With the conclusion of many spring sports’ seasons, Badminton Club reclaims the small gym to offer weekly badminton matches for club members and interested students alike. Kicking off their first meeting of the semester, the club met Thursday, Feb. 27 after school. Due to scheduling conflicts and other sports using the small gym area, meetings were suspended at the end of the first semester, and were unable to return permanently. But, with wrestling dying down and other sports going into their off-seasons, the club has been eager to continue their weekly meetings.

While President Amrutha Bolisetty ‘25 has been affiliated with the Badminton Club since her sophomore year, she has played badminton for almost her entire life. So, after hearing about open officer positions, she seized the opportunity to express her passion with her academic peers, and hasn’t looked back.

“My dad and I have been playing badminton since I was six,” Bolisetty said. “So, I learned from him. I came across [Badminton Club] in sophomore year, and it was awesome. I joined, and when officer positions were open, I applied because it has just been a passion for me for such a long time.”

Starting off the year with the vice president role, Bolisetty was promoted to the president position after the former president moved out of town. This transition opened up new opportunities for her to enact her goals for the club.

“I was pretty scared honestly [of becoming president],” Bolisetty said. “I wasn’t fully sure what [the president] did behind the scenes, but I think [my presidency] is going pretty well.”

The club consistently pulls in an attendance of upwards of 40 students, especially due to high numbers of non-members attending the meetings. But, through careful organization and some basic rules, every player is able to get a fair amount of play time.

Club sponsor Mr. Mark McGoldrick has been with the club since its inception two years ago. Despite agreeing to start and oversee the club after a misunderstanding, his involvement in the club has allowed its frequent meetings and growing playerbase.

“I had a student named Nethen Joseph, who graduated two years ago,” Mr. McGoldrick said. “He came to me and wanted to start a badminton club. Originally, I thought he said it was a batman club, and I thought that maybe it would be interesting. He seemed like a nice enough guy and I decided to sponsor [the club].”

The club has gone through three presidents in all of its history, and throughout these transitions of power, the members note that it has managed to run well and plan smooth experiences for its members.

“I think [the club] is running efficiently,” Mr. McGoldrick said. “It’s well organized and [always] has been throughout the various officers that have been in charge of the club.”

But, behind the scenes, being able to handle a large number of playing members isn’t the only key aspect of the club’s logistical planning process. Due to the communal nature of the equipment used, the rackets and nets can be worn out and birdies can be broken or lost. As a result, one of the priorities of this year’s officer team has been to generate a cash inflow to be able to sustain and replace the existing equipment. They succeeded in this through hosting a fundraiser at P. Terry’s. The benefits from this fundraiser allowed players to be able to use brand-new rackets, birdies, and nets, which were unveiled at this first meeting of the semester.

“I think our club is going good,” Bolisetty said. “I’m so happy about our fundraiser. We will have more people come eventually and I’m really excited for having new officers too because a new team means new perspectives and new ideas.”