At Troy High School, there is a slew of clubs that students can join to explore their interests and connect with other students. Joining the list of unofficial clubs this year is the Volleyball and Badminton club, a club that aims to provide students with opportunities to connect with their peers, practice these two sports and have fun.
The Badminton and Volleyball club is, notably, a joint club. Clara Yalamanchili, head of the club’s Badminton half, describes how the clubs came to combine. “We happened to find them [the creators of the Volleyball Club] and one of my friends was friends with them. We decided to make it a joint club so that we could get more people interested so that way, people that want to play badminton or volleyball have a place for it.”
Junior Faris Abulaban, head of the Volleyball Club, says that it’s a matter of opportunity. “It’s two different sports that unfortunately a lot of Troy High kids don’t have an opportunity to play around here.”
Troy High School, while having an official Girls Volleyball team, does not have a Boys Volleyball team. The Volleyball and Badminton Club gives male students an opportunity to play and practice as well. Abulaban says, “It’s just to give everyone an opportunity to play volleyball.”
Jessica Craft, supervisor of the Volleyball club, is glad to see students having a chance to be active. “I played volleyball in highschool, and it was my favorite sport. I thought it was a lot of fun and I thought how nice [it would be] to get more kids outside, active and playing a really fun game like volleyball or badminton.”
As for the future of the club, Craft says, “There’s many different ways we can improve and so I think every week we’ll just try to figure that out.”
One problem the aspiring club encountered was finding a good location to play. “We already figured out that the space we were in wasn’t going to be conducive to playing.” The courtyard, which was the location of their first meeting, was too small and uneven to set up their courts properly, so they moved their meeting location to a field just outside the athletic entrance of Troy High School.
The Volleyball and Badminton club aims to be inviting to all students. Senior Thomson Zhou, member of the club, can attest to that. “I saw the [club at the] club fair and they were really nice to me.”
Zhou, prior to attending the club, had no relations to badminton or volleyball. “The only sports I do are esports.”
The first meeting, while still in the uneven courtyard, was described as such by Zhou, “If they [club members] wanted to learn something specifically, they [Abulaban and Yalamanchili] would teach them stuff but there was also a side of the field where they were actually playing and competing against each other.”
Despite having no prior associations with either sport, the Volleyball and Badminton club gave Zhou a positive introduction. “I’m feeling really inclined to start playing volleyball and badminton on my own time.”
As of now, the Volleyball and Badminton club meet outside on Tuesdays and Fridays, but as the seasons change, they will need to move locations. Their winter plans currently are to meet at Oakland Fieldhouse on Fridays, a plan that would require funds to rent out space.
Their other future plans, according to Yalamanchili, are “a lot of tournaments, fundraisers.” In a recent meeting, the club leaders said that they hope to have the profits from these fundraisers replace an explicit club fee.
Abulaban says, “Plans aren’t fully solidified. We’re going to be working on that a lot.”
Despite the growing pains that come with being a new club, the Volleyball and Badminton club aims to “just to give everyone an opportunity to play volleyball.”
Yalamanchili has a message for anyone interested in the club: “[The club is] free of charge. We’re trying to bring pizza every week. Invite your friends!”
