UCLA Badminton began the fall quarter and the new academic year with optimism and excitement — with overwhelming interest during events at the beginning of the year. As always, we saw amazing passion for the sport from the get-go, with many fresh faces and positive energy as well as new players looking to pick up a new sport.
This quarter was one packed with events, in an effort to foster more interest and passion in badminton! We held a club badminton speed-dating social, where players were matched together with new faces to play against one another. We also held events open to the public, such as our first ever UCLA Internal Doubles Tournament (co-hosted with CSSA) and our first ever badminton clinic. At both events, we saw high turnout, with players outside of the club coming onto the court to learn, practice, and compete.
"Whatever your level or experience with the sport is, we want UCLA Badminton to be a welcoming environment for everyone, and one way we do that is through our socials! This year, we aimed to intermix the competitive team and club with a speed dating social, internal tournament, and clinic, and we also celebrated holidays like Halloween and Christmas with the team. Overall, UCLA Badminton this year has been full of fun events that have led to new friendships, and we will continue this next quarter!"—Kyra Sunil, Social Chair
We also kicked off our competitive season with a dominant performance in the first two meets of the year. With a drive to win, our captains began hosting weekly training sessions for the competitive team to ensure a consistent level of play in competition.
"This quarter the UCLA competitive badminton team had plenty of achievements to celebrate. We went 6-0 in both SCCBL meets, defeating both USC and last year's national runner up UCI. The team itself has received unprecedented participation, with players from all years flocking to meets, coming to weekly training, and vibing at the socials. As captains, we are extremely proud of this year's competitive team and we hope to take this momentum into the coming year." —Andrew Wang, Captain
Fall quarter was a great start for UCLA Badminton, and we plan to bring this momentum through the rest of the 25-26 school year! Go Bruins!
