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Badminton was always an excuse for me to say that "I do play sports", since I didn't do basketball, volleyball, swimming, running, etc. I started playing badminton when I was about seven I believe, more or less, and I started to learn how to play badminton, along with my brother and cousins, by a coach. I remember that we would, rarely, get to buy gatorade as a reward or treat after training. (Coach always said that if we could beat him in a game, he would buy us one gatorade.) I eventually learned the basics of the game, and did some one-on-one training with the coach sometimes as I came in later than my brother and cousins. But we eventually stopped having training with him a few years later.
It was only when I started playing games with my dad, brother, (occasionally my sister), and dad's other friends, when I started to learn more about how a real, but friendly, game feels like. I also got a better grasp on the rules, what to do, and what not to do. My dad and his friends would regularly coordinate to have games 1-2 times a week, which was fun, got us exercising, and my brother and I could improve from playing with more experienced players as well. Another perk to playing with them weekly, was that we ALWAYS got gatorade (one each for the three of us) every time we went to play [and we didn't have to win any games to get gatorade]! My dad would sometimes even push himself because of work, just so that he could bring me and my brother to play badminton with them. A few hours of playing later, we would go out for lunch! This was because we usually played badminton in the morning, so it would be around noon to 1 p.m. by the time we finish. We would sometimes do some groceries, then go home. This went on for a few years, until we gradually stopped since not as many people showed up (sometimes only two other people would come to play). A few months later, we also gradually stopped going to play, as we prepared and moved to Maui, where some people didn't even know what the sport was. Fast-forward to a year later, my dad found a court in Makawao that, although for public use, we could play badminton with other people who actually knew the sport! It was pretty enjoyable, despite the limitations. We went there once a week, and we occasionally ate after the playing [before going home] at Jollibee (when it finally opened) or McDonalds. But of course, just like most places, the basketball court (where we played badminton) that we used to go to every week, closed as it is a public property and is still closed to this day. But despite that, I'm just glad that I was able to play badminton again, even if it was just for a short period!
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