Pictured: The Guam Badminton Sports Center. Credit: Norman M. Taruc/The Guam Daily Post
An upgrade for Guam badminton is imminent as the construction of the Guam Badminton Sports Center, a competition-grade badminton facility, nears completion in Barrigada, a village near the center of Guam.
Badminton Oceania is delighted to hear that the venue is nearing completion, spanning over 10,000-square-foot, the facility will house seven badminton courts that adhere to Badminton World Federation standards.
Rui Wang, managing director of the facility and the coach of the Guam National Badminton Team, is investing close to $80,000 of his own money to launch the facility, and plans a grand opening in early February 2022.
“Our mission is to provide a community service by making a badminton facility available to the public, and also to support and promote the Guam Badminton Federation to youth and school aged children,” said Wang.
Currently, badminton enthusiasts and the national team work out at the Dededo Sports Complex gym. “The Dededo gym is a multipurpose facility where the the Badminton Sports Center is dedicated to indoor badminton,” Wang said. “Our facility will conform to the standards of the World Federation in every aspect, from the professional badminton mats, posts, nets and lighting too.”
Wang said the facility will double as an indoor tennis court during the day, and convert to badminton in the afternoon or evening.
Wang, who has been on Guam for less than a year, saw potential immediately for the sport to grow on island. “This is an indoor facility, so players aren’t playing under the heat of the sun,” he said.
“Right now, about 50 players rotate to play on three courts at Dededo, we are doubling that here at the Badminton Sports Center. There are already a lot of players on Guam, a lot in the Chinese community, the Filipino community has some players and the Japanese community has quite a few as well, I’m sure it will pick up when the sport gets more exposure.”
President of Guam National Badminton Federation, Sandra Low, is excited by the prospects of utilizing space in the venue to “run even more programmes for the increased demand in badminton players” as they have previously been constrained by limited space.
Media update first published by The Guam Daily Post
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