History
Virginia Club Badminton is a well-established and rapidly-growing group that allows University of Virginia students to play badminton, both among themselves and at outside tournaments. With members from more than a dozen nations, we’re also a very diverse group- and a very successful one.
Without a doubt, VCB is the most informal "Club" sport on Grounds. VCB is so informal, in fact, that its practices have more in common with intramural or "drop-in" sports than a club sport. Students, TAs, and professors show up, greet old friends and make new ones, and play with whoever happens to be there- just as Mr. Jefferson would have wanted it. VCB prides itself on never charging "members" (a very loose term for us) dues or any kind, as it is entirely supported by grants from Student Council and other funding sources.
VCB is clearly both a competent and successful organization. In 2007 National Capital Opens, a popular amateur tournament held at the University of Maryland, our members emerged as Champions in Women's singles and mixed doubles. We also had first-runner up members in Women's doubles.
VCB's strong culture of informality held together by a collective love of badminton means that its history beyond the past several years is vague and unknown. When Parry Narkprasert (Engineering '07) become VCB's President in 2006, he put a strong emphasis on improving VCB's relationship with Slaughter and IMS-Rec and on making the officer team more responsible. Mr. Parry managed to do this without straying from the Club's cultural roots. The current president, Suchit Ligade (Engineering '09), has restated this as a top priority for the '07-'08 school year.
As a result of Parry and Suchit's leadership, VCB has a much better working relationship with Slaughter and IMS-Rec officials. Complaints from Slaughter officials, once a near-weekly occurrence, have been nearly eliminated, and are corrected immediately when they are brought up. Not coincidentally, the amount of "court time" alloted to VCB for practices has greatly increased, though not nearly enough to meet the Club's growing membership.
Presidents of VCB:
'07-'08: Suchit Ligade
'06-'07: Parry Narkprasert
'05-'06: David Ho
*Presidents prior to the 2005-2006 school year are unknown.