The Club is located at the newly-built Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School on 149 Berrigan Drive in Barrhaven, where Club members will enjoy playing doubles' badminton in an excellent six-court hardwood gymnasium>/b>. The primary purpose of this new Club is to provide adult (18 years +) male and female badminton players of all skill levels who live in the Barrhaven area with their own local club. The Club will also be affiliated with the Ottawa & District Badminton Association (ODBA), giving members access to the larger badminton community in Ottawa, including club insurance for players, equipment discounts, fun and competitive tournaments, free teaching clinics for beginners, and social events.

LDHBC will begin the 2010 Winter Season with one evening per week, Thursdays, from 8 to 10 p.m., with a start date of January 7, 2010 and an end date of May 27, 2010. There are four cancellations, January 21, January 28, February 4, and March 18, either due to school events or holidays, so the Club presently has a total of 17 active club dates out of a possible 21 dates.

The Club Membership Fee of $45 for the winter season includes all available Thursday play dates, shuttles, ODBA membership and player insurance. Club members need only bring their badminton racquets and non-marking court shoes. Based on the number of available dates, the cost of Club membership works out to about $2.65 for each two-hour evening.

(*LDHBC is a completely volunteer-run, non-profit organization, so membership fees help to pay the costs of gymnasium rental and OCDSB administrative fees, nets, shuttles, ODBA fees, and any other expenses required for the Club's operation.)

An LDHBC Membership Application and Agreement Form is attached to this e-mail. If you are interested in becoming a member of the Club,please print the attached form, complete and sign it, and mail it along with your payment on or before Tuesday, December 15, 2009 to the address shown on the attached form. Please read the attached form for details regarding method of payment (no cash), Club rules and terms, etc.

This application form is standard to most clubs, and you must include it with your membership fee payment. An incomplete or unsigned form cannot be accepted by the Club Executive, so it is important to fill in all required areas of the form.

For the 2010 Winter Season, the Club is aiming for a maximum of 32 members to ensure that Club members have as many games as possible each week in the two-hour timeslot on Thursdays. With 24 players on court, the Club's maximum membership number means that at most only 8 players are waiting at any given time for their turn on court.

Guest players are welcome to play for a $5 drop-in fee each up to a maximum of four guest playersper Thursday. Club members, however, will have first priority in regards to court time over guest players if all Club members are in full attendance.

The Club will supply yellow Yonex Mavis 300 nylon shuttles, and members will play according to the 21-point rally scoring system. The Club will use a Game Board with members' nametags, which allows all members the same opportunity to choose players for his or her games as well as to enjoy games with as many different Club members as possible each evening.

LDHBC will be playing in Gym A/B at Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School, and if you're interested in taking a look at the facilities now, a virtual tour of the school and gyms is available at http://ldhss.ocdsb.ca/ by selecting "LDHSS Media" under the Menu heading.

The LDHBC Club Website is currently being set up at www.worldbadminton.com/ldhbc/, and Club information will be available there soon. Visitors to the Club website will also be able to download and print the "LDHBC Membership Application and Agreement Form."

Any questions or comments can be directed to the Club's e-mail address at longfields-davidsonheights.bc@hotmail.com, and I will try to answer them as soon as possible.

In the meantime, feel free to forward this e-mail along with the application form attachment to other badminton players, especially in the Barrhaven area, who might be interested in playing at the new Club.

I hope to see you on court in the New Year!

Cheers,

Tony Eng
Club President, LDHBC