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Nancy Hoge and Roberto Lee keep their eye on the birdie as they prepare to hit a return shot during a badminton practice at Wytheville Community Center last week. Photo by Jean Farley

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Local seniors bad(minton) to the bone

By NATE HUBBARD/Staff

A little birdie soared through the air last week in Wytheville as a group of area senior citizens calmly watched its serene flight.
And then, WHAP!
One of the onlookers brutally smacked the peaceful flier with a simple, devastating flick of her wrist.
Suddenly, the poor birdie was being rapidly bashed back and forth from senior to senior, together acting like a cat toying with its afternoon snack.
Just another moment from competitive badminton practice – a pursuit completely unlike your grandparents’ lazy, Fourth- of-July “leisure activity” experiences with the sport.
Well, except for the fact that it was people old enough to answer to Grandpa or Grandma doing all the sprinting, sweating, swinging and shouting.
Part of this spirited group of badminton aficionados got to show off their skills on a bigger stage last month at the 2008 Virginia Senior Games held at Virginia Beach.
Eight 50-plus-age people from the area – four from Wytheville, two from Newbern and one each from Bland and Blacksburg – took part in the May 9 statewide competition.
The group had a successful trip to say the least, hauling in a combined 20 medals, including 15 golds, in singles, doubles and mixed doubles competitions across a variety of age categories.
“I played the best two games of my life,” said Nancy Hoge of Bland, who retired from her job in the Bland County Circuit Court clerk’s office in 2001. “It was almost like an out-of-body experience.”
Hoge teamed up with Connie Lee of Wytheville to capture gold medals in women’s doubles.
Lee has competed in international badminton competitions, and she and her husband, Roberto, have attended multiple Virginia Senior Games.
Bill Murphy of Blacksburg also had previously competed at the games, but 2008 was the first experience at the competition for the other five members of the group.
“They kept after us,” Hoge said about what finally got her to attend after regularly playing with the group in Wytheville for the past few years. “We just had a wonderful time.”
The group plays at the Wytheville Community Center from 9 a.m.-noon on Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Thursdays and 4:30-6:30 p.m. on Sundays.
Hoge said it’s mostly seniors that play on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but a wide variety of people take part on Sundays.
Both Hoge and Roberto Lee, though, emphasized that anyone of any skill level or age is welcome to join the group during its thrice-weekly get-togethers.
Roberto Lee said it took some convincing on his wife’s part to initially get him interested in the sport six or seven years ago after she began playing in the mid-1990s.
“It took her five years to get me interested,” Lee said, adding that he preferred basketball and considered badminton to be a “sissy game.”
Once Connie Lee convinced her husband to pick up a racquet, though, Roberto Lee said he quickly realized he was mistaken in his assessment of the sport.
“She made me run like crazy,” he recalled. “It’s not a sissy sport.”
The athletic ability and toughness needed to play badminton the way the Wytheville group does was clearly on display during its “friendly” competitions last week at the community center.
One of Roberto Lee’s slams ended with the birdie (also known as a shuttlecock) bouncing off his opponent’s head and multiple rallies involved 10 or more shots whistling back-and-forth across the net.
Hoge also sustained a minor injury last week while playing doubles with Lee as her partner when the Wytheville doctor accidentally whacked her left hand with his racquet as the two tried to return a shot.
“This can be a dangerous game,” Lee said, with Hoge’s swollen hand providing plenty of evidence to back up his statement.
While the bruised hand ended her badminton practice for the day, Hoge likely won’t be kept on the sidelines for long.
Hoge, who played basketball in high school, said badminton is a great sport for seniors whose knees may be getting a little creaky, but who still crave exercise and competition.
“I am competitive-natured,” she said. “When I go out to play, I try to win.”
While the group can be cutthroat on the court, Hoge said she also enjoys the friendships she has made with her fellow badminton players and added that many of them enjoy going square dancing together.
Some members of the same group that went to the Virginia games also plan to compete at the 2008 West Virginia Senior Games in late June.
“It’s just a ton of fun,” Hoge said.
Nate Hubbard can be reached at 228-6611 or .