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Club Information
Norberry Badminton is an adult recreational club that meets every Friday usually from late September to mid-June the next year. The hours are usually 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. but check the schedule for the current times.
Playing Schedule (clickable link)
The club provides:
-Rented courts for weekly play (subject to school availability)
-Yonex 300 yellow nylon birds
-a spare racquet in case yours breaks during the evening or you forget yours
-a great bunch of people to play badminton with
-a website to provide needed information and updates
Fees for 2022 (March to June) are currently $2 per evening per person, and there is a discounted "rest of season" rate if you pay in advance for the remainder of the evenings. If our facilities change, the rate might have to be adjusted and I will let you know.
Once we get back to our regular location, new members get a free first night so that they can see what the club is like at no cost.
The facilities are acquired by permit from the Division Scholaire Franco-Manitobain. Under the conditions of the permit, there is no obligation on the part of the school division to give us first priority for the facilities. Cancellations frequently happen and there sometimes little notice depending on the situation. If you have an email address, please provide it if you want be notified of any relevant information. This website will also be kept up-to-date with cancellation notices.
Feel free to play singles if there are more courts than people.
Matching of players for games is done by the players. Jump into any game you are interested in. If there are too many players or an unbalanced number of players, please rotate off/on in turn with others. This is something that our club has always been excellent at minding (thanks!).
We have had a few smaller children come to do other things in the gym while the parents played. This is not guaranteed to be allowed on any given night as the space may not be available, but it has generally worked out fine because there were just a couple of kids at a time, the gym is big, but the parents/guardians still had to ensure that the kid(s) were occupied and remained out of harm's way. Please note that we only have the permit for the gym itself, and the children must stay in the gym and bring their own activities.
For liability reasons, this is an adult club. All players must be over 18 to be a club member.
CONDUCT
Do not get excited about missed shots by yourself or your partner, or incorrect calls. It is acceptable to ask a player if they may have committed some unintended fault, but please take their answer at face value because we all know there is nothing really gained by cheating, and nothing meaningful lost by an incorrect call. On the other hand, there is definitely lost playing time by getting into discussing a call with more than a quick question (as noted above).
If you are a trained badminton player, please note that many of our members are NOT trained players and may do unexpected things. I have provided a few notes on "norms" below and would appreciate suggestions for other information that will make play safer for all concerned. Please note that for this reason, this might not be the best club for using your expensive raquet.
We understand that new members may still be learning badminton and that skill will improve over time. However, we hope for players to get quickly past the the "Sunday afternoon in the park" style of play where the bird is patted back and forth nicely. If you ask your playing partners, I'm sure they would tell you that it's better to try a more difficult shot and miss it rather than put a bird up where the opponent can smash it back easily. In other words, effort is always appreciated and perfection is never expected.
SAFE PLAY
Collisions between players don't happen often, but they have a great potential for injury in an otherwise pretty safe sport.
To avoid collisions, please follow these guidelines for conduct on the court:
1) If you serve short to the opponent, the normal thing to do is to immediately move up close to the net (usually the center) to cover a potential short return. Your partner should move back and to the center of the rear of the court in order to cover a potential long return.
2) If you serve long to the opponent, the normal thing to do is to call "SIDES" after contact with the bird and then to move backwards and to the center of your half of the court. Your partner should move to the center of his/her half of the court. Calling of anything else or calling very loudly will disrupt the other team's concentration and is not fair play.
3) Don't play so close to another player that you will hit them
or they don't have room to make a shot without hitting you. In order to cover
the court well, and also for safety, you have to ensure separation between you
and your partner.
4) Don't run towards or run around another player in order to get a bird that
you suspect the other player won't get. (Instead, run to cover shots where your
partner ISN'T).
5) Don't try to get everything back at all costs (and risk injury to yourself
or other players). e.g. Diving for a bird is not expected in this club.
6) Be most careful in backing up without looking. Most near-collisions seem to come from a player backing up into their partner to get a shot that their partner was preparing for.
7) Don't look backwards while your partner is hitting a shot behind you (even when your partner is merely sending the bird back for the opponents to serve). People regularly get hit in the back of the head by a shot from their partner. This isn't great but is much preferable to getting hit in the face.
OTHER NOTES
Do not play with a damaged bird. One thing the club does have is a good supply of birds, so do not suffer through a game with a substandard one. Just go get a new one from the pile by the club bag.
We are not looking for new members at this time. New requests will be placed on the waiting list, but please note that the list is long at the moment.
Please send an email to ask if there is room; do not show up unannounced.
When bringing new people to the club, remember that we want people that have a competitive nature but still realize we are playing for fun. If you love to smash at every opportunity or if you take the game seriously, you are looking more for a league at the Winter Club. On the other hand, if you like a slow game where the bird is tapped lightly from side to side, this isn't your club either. We aim for something in between.
Membership fees remain with the club and are only used for club expenses. The club fees provide for facility rental, badminton birds, a loaner racquet for the evening if you forget or break yours, and fund this website. Any remainder of the fees are used to maintain a small fund to cover damage to the equipment that the school lets us use (nets, especially). In support of our community, a donation to a charitable organization and possibly the school will be made annually if it appears that we have more than sufficient funds for needed expenses.
If a new administrator is appointed by the club, the funds transfer to the control of the new administrator under the same guidelines. If the club terminates, the funds are refunded proportionally amongst the members who paid for the year, and will not exceed the amount paid to become a member for the year.