan, a Canadian politician. Mr. Chan is a Liberal Member of Provincial Parliament for the Ontario provincial riding of Markham – Unionville and Minister of Tourism and Culture in the provincial Liberal government. Accompanying him was a slew of supporters, cheering him on relentlessly, and rising to their feet applauding when he won his one and only point against the former #1 player. What is an exhibition match without an opponent? This evening brought in some of the top players from around Ontario, including Brian Prevoe, Nyl Yakura, Joshua Hurlburt-Yu, Brittney Tam, Raymond Won, Andika Yong, Tracy Wong, Sergiy Shatenko and Joseph Rogers. The final match between Wong Choong Hann and Joseph Rogers was the perfect way to end the evening. It takes a real exhibitor to put on a good show for the audience, especially when you’re facing someone who has the talent to beat out a former Olympic Champion. But in the face of adversity, Joseph Rogers continued to drop death defying smashes against the former #1, proving Canadians can play too.
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Canada travelled to the Isle of Man in September 2011 with a team of 8 juniors - Nyl Yakura (ON), Andrew Lau (ON), Nathan Choi (BC), Clinton Wong (BC), Christin Tsai (BC), Adrianna Giuffre (AB), Kacey Tung (AB), and Vivian Kwok (ON) – to compete at the 2011 Youth Commonwealth games. Nyl Yakura, who is busy travelling the world competing in various events, took some time out of his busy schedule to fill us in on how Canada played. “Clinton [Wong] and I both finished singles in the round of 16. Clinton going out to a player from Wales in a close two sets 22-24 and 18-21. I was excited by an Indian 18-21 and 15-21. In the doubles, Clinton and Andrew made it to the quarter finals going down to an Indian pair in a close three sets 21-18, 16-21, 15-21. Nathan [Choi] and I managed to reach the semi-finals by defeating a Scottish pair and an Australian pair before losing out to the Above: Closing Ceremony number 1 seeds of Malaysia, 17-21 and 11-21. Photo taken By: Dave Kneale That put Nathan and I in the bronze medal match against the Indian pair that our fellow Canadians fell to. We unfortunately lost in three sets 14-21, 21-15, 12-21.
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“For the females, Christin [Tsai] played the first seed in round 3 and gave all she had losing in three sets 21-15, 13-21, 8-21. Christin was the only player to take the first seed to three games. Adrianna [Guiffre] in the singles went down to a girl from Northern Ireland 16-21 and 16-21. In the women's doubles, Christin and Adrianna had to play the Malaysians who made finals in the first round losing 13-21 and 18-21. Kacey [Tung] and Vivian [Kwok] made quarter finals before falling to the Australian duo 11-21 and 12-21. In the mixed doubles, Clinton and Kacey lost to the number 4 seeds from Wales in a tight three games 21-15, 15-21, 19-21. Christin and I reached the quarter finals before losing to the number 3 seeds of Malaysia in three sets 21-17, 13-21, 16-21.
Below: Team Canada, Below that: Badminton Team Canada Photos courtesy of Viviak Kwok
For doubles, Nathan and I trained together all season last season and I think we played very well that tournament. Reaching the semi-finals was a great feeling and we played the best we could. We started our partnership in 2008-2009. I saw Nathan playing as a U14 at the nationals and thought he was very talented so I asked him to play with me for the following season. We clicked very well for our first time playing together and took it from there. We did stop playing together for 2009-2010 but then came back together for this past season. When we played, I would usually prefer to be at the back hitting and letting Nathan cut off at the net but sometimes we switch it up because he does have a very good attack. When we are positive and complementing each other we play very well. Sometimes one of us will mentally get fragile and that is when we start to fall apart or not play our best. We do our best to keep each other positive no matter what happens in the match and that is usually when we stand out as juniors. In mixed doubles, Christin and I started off playing together at the senior nationals in Winnipeg 2010. We had a very close game with the first seeds and decided to keep playing from then. My move to BC allowed me to train with both of my partners and it paid off. We usually rely a lot on defense and trying to counter attack because since I am not a very big person, I rely on the placements of my shots to set up Christin at the net. A good tactic we used quite a bit was Christin attacking from the back to the girl and I would finish in the front. So we technically almost play more of a doubles style. What we are both good at is getting everything back, even if we have to dive.� Although the Canadians did not medal this time around, the Isle of Man was another experience to remember. Above: Nyl Yakura Photo courtesy of 2011 Commonwealth Junior Games
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Canada celebrates its first Junior Pan American Championship in 10 years The 2011 Ocean Spray Wata Panamerican Junior Badminton Championships were held in Kingston, Jamaica in July 2011. Team Canada consisted of 8 Canadian players, 5 of them from Ontario; Bethany So- Ontario, Nyl YakuraOntario, Andrew Wilkinson- Ontario, Andrew Lau-Ontario, Jody ChanOntario, Clinton Wong, Adriana Giuffre and Kacey Tung. Team Canada Coach Ram Nayyar led the team to a 3-1 victory on the final day over Brazil to give Canada the title of Champions and their first Gold medal in 10 years! The final day was an interesting day for ties from start to finish. The strong Brazilian team defeated the defending champion, Team USA 3-2 making their way into the finals for the very first time. Canada beat Guatemala 3-0 in the semi-final to play Brazil in the finals. The finals were filled with excitement as Canada fought their way to a 3-1 victory over Brazil.
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The final positions for the team event are:
Top: Andrew Wilkinson & Andrew Lau. Middle: Team Canada with Coach Ram. Below: The team after their success!
1. Canada 2. Brazil 3. Guatemala 4. USA 5. Peru 6. Jamaica 7. Puerto Rico 8. Barbados 9. Trinidad and Tobago
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