I know this greeting is a little late, as I'm sure most of you have already started playing (either at your club or drop-in.) In case you haven't heard, the Badminton Victoria Board has regrettably accepted Claire's resignation at the end of August, so at our September meeting, I reluctantly accepted the responsibilities of being the Chair until the end of her term (June 2008.) I will be relying on all Board Members to help keep Badminton Victoria activities running, especially the programs offered by our Regional Performance Coach, Brad Jawl.

A belated welcome to Brad who took over the reins from Mike Alexander (who has returned to his home in Newfoundland). Brad has worked hard to ensure that all our summer camps were successful and now has all our Fall programs up and running. He will also be working on introducing Badminton to all students in our 3 local school districts (partially funded by a Telus grant) as a special elementary-middle school initiative. Right now he is also in the midst of setting up a clinic for local teachers on the October 19th Pro -D day, and organizing the Brentwood Junior B Tournament for the weekend of November 2nd to 4th (so look for more info soon).

Just a note on those SMILE cards you have been using -Thrifty Foods has changed their year-end for this fund raiser to May 2008 so do not worry that your card has an expiry date of December, 2007. We have submitted a new application (many thanks to Nelson Thomas) and will hopefully be able to continue collecting additional funds until next May. Thanks to all your shopping, we were able to realize our $2000 maximum rebate already.

On September 28th and 29th 2007 we hosted the Badminton BC AGM and elected Matthew Cheung (from Vancouver's Racquet Club) as our new President. The Association's vision is to "build champions from grassroots to Olympians" by trying to achieve the goal of 10,000 members by 2010. In order to achieve these goals, our local organization, along with all its members, need to work together to provide necessary programs for our young athletes, whether it is through fundraising, purchase of a membership and/or volunteer time.

2008 is also a BC Games (Winter) year and we will be sending a Zone team to Cranbrook in Feb. For some this will be the first step towards that ultimate goal of being an Olympian.

Thank you to Kevin Terlesky for keeping our web site up to date. Please check it out for info on our sponsors, the Where to Play Guide, up coming tournaments and a list of our Board members.

Kevin has worked hard on putting together a special membership package that is now available for purchase. Thank you to Bandy for hosting the "packaging" gathering. All Board members will be going out to the different clubs to "sign" you up for this year's membership. If you or your club would like more information please e-mail us at [badminton @ pacificsport.com] or phone 881-1881.

On behalf of the directors of Badminton Victoria, I want to thank you all for your continuing support of our junior athletes and the game of Badminton.

Keep up the racquet!
Susie Nute,
Acting President, Badminton Victoria