The newly-formed Shepp Feathers Badminton Club has been inaugurated, with City of Greater Shepparton Mayor Kim O’Keeffe spiking the first shuttlecock to officially unveil the club at the Shepparton Sports Stadium on Saturday.
The club has slowly taken shape in recent months, and has been formed by members of Shepparton’s multicultural community, with the aim of supporting physical and mental wellbeing through social connectedness.
Shepp Feathers secretary Jijo Philip says one of the club’s missions is to provide an avenue for women and children of Shepparton’s diverse communities an opportunity to become more involved in social and sporting pursuits.
Philip says he’s been amazed by the large influx of numbers in a short space of time.
“We started just last month ... and we have 200 members, with 95 kids mainly from five to 18 years,” he said.
“Coming from a multicultural community, kids and especially women are not as involved in sports activities. So we started [the club] especially for them, for them to be more involved in sport and social activities.”
Throwing their support behind the club is Cr O’Keeffe, along with Greater Shepparton City Council Active Living Manager David Booth and Shepparton Badminton Association secretary John Pettigrew, who all attended the inauguration at the weekend.
One of the club’s long-term goals is to provide more training for newcomers, especially kids, who may have had little to no experience with badminton in the past.
“We’re planning training for high school groups; Badminton Victoria have given their support and have offered training for us in January,” Philip said.
“As we know, in Shepparton there aren’t many trainers available for kids, so next year Badminton Victoria will hopefully come and provide a training session.”
For anyone interested in getting involved and giving badminton a go, you can contact sheppfeathers@gmail.com