Get the hit: Badminton club comes to St. Joe’s

A badminton club has made its way onto Hawk Hill.

Ethan Ramoutar ’24 created a club that brings the Olympic sport to St. Joe’s students. Driven to become an impactful member of the St. Joe’s community, Ramoutar thought of the idea to form a club over the summer.

As the start of the semester got closer, the real work began.

“I spent the summer looking at prices for rackets, shuttles and tape because there’s a lot of physical, durable capital that goes into all this,” Ramotaur said. “[During the first week of school] I was passing out all the 150 flyers I printed that used up all my free swipes.”

Ayumi Nguyen ’24 and Mimoka Seshi ’24, exchange students
from Japan, are members of the badminton club.

What Ramotaur really wanted to advertise through his posters and by starting the club, was how easy it is to start playing badminton. In fact, being a badminton expert is not required for this club, according to Trevor LaCoste ’24.

You don’t have to be a pro, you could just play everyday and you’ll get better,” LaCoste said.

The end goal is really just to get people to come out and play, according to Ramoutar.

“We’re just trying to get rackets in hands out here, because it’s not a super hard sport to get into,” Ramoutar said.

Ethan Ramotaur ’24 and Trevor Lacoste ’24 play in a doubles match.

For those familiar with tennis, badminton follows similar rules. A small object, called a shuttlecock (also known as a shuttle or birdie), is hit back and forth between players using racquets. Badminton can be played between two players individually (singles) or four players with two to a team (doubles).

Ramotaur has rackets and birdies available for use to encourage students to join even if they don’t personally have access to badminton supplies. While investing in a personal racket and birdie can certainly help, first and foremost is playing with passion, according to member Ava Culver ’25.

“Put your heart into it,” Culver said.

With other local colleges and universities fielding competitive club badminton teams, Ramotaur hopes that St. Joe’s badminton club can eventually compete against other collegiate teams. For this to be possible, it must focus on two objectives, according to Ramotaur.

Julia Dickson ’25 and Anh Nguyen ’24 take formation as a
doubles pair.

“We need to demonstrate that we have consistent attendance and have talent,” Ramotaur said.

Badminton is as much of a mental game as it is physical, requiring a multitude of skills in order to be a talented player, according to Ramotaur.

“It’s the quickness of it. The lunging to return a drop shot,” Ramoutar said, “It just requires a lot of quick reflexive medicine. It’s like short term strategies.”

Intricacies aside, the badminton club creates an environment where students can enjoy themselves, according to LaCoste.

“A lot of people just come over here and have fun. So even if you’re not that good and haven’t played badminton, you don’t have to be the best player [to have fun].” LaCoste said.