The Badminton Club, comprised of about 30 Bruins, finished its 2015-2016 season with a 4-1 record, only 2nd to USC's perfect season. The team placed 3rd at Collegiate Nationals for the 2nd year in a row, which Club President,
Janan Dea, said he is more than happy about. Vice President
Stephanie Lam placed 1st in the category of women's doubles, and 2nd in the category of mixed doubles.
One of the team's greatest moments during the season was an important win against our cousins up north, UC Berkeley. The teams usually play best of 15. UCLA and Cal were tied at 7-7 and the UCLA doubles pair put in work to get the team to clinch the win over Cal, 8-7.
The badminton community is very close and supportive of its members. The Bruins try to help out other teams by attending their tournaments as often as possible, like the UCI Anteaters Collegiate Tournament, which is hosted in the winter for college students only, and the other schools try to return the favor. UCLA is specifically close with UCSD's team, and recently competed in its Sun God Tournament.
UCLA's own tournament, the Bruin Open, was especially a success this year, opening the competition up to more individuals. The Open crowned 1st-3rd place winners of the A-D category, as well as a new open E division. With an increase in advertising compared to years previous and a large alumni support group, the Bruins boasted an attendance of 266 individuals, some even traveling from as far as Boston. The team was even sponsored by
Yonex, which provided shuttlecocks and high end, new rackets for competition and raffle prizes.
The Bruin badminton players also gave back to the community this year by volunteering for TAP (Teenage Adaptive Program), part of the John Wooden Center's list of programs. For a day, the team members welcomed cancer survivors and patients from Reagan Hospital onto the UCLA campus to learn to play badminton. Dea said volunteering at the event was extremely rewarding. He enjoyed speaking with individuals about their experience and what they'd gone through. This summer, he hopes the team will be able to host an outdoor badminton clinic at The Angel Games, a mini Paralympics.
The team will graduate two seniors, Dea and Andrew Susanto. With the loss of these key players, the team will experience a change in leadership and the amount of drivers available to shuttle the players to different tournaments in the region. Dea hopes to get the freshman members to become officers for the coming year to build leadership and create stronger bonds for the club's future. He has hopes of the team competing in even more tournaments against outside competitors, not just other college students.
Dea says right now the team is young, fun, and well bonded. In the coming season, he hopes they will stay committed to the sport. With USC's loss of a few significant graduating seniors and the incoming of some talented high school players, Dea hopes the Bruins will finally be able to beat USC.
Congratulations on your season, Bruins! Best of luck next year!
