Badminton in Jyväskylä?

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:11 am

Hello,

Does anyone here play badminton in Jyväskylä? I'd love to know more about the local badminton community.

Graeme.

**Sponsor:**

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:04 pm

I'm not aware of any badders clubs, but you can play at Killeri and more central is the leisure centre next to the jäähalli (you can google maps both places). We use both.

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:06 pm

Thanks

How much does it cost to use the courts?

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:53 am

GB_Finland wrote: How much does it cost to use the courts?

Around 15€ an hour, IIRC. I play with someone who usually has a handful of free exercise vouchers from his employer, so I seldom pay

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 11:08 pm

15E/hour????

good lord, that's refreshingly expensive.

Thanks for the info

Once I've arrived & settled in J, next month, I'll drop you a message in case you're interested in having a game?

Graeme.

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 9:56 am

Here are some more badminton prices in and around Jyväskylä, the last price in each row is the adult price. So you should be able to find something near your digs.

SULKAPALLO
Hipposhalli 2,50 6,00 10,50
Monitoimitalo 2,50 6,00 10,50
Kuokkalan Graniitti 2,50 6,00 10,50
Ma-pe klo 8:00-15:00 6,00 6,50
Lehtisaaren kuntotalo 2,50 6,00 10,50
Vaajakosken liikuntahalli 2,50 6,00 10,50

http://www.jyvaskyla.fi/instancedata/pr ... o_2011.pdf

The red square dot near the centre of this map shows the location of the first two places in the list:

http://kartta.jkl.fi/Web/Default.aspx?l ... nguage=fin

You can also play at Hutunki, details here:

http://www.hutunki.fi/index.php?page=sulkapallo

All these places should be able to point you to a badminton club if you need a regular game.

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 12:17 am

Excellent, thanks!

I just managed to arrange accommodation next to Hipposhalli, and since I don't like driving it looks like that's where I'll be playing mostly.

Graeme.

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:25 am

Well, I found out there's a badminton club:
http://jyvaskylansulkapalloseura.org/

But, let's just say that most of the people at the Hipposhall club session are not welcoming to new players, and especially unwelcoming towards non-Finnish new players. There are a small number of friendly people, but they mainly train kids in another hall during club time.

Would anyone like to play a game sometime? I'm living near the edge of the JYU campus in town, and I don't have a bike yet - Hipposhall would be the easiest place for me to get to... but I might be interested in a trek to another sports hall as the weather gets better. It would also be nice to meet a few friendly people here

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 7:28 am

GB_Finland wrote: But, let's just say that most of the people at the Hipposhall club session are not welcoming to new players, and especially unwelcoming towards non-Finnish new players.

It's probably not the fact that you're "non-Finnish", but more "non-Finnish-speaking". After a long day at work, a lot of people want to relax in their own language. Having to speak English opens up a tin of negatives for many people in that sort of situation. I'm not sure what to suggest.

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 12:08 pm

"It's probably not the fact that you're "non-Finnish", but more "non-Finnish-speaking". After a long day at work, a lot of people want to relax in their own language. Having to speak English opens up a tin of negatives for many people in that sort of situation. I'm not sure what to suggest."

I don't want to go into too much detail, but I suggested to the largest group of 6 players that we could play entirely in Finnish (since I can count in Finnish and compliment people on good shots, at least, and learning 'in/out/let' isn't hard), and I could adopt whichever style/tactics they usually prefer, to simplify communication on court ('mine', 'yours' and 'leave it' also aren't hard to learn). The response, in our clearly spoken English conversation, was "Actually, we just want to play by ourselves.".

I've played with badminton clubs in France & Taiwan (and a few other countries) despite speaking very little French & Chinese, with no awkwardness or difficulties whatsoever; so this situation of unsociability at a social badminton session is entirely new to me. People don't even cycle off the courts when they see someone is waiting; they generally don't invite people to play with them (not just me, but also Finns).

I think the problem is that they are unfriendly. Even among the club regulars, the players don't seem to play together - there appeared to be 3 cliques that play separately the entire evening, blocking all the courts. I saw two new Finnish players during the 7-8 sessions I attended; one of them told me he had never seen such an unfriendly club in Finland (I never saw him again after that session). The other guy was an older Finnish guy who showed up once, I was the only person to play with him, and then I never saw him again.

I don't think this is a language issue. They hardly seem to talk much during play themselves.

But it may not be a Finn/Non-Finn issue either. They may simply be very anti-social/cliquey. I don't know.

I don't have a problem with people wanting to play with their buddies, but blocking the courts all evening during a public/club session - while people are standing around waiting for a game - seems pretty thoughtless when it's easy to book a private session instead. Of the 10 or so clubs I've played with, this is my first encounter with a club where there was absolutely no 'system' whatsoever to ensure fair use of courts and social play / a variety of matches.

So now I'm looking for a friendly club / group...in my view, social play is as essential to badminton, as steam is to the sauna...

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 2:11 pm

Now you explain a little more, the situation is clearer.

GB_Finland wrote:seems pretty thoughtless

Whilst I wouldn't say this is a Finnish trait, "thoughtlessness" and a general lack of consideration for others is very common around here. You will see it everywhere from people guiding their trolleys down the supermarket aisles, to usage of indicators whilst driving cars.

Probably better to keep looking for another club, or maybe even approach other disgruntled newcomers at Hippos and offer them a game somewhere else.

GB_Finland · Post by **GB_Finland** » Thu Mar 01, 2012 4:45 pm

Well, I've stopped going to Hippos hall, I don't think it's smart to pay 110Euro for 4-5 months of standing around like a fool half the time...I also think a good way to avoid culture shock in a new country is to stay well clear of any situation which leaves you feeling shocked, annoyed, or disgusted...

I wrote to one of the club senior members though to explain why I felt they ought to do something to help new members. They seemed to respond to that quite well, in writing. However, I don't think it would be very easy for the club to institute changes with such a small membership who are presumably happy with the way they do things already.

Thanks for your thoughts!

Frada · Post by **Frada** » Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:03 pm

How old are you GB? I was idly thinking about taking up a sport today, in fact. I'd offer to play you if I had ever played before and I wasn't as unfit as a paraplegic.

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