UM CSSA Badminton Club

Welcome to Ann Arbor and greetings from all CBC (CSSA Badminton Club) members!

Who we are:
Just a bunch of hardcore badminton fans who have come together not only to watch good games, but also to drill ourselves down to the last shred of energy just to be able to improve our game by a tiny bit, and find true happiness and fitness in our sweat.

Where we are and when:
Game time: Wed. NCRB 7:00PM - gym closing time
Thur. NCRB 7:00PM - gym closing time
Sat. NCRB 3:00PM - gym closing time
Off-Game time: Mail list: [email protected]
Website:
http://www.umcssa.org/sports/badminton/badminton_club.html
BBS: http://www.umcssa.org/bbs/index.html for WWW users
umcssa.org for CTerm users
(Sports board)

How to join us:
Easy: Just come to NCRB at game time. :-)

Q & A
Q: I am a beginner and I am afraid that other people will laugh at me...
A: We were all once beginners, but if you give up just because of being
afraid of being laughed at, when will you get a chance to laugh at
others? =P

Q: Yeah, easier said than done, but how do I actually get better?
A: Key thing: Keep at it! Besides, there are several players that are
more advanced and are more than happy to help you with learning and
drilling on the basic techniques.

Q: I don't even have a racket or any shuttles...
A: Most of the members keep more than one working racket and they
will be more than glad to let you use their spare ones. And, we have
our own training shuttles now, thanks to the CSSA committee! We also
periodically(once every 2-3 months) organize batch ordering events
where members look online at http://www.bbesports.com for gear that
they would like to purchase and one delegate would gather all the
orders and place one mass order on our behalf, for which the shipping
expense is shared among all that have placed orders.

Q: What about shoes and apparel?
A: Appropriate shoes are extremely important for badminton. Although any
sneakers should do temporarily, eventually you would want to order
some badminton shoes (see above) for around $40. As far as apparel
goes, anything that does not feel uncomfortable when you are involved
in a lot of movement is fine.(I don't think you can borrow this from
other players though...)

Q: Well I have a racket, but the string is broken, how do I get it
re-strung?
A: There are two options:
1. One member has a stringing machine that you can borrow at no cost
and do the re-stringing yourself (of course, if you bribe him a
little, he might be willing to do it for you...)
2. Bring your racket to this place, and have it re-strung for around
$15-$17.
Cayman Sports Co
3000 Washtenaw Ave
Ann Arbor, MI
(734) 971-7838
for around $9 if you bring your own string:
ask at the entrance of CCRB or call (734) 763-3084

However, our advice is to use the first option, because at least two members
had bad experience with their service (broken racket). If you don't know how
to string a racket, ask for help.
This is a link on our photoforum about how to string a badminton racket.

Q: What I am really interested in is to meet somebody, can I come too?
A: No problem at all! In fact, there are a lot of available SSGG and
PPMM on the badminton court. ;-)
W e have about 120 members in our email list, mostly Chinese,
from all kinds of departments, and a few from outside the University,
and currently about 20 frequent players in NCRB. I mean, a good
variety of people from all over ann arbor.

We also have a lots of events going on, to meet with people
other than ann arbor.

Q: What if I have other questions that are not answered here?
A: Well then just come and talk to us at game time...

Q: what if I'm not a beginer......?
A: Well that's even better: you could come and help others, and the
more advanced players would love to have some serious games with you!

Q: Do I have chance to play a tournament?
A: We hold regular annual tournament events among club members; you can
participate in the annual Varsity Intramural Badminton Tournament; we also
hold season tournaments from time to time too, funds permitting; And if
you are looking for more serious and advanced level tournaments, lookie
here: http://www.usabadminton.org/page.asp?page=events&sort=date

Q: what if I live close to central campus?
A: You can play at CCRB too, but the hours are a little awkward,
usually noon-2:00PM, although the word is that a couple of very
serious players usually play there. But let's pretend that you would
rather like to hang out with your CBC buddies, there are two options:
1. Take the school bus, anything that goes to NorthWood I, II, and
III or Bursley/Baits dorms will take you to NCRB.
2. Come at game time and simply ask somebody who owns a car to give
you a lift. Don't worry, anybody you ask would love to help you out.

Q: what's the purpose of this club?
Beats me... But since nowadays there's a club for everything else, we
thought it'd be cool to start a club ourselves for better
organization and more convenient communications between people who
share the same interest. And..., the cool thing is, we can also ask
CSSA for some financial sponsorship under this "club" hat. ;-)

Q: if I'm not a frequent player, why should I bother to join?
Well, there isn't an official "join" process, per se, except for you
to come and play at game time when you want to. In other words, your
coming to play is the real definition of "join".