Who is in the badminton team?
Elyse Woo
Student of BSc (Hons) Adult Nursing
Hello I’m Elyse, an international student from Hong Kong. I love taking care of people in need. I also like meeting new friends, so I joined the Badminton Club and the Hong Kong Society ever since I arrived in Huddersfield in 2021. Currently I am the Vice-President of Badminton Team, and the President of the Hong Kong Society.
A degree to pursue my passion
I completed a higher diploma in general nursing in Hong Kong and I was a qualified enrolled nurse before I came to the UK in 2021. To follow my passion of working in the healthcare industry to help people in need I decided to pursue a Nursing degree and aim at becoming a registered nurse in the UK. The course at University of Huddersfield has a strong connection with NHS trusts, providing the opportunity for me to develop professional nursing skills from both theories and clinical practices, helping us to meet the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Standards and accomplish our full potential as an adult nurse in UK.
Weekly practise and inter-university competition
Other than study I also want to meet more friends in my spare time. I have been playing badminton since eight, and it is one of my favourite hobbies, so I started browsing the Students’ Union website and discovered a link to the badminton club’s Instagram account. I then found out the club would hold two team trials at the beginning of school term each year, so I decided to give it a try. I passed the session, and there I am, playing in the team.
The badminton training session takes place every Monday from 6 to 8pm in the university sports hall. We separate into teams and play against each other. We will also attend ActiveHud sessions for extra training to strengthen our muscles.
Apart from general training session, there are also lots of opportunities to play matches to raise your skills. Our badminton team joins the British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) league. Each Wednesday, our team would represent the university to play matches against other universities. Last year we also competed in an annual Varsity competition against the University of Bradford held at the end of March, and we secured a win (4-2) as all of us had paid great efforts.
Meeting local and international friends
One of the greatest things about joining the badminton club is that I had the chance to know lots of local and international students from all over the world. I met new friends from countries such as the UK, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Let me introduce two of them to you here!
This is Samathi, who was born in Sri Lanka and raised in Oman. She studies in BSc Chemical Engineering, and is now doing her placement year. We went training together and competed in BUCS matches every week. We became close friends and sometimes we would hang out to relax after a busy and tiring day. Last December, we went to the pub together and watched our first live world cup match in the UK!
Fun fact about Samathi: Samathi is good at playing net shots and smashing, which means that she is a strong partner in a doubles game!
This is Hamza from Pakistan and he graduated from MSc Computing in July 2022. Last year, we represented the Pakistani student’s team in the sports tournament during the global weekend, and we made it to quarterfinals.
Also, we went to Sheffield to compete in a mixed doubles match in National BUCS league. It was the first time the university had entered a mixed team in a national tournament. Our opponent’s BUCS ranking may be above us, but we still tried our best to play in the match. We enjoyed and had an incredible experience of playing with strong players from other universities.
Fun fact about Hamza: He cooks really well! Look at the Chicken karahi, one of the many famous Pakistani cuisine, that he made for me and our friends.
Develop communications and organising skills
In this academic year, I was elected to be the vice-president of the badminton team. Becoming a committee member has taught me the importance of building strong relationships with all members in the club, and to communicate with members openly to address any issues and resolve them together.
Our committee has held several charity events such as bowling, tournaments and bake sales to raise money for Sports Relief in the first term. We have also held different activities like social night out every Wednesday and Christmas meals. Earlier this year, I held a stall for the badminton club to recruit new members in the freshers’ fair. I met lots of new friends and enhanced my social skills as I can interact with people who share the same interest as me. I also find a sense of belonging to the University.
No matter where you come from, and whether you are a beginner or advanced player, I would suggest you join a sports club of your interest. You don’t have to play competitively. You could just have fun with your friends!
If you want to know more about which society you would like to join, find out more on the Students’ Union website like I did!
