Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Badminton brings out best in Smiths


Janice Smith, 9 (second from left) plays doubles with her brothers Sam, 8 (left), Joseph, 11 (second from right) and Josh, 14. 
 (Jed Conklin / The Spokesman-Review)
Josh Petrie Correspondent

Eric Lee grew up in Malaysia watching the top badminton players in the world, but the coach of the Shuttlefreaks club in Spokane hadn’t really played or coached in his first 16 years stateside.

Leave it to a child on summer vacation to provide the inspiration.

“While I was back in Malaysia, my little son was playing,” Lee said, “and he liked it so much, I thought I’d start it up over here again. And here we are.”

That trip home for Lee inspired the inception of the Shuttlefreaks four years ago and has culminated in 24 local youths competing at this week’s U.S. Junior National Badminton Championships at the Sports USA complex in Greenacres.

The contest is expected to bring over 230 competitors in boys and girls singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles, in eight age groups ranging from 7 to 21.

Four of Lee’s 25 to 30 prized pupils come from the same household. The Smith family, which has nine children between the ages of 6 and 28, was introduced to the sport when they found a newspaper advertisement for Shuttlefreaks when the club was starting up.

“In the school paper, it had this notice and it had a sign-up sheet that we could go to (the club),” Joseph Smith, 11, said. “So I guess we just went to it.”

Now, four of the children: Sam, 8; Janice, 9; Joseph and Josh, 14, are playing at nationals.

“Any time they get to compete, they always do well, just because they’re in a competition. It brings out the best,” Suzanne Smith said. “I think they’ll do all right. Even if they’re not even close to being at the level that some of these kids are at.

“Some of these kids, my goodness, you just can’t believe to watch them. It’s amazing.”

While this will be Sam’s first tournament, the other Smiths have traveled with Shuttlefreaks throughout the Northwest, including much of British Columbia.

“It’s fun (and) competitive to travel around Canada and stuff,” said Josh Smith, who will be a freshman at Ferris High School in the fall.

“And we’re good at it,” Joseph Smith said.

This week, the Shuttlefreaks get that quality competition on their home courts. The Smiths believe their quickness and shotmaking ability will help, especially in a sport where the shuttlecock, or “birdie,” travels toward the players at nearly 200 miles per hour at the elite levels.

“We’re kind of even,” Josh Smith said of he and Joseph for the family bragging rights. “He can hustle a lot, and I can hit the shots.”

Josh’s shot-making is just one of the many individual athletic skills the Smiths and the other top badminton players must possess to be successful.

“You’ve got to be fit, in shape, and be able to run around,” Josh Smith said. “You’ve got to be thinking where to put the shuttle when it’s coming at you … drop it or smash it or clear.”

Josh Smith admits that while the elite players in the U.S. will be at nationals, he’s still not quite sure what will transpire.

“It’s people from all over the country, and you don’t know how they play,” he said. “It’s gonna be tough.”

Lee, an Avista engineer by day and volunteer coach by night, had started a badminton club for all ages at West Central Community Center. But with more than 40 adults involved with the club, it was hard for the children to get any court time.

“The problem was you couldn’t get any kids in, because the adults were playing all the time,” Lee said.

Many of the kids found a chance to play at Lincoln Heights Elementary School on the South Hill, but now the school is in the process of being demolished. After working with Sports USA, Lee and the youth club are now in full swing twice a week with indoor courts painted on the Sports USA gymnasium floors.

“Facilities are tough to come by. When they agreed to put courts in, I agreed to come over,” Lee said. “Once they were laid down, I said, ‘OK, I’m there.’ “

Another place the Shuttlefreaks might find playing time is Lee’s native country. Lee is in the works with the Badminton Association of Malaysia to send any players that want to join him to Malaysia this winter.

Lee, who was named volunteer coach of the year by USA Badminton in 2003, said location is not an issue when it comes to teaching his Shuttlefreaks how to be the best in the sport.

“If they want to go, I’ll take them,” Lee said. “They’re gonna find just how much further we have to go. … They’re gonna see just how much stronger kids at their age can be.”

Lee added that in the middle of the 20th century, Americans didn’t have to travel anywhere to play the best.

“We’ve got a lot of growth to make up for,” Lee said. “But in the 1950s, the U.S. was No. 1 in the world. Then tennis took prominence, so to speak, and badminton went to the wayside.”