You and your badminton partner stand side-by-side, facing your opponents across the court. The two of you watch intently as the other team prepares their serve, readying your rackets for a return. Suddenly, the server smacks the birdie up into the air, and it glides with ease over the net. In response, you lift your racket into the air and hit the birdie across the court with a satisfying pop.

All thanks to Badminton Club, students are able to learn and experience a sport many love, even without an organized LSE team. The club was originally started in the 2024-2025 school year by former senior Shahad Al Juboori, and it has now been taken over by current co-presidents and twins, Jayson and Jayden Bach (11).

Last school year, Al Juboori came up with the idea and approached LSE staff member Erin Davis to become the club sponsor.

“[She] was looking for a fun sponsor. The rest is history,” Davis said.

To get the club up and running, Davis and Al Juboori had to get approval from administration, worked with the PE Department in order to use their space and equipment and advertised the club. According to Davis, this wasn’t too difficult, and only took a few weeks.

The club takes place once a month on Tuesdays, and has 40 members. They use North Gym and make it a fun environment for all members by bringing the “hype and energy”, Davis said.

This year, the club started to gain more popularity with new co-presidents Jayson and Jayden in charge. Originally from California, they have loved badminton since they were little. They began playing when they were around 6 years old, starting off in their front yard.

“My grandma wanted my brothers and I to be active as kids so she introduced us to sports,” Jayden said.

They only began playing competitively in 7th and 8th grade when their middle school had tournaments against other schools.

However, when they moved to Lincoln, they realized how different badminton was compared to California. In California, badminton is an official school sport, with actual courts and competitions. There, Jayson was able to become a varsity men’s single player at a division one high school.

When they moved to Lincoln, it was a shock to not see badminton offered as a school-sponsored sport.

“Here in Nebraska, [badminton] is treated as a casual secondary sport,” Jayden said.

The only place to play in Lincoln is at the UNL Recreation Center, with only four courts available. At their old high school, there were 12.

When they started school at LSE, they didn’t know how clubs were created, but thankfully, someone else had already started a badminton club. Jayson and Jayden began to help with club days and club set up, starting their leadership role in the club.

“We wanted to bring badminton to Nebraska and make it more well known than it is now,” Jayson said.

While many people think it is an easy sport, according to Jayson, “it is one of the toughest ones out there, causing you to use both your mind and body properly.”

According to Jayson and Jayden, Badminton Club is not like other sports and clubs.

“The club allows students to meet new people and play a racket sport which are known for being good mental boosts,” Jayden said.

Jayson and Jayden really enjoy being able to run the club and bring their love for badminton to LSE students. They feel it gives students a chance to be involved in sports at a smaller non-competitive level, without having to be on a team.

During the actual club day, students pair up and play against each other, rotating every few minutes so they can play different people. Jayson and Jayden help make the club a friendly environment for everyone.

“They’re really welcoming to beginners, which is really important because they’ve been playing for so long,” freshman Knox Petersen said. “It’d be easy to not be kind to people who aren’t as good, but they really are.”

Petersen enjoys being in the club and getting to learn a new sport. His favorite memory is getting to play Jayson and Jayden, and seeing how good they were at the sport. He has also picked up a lot of new skills while being in the club.

“I’ve really learned [about] sportsmanship and being honest, and also being able to count on your teammates,” Petersen said.

Jayson and Jayden have lots of goals for the club. They have also been working on hosting a badminton tournament at LSE, however, this is not an easy task.

“The approval process is very difficult as it is hard to find a time slot for a club activity. If we can get more students interested, that would help us get a better chance of getting approved to host the tournament,” Jayden said.

In addition to wanting to start some competitions, they also want to make sure Badminton Club is available for everyone who wants to join. Currently, they are not able to accept any more members because of limited space, but in the future they would love to expand and give more students the opportunity to participate.

“If we could get enough interest, I would love to have this club be two different periods so that more students are able to sign up,” Jayden said.

Overall, Badminton Club has been a huge success at LSE, and has been a very popular choice for students.

“I hope that students continue to be interested in participating so we can continue to grow, and that everyone has a blast as they are surrounded by friends to practice and improve on their badminton skills,” Davis said.