Weekly women’s doubles a hit

FOR almost a decade, Ballarat Badminton has been providing women in the region with a weekly way to keep connected and stay fit.

With the exception of the COVID-19 pandemic, round robin games of ladies’ socials doubles have been run through Ken Kay Badminton Stadium on Tuesday nights.

Wendy Vorstenbosch tried her hand at badminton around 10 years ago after encouraging her children to play the sport, and has been a longtime participant in the session.

She said it’s long been a benefit to her and others.

“It’s non-competitive and we go and have a laugh and a hit,” she said. “It’s more like improving on last week and doing a little bit better while hanging out with some nice ladies.”

The sessions began as a pilot program following a grant through Badminton Victoria to encourage female participation in the sport.

Registration takes place at 6.15pm prior to games starting at 6.30pm while participation is $8 for Ballarat Badminton members and $10 for non-members.

While the number of participants fluctuate each week, Ms Vorstenbosch said she’d be keen to see more new faces coming to the sessions.

“Some weeks we have as little as six ladies, other weeks, we have 12 ladies,” she said.

“Because it’s more a social thing, there’s no reason to commit each week, but sometimes when you have a good group going, I want a way to have it open for people to come and feel welcome.

“Sometimes people don’t know what’s on around town, and other times it can be daunting going to something if they don’t know anyone but I want people to feel they can join in at anytime.”