Manual’s first-ever badminton club is about to start soon, allowing students the opportunity to play a sport that is distant from typical high schoolers in America. The club was founded by Utsab Giri (10, MST) and sponsored by Mr. Harsh Upadhyay (Mathematics) and should be officially established later this month.
Giri is enthusiastic to bring diversity to the school’s sports offerings. “I’m a big badminton guy, and I noticed that Manual doesn’t really have diversity when it comes to sports,” he said. Badminton is relatively underrepresented in American high schools but widely played throughout the rest of the world.
The first ever badminton club in the United States started in 1878; the Badminton Club of New York. The sport continued gaining popularity, having Hollywood stars in the 1930s being spotted playing the game, spurring the creation of new badminton clubs nationwide. The United States also had a winning streak internationally between 1949-1967. Since then, badminton has slowly declined, remaining a relatively niche sport in the United States.
The club is set to be more than just a sports group. “It’ll be a friendly environment where kids can hang out and be like a stress reliever, you know? That’s pretty much my aspiration for it,” Giri said.
Badminton is one of the fastest sports in the world, with its shuttlecocks traveling at speeds an excess of 300 miles per hour in professional settings. “Badminton is pretty physically demanding,” Giri said.
Newcomers to the sport shouldn’t worry; they will be taught how to play, and over the span of the year learn the ins and outs of the sport, leading up to an exciting end-of-the-year tournament. “We want a whole range of levels,” Giri said.
This will be one of the only badminton clubs in Louisville, apart from the Louisville Badminton Club which plays at Tom Sawyer State Park on Sundays, from 12:30-3:00, Wednesdays, from 5:30-8:00, and the University of Louisville on Fridays, from 7:00-9:00 pm.
Reflecting on the club’s early reception, Giri expressed his optimism. “So far, a lot of people think it’s a very good idea,” Giri noted. “It’s been pretty good so far.”
If you’d like more information, visit @dupont_manual_badminton on Instagram.
