The Sports I love
Badminton and Pickleball
When I was in high school I played badminton in our school but not really seriously until few years after. We bought a beach property in Compostela Cebu, Philippines that had some extra land, so we had decided to build a badminton court near our house. I invited my friends from high school to play with me but I was not competitive – at least not yet. There came a time when we had enough of living on the beach front anymore and wanted to live closer to the city.
When we moved to Mabolo, Cebu City, I started to play badminton more seriously. I played for a couple of months with some good players and a couple of badminton coaches. My badminton prowess slowly improved.
In 2009 we had moved again - this time to Manila. It did not take me long to find two badminton facilities where they played the game at a high level. Metrosports and Yonex Badminton became my second homes in Manila. These courts are not so far away from the hotels where we stayed for four years. I meet a couple of friends who were serious badminton “addicts.” Before long, I was playing four hours a day, three times a week. I became hooked on badminton like many of my competitive friends. I started to joined badminton tournaments. My first tournament was women’s’ doubles. Much to my surprise, my partner and I won the doubles championship. It was an amazing feeling for me to win “the gold” at my first tournament. The longer we stayed in Manila, I become better and better at badminton and winning tournaments.
Early in 2013 we had to move again and this time to the United States of America. MY hubby wanted to retire where he was born, after living more than seventeen years in Asia. In America, badminton is not a serious game like in Asia. It seemed my badminton playing days were over. In the spring of 2013, I started playing a different sport called pickleball. Pickleball plays much like tennis but in a half-size court and a hard plastic ball. You use a paddle which is three times bigger than a Ping-Pong paddle. I started playing as a Novice, but reached the advanced level after six months.
In January of 2014, I was asked to play at pickleball tournament in Surprise, Arizona (not far from our home in Peoria). I played in a 3.5 skill level in the mixed doubles competition. I was so nervous because I have never played pickleball in a tournament before. My partner and I played really well and won the gold. I was so happy I pulled it out to win the first pickleball tournament I entered. Three months after I was asked if I would like to play in 4.0 skill level in both mixed and women’s doubles. I was hesitant at first since I did not know who would be my partner in mixed doubles but eventually said “yes.” On the womens doubles game we won our first two games but lost the next two matches- so no medal. The next day I played mixed doubles with this guy that I only met once before the tournament, but surprisingly, we played well together. I had so much fun as we played one awesome match after another. We won silver in spite of the uncooperatively gusting winds that day.
Now that I am living in America permanently, I don’t think I will be able to play competitive badminton like I used to. I need to focus improving my pickleball game since I am no longer a serious badminton player. I was initially so sad about not being able to play the same competitive level of badminton to which I had grown accustomed in Asia, but now I have pickleball. What’s more, they say that pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. I have even started coaching newer pickleball players.
