Vets to stage show of shuttles

HAVING hosted the event for more than forty years, Ballarat Badminton Association will run their annual Victorian Badminton Veterans Association tournament this weekend.

Five hundred players over the age of 35, within 62 groups from Victoria and South Australia, will descend on Ken Kay Badminton Stadium tomorrow, Saturday, 22, and Sunday, 23 April to serve their shuttlecocks.

BBA secretary Sandra David said the tournament has proved popular, fully booked up with teams of eight.

“We’ve had to knock teams back because we don’t have the room,” she said. “We have 17 courts here, and we’re also using the basketball stadium next door, with 14 courts in there.”

Ms David said the event will be a boon for Ballarat, attracting hundreds of visitors and their spend, but the association’s key goal as the host is much simpler.

“Our main objective is to involve our members and give them a taste of competition,” she said. “It’s all about the companionship and socialisation.

“We’ve got four teams here in Ballarat, and about 30 players. We’ve got one or two players who are 80-plus super veterans in the Ballarat team, and then very keen 35-year-olds who are in a veterans’ team for the first time.”

Eight Victorian Badminton Veterans Association tournaments are held each year throughout the state, and Ballarat’s is the biggest on the calendar, always staged during the April school holidays.

Ms David said public spectators are welcome to drop in to check out the action.

“The veterans may not necessarily be as powerful as elite players, but they’re very skilful,” she said.

“Rather than the speed and smashes of the moment, it’s more the skills of placing shots, and the old traditional ways of playing that will be on show.”