Demand the inclusion of indoor badminton courts in Irvine's Great Park sports facilities

Badminton is the second most popular sport in the world, after soccer and is the most popular racquet sport. Up till the mid-20th century, Americans dominated badminton, and the sport enjoyed widespread popularity. Dave Freeman, the "Pasadena Flash," from California, considered by some to be among badminton's greatest players, was the only American to reach world No. 1 and won the equivalent of the world championship back in 1949. It is a sports still enjoyed by many on both the east and west coast. While there are a number of dedicated badminton clubs in Los Angeles, there is not a single one in Irvine. The closest being in city of Orange. Go to any of the handful of multi-use courts, with sub-standard marking, here during badminton night and one can see queues waiting for their turn to play the sports. We owe it to our children to make access to the sports more readily available. The venue should be primarily for badminton 24/7 and could be leased to a badminton club and to Team USA as their training facility, thereby operating as a self-sustaining sports facility. That way, we can have an additional choice of recreational activity available to our kids, youth and even working adults. Who knows, we may unearth a future 'Dave Freeman 2.0' or two among them to become a badminton powerhouse again.

Update #56 months ago
The City Council, in a meeting with the volunteer group on 1/11/2022 directed the city staff to build dedicated badminton court in Irvine. Per an RFP in June, an indoor sports gym has been planned at Col. Bill Barber Memorial Park but the city staff ignored the direction and called for multi-use courts. They will be tabling the proposal as item 6.1 on Tue 9/12/2023 for Council approval.
We need all your presence at the meeting to push for dedicated badminton courts. Est. time for 6.1 is 6-7pm
Update #41 years ago

This is the current status of the Irvine High School drop-in badminton program. They are getting a permit and still talking to IUSD to move the current program(s) occupying the gym. The projected kick-off is most probably in September. Right now, they are planning for 2 nights(weekday only) a week. So, hopefully, by September this year, Irvine residents will have 4 outdoor courts at Los Olivos Community Park and 10 indoor courts (2 weekday nights per week) at Irvine High School.

Update #31 years ago
Hi badminton lovers,

Some of you have feedback to me asking what can we do about the city manager who had acted beyond his authority to overrule City Council's decision. See attached email from the group leader Chan.

https://tinyurl.com/b3fw2d7a

For those who are not following US badminton, we have currently 2 women single among the world elite. Iris Wang at World Tour ranking #12 and Beiwen Zhang at World ranking #15. Iris is runners up in French Orlean Master 2022 a day ago.
Update #21 years ago
Dear signers,
Thank you for your support of this effort in achieving 635 signatures in 2017.
As some of you are probably aware, a similar effort started end of last year actually garnered some 1,300 signatures! Yeah! Dialogue with the City is in progress and below is the link to keep abreast with the latest development.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hcQVmMrG_3jq7p7VzlWBD5766lAfbJkuNzhnapSG7bM/edit?usp=sharing

Thanks for supporting this project for the benefit of our children.
Geok Ser
Update #16 years ago
Thank you to those who had signed and/or share the link of this petition. The number of signature currently stands at 575 with some 85% of them coming from residents in Irvine and the immediate neighboring cities.
As the window of opportunity for signature is closing, please remind those who have not signed the petition to do so as soon as possible. Most important of all, share the link on your social media aka facebook, whatsapp, wechat, twitter.. Thank you for your support!
Sign Petition
Sign Petition
You have JavaScript disabled. Without it, our site might not function properly.

Privacy Policy

By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service.
You can unsub at any time here.

Having problems signing this? Let us know.