Friday's for the bird(ies)

Every Friday night, kids show up in droves at Martingrove Collegiate Institute.
But not to loiter in the shadows or hang out in the parking lot. Dressed in T-shirts and sweatpants, they make their way to the gym, where their friends are already busy limbering up.
And then the birdies begin to fly.
At a time of the week when many young people are busy devising new ways of cutting loose, the dozens of teenagers packed into the Etobicoke gym have their own idea of Friday-night fun: badminton.
They come from across the GTA to mix it up under the watchful eye of Roger and Margaret Wallis, who have devoted their lives to the sport since founding the Etobicoke Junior Badminton Club in 1983.
"It's like a family," says Martingrove student Nihaiika Pasumarty, 16.
"Yeah, but a really multicultural one," adds Kenneth Woo, 15, who goes to Upper Canada College.
The club draws a remarkably diverse group of students from schools across the city. Juniors, aged 8 to 14, take the earlier slot in the evening, before the 14- to 19-year-old crowd takes over at 7:30, playing on until 10 p.m.
On a recent Friday night, five nets are stretched across the gym as players run drills.
Club founder and coach Roger Wallis, 67, is a constant presence, murmuring an encouraging word, or occasionally raising his voice to address the entire group.
This season, the club boasts 32 juniors and 67 seniors. Most also play on school teams, so it's a good way to get in extra practice.
But that's not the only attraction. A distinct sense of camaraderie suffuses the gym. When not on the court, players sit in clusters on the floor, gabbing at top speed.
Linda Wong, 23, is helping to run tonight's practice even though she graduated a few years ago and is now a university economics student.
"A lot of people stay with the club for quite a few years, and lots of siblings pass through," Wong notes. "There's just a lot of friendly people; everyone comes from different backgrounds and are so interesting."
The club's diversity owes something to the fact that badminton is especially popular throughout the South Asian diaspora. It also draws both sexes, being a non-contact sport where skill is important, rather than size, Wallis notes.
"After soccer, badminton is the most played game in the world, as far as records are kept by people, and it's the national game in many South Asian countries. So what they're doing is representing a sport that's a tradition in their countries," he says.
University of Toronto science student Deep Guha, 18, was with the club for a decade before graduating last year, but he's still a frequent visitor. "My grandfather played in India. He's really good — if he wasn't old, he'd kick your ass," Guha laughs. "He was the one who brought me here, because he wanted me to play the game."
"People think of badminton as a sissy sport," Woo interjects disgustedly. "And the worst part of it is that they don't even know how hard it is!"
Wallis and wife Margaret played competitively in their native United Kingdom and wanted their three children to be able to do the same. But they found there were no badminton clubs in Toronto when they first moved to the city.
"Badminton is easy to play, and you can put it into any school," says Wallis, who works as an independent geologist when he isn't coaching twice-weekly practices (there's a second Wednesday-evening session for competitive players) or driving players to competitions.
"You stick a couple of holes in the floor and put up the net. It's incredibly low-cost, and you can have several players on the court at the same time even if they aren't playing a match. So we realized that this was something that could catch on very quickly."
The club moved from school to school before settling at Martingrove in 1995. Other clubs have sprung up, but the Etobicoke club remains one of the most popular — more than 500 kids have played in 23 years.
The Wallises, certified coaches who are credited with helping to introduce badminton to the province, have sunk plenty of their own time, energy and money into the club. (Players pay a $40 fee to cover equipment costs).
At a time when others their age might be contemplating retirement, the couple says they'll keep running it as long as there's interest.
"It's wonderful watching kids come through here and develop their skills, whether they go on to play competitively or just come out on a Friday night to hang out with their friends," Roger Wallis says.