Full disclosure: the author is a leader of badminton club.

Whether in the roars of encouragement during a game or athletes’ entertaining costumes the day before an event, sports have fueled school spirit and a sense of community at Lakeside for as long as the school has been around. They play an essential role in Lakeside’s culture, fostering community and camaraderie between students.

According to the Lakeside website, the Upper School hosts twenty-three varsity teams along with their corresponding junior varsity teams, and three-quarters of Lakesiders participate in these teams. These sports include football, soccer, crew, and many more, most of which are included in the Seattle Metro League. Yet despite the wide variety of sports at Lakeside, there are still some sports the school does not officially offer.

Badminton, for instance, does not have a team at Lakeside, likely due to insufficient demand in previous years and its absence in the Metro League. However, experienced badminton players know that it is a legitimate sport and some have wanted to see more of the sport at school. For this purpose, badminton club was started this year as a chill place where people can simply relax and play for fun. Badminton is a super easy sport to pick up, with many playing it in their backyards. Combined with the provided equipment and space, there’s no reason to not go!

And, like Lakeside’s sports programs, the club seems very popular. The first meeting was a busy one, with over twenty people filling three doubles courts and substantial lines at each. There was also a great amount of energy as players scrambled for the shuttles and hit them back and forth across the court. Players were so caught up in games that many were late to their last period.

Another sport that is available as a club is volleyball. Lakeside has an official girls varsity and junior varsity team, but Metro League does not include either coed or boys volleyball, so there is insufficient demand for a Lakeside coed or boys volleyball team. Like badminton club, volleyball club is new this year. When asked why the club was created, club leader Michael N. ’22 explains that “interest in a non-competitive, all-inclusive volleyball club had been building for two years.” So high was this interest that volleyball received one of the five highest club signup counts this year.

Reflecting the many signups, the club’s first meeting on October 14th was very crowded, according to club leader Hunter H ’22. The attendees had varying levels of experience—some had barely touched a volleyball before, and one was a current member of Lakeside’s volleyball team. Whatever their level, players participated in an atmosphere of friendly competition and volleyballs flying everywhere.

For future meetings, volleyball club plans to maintain this informal structure with meetings open to everyone. “Really, anyone is invited,” says Michael N ’22. “Whether you’re on the team, or a total newbie, we’d love for you to come by! It also doesn’t matter if you can’t make it every week; we are a very low-commitment club.”

Demand is essential for any new organization to take hold, and the sudden popularity of these newly created clubs have shown that there is significant interest in badminton and coed/boys volleyball at Lakeside. The future is bright for these sports; though previously neglected,they might finally earn their ranks among the well-established sports in our community.

Interested in either of these clubs? Badminton club meets every Friday after advisory in the AAC fieldhouse and volleyball club meets every Thursday at 1:05 pm in the competition gym. Be sure to sign up on lsclubtracker.com to receive further communications!