Gut game? Marblehead unique in its embrace of badminton

It’s boarded up. It’s quiet. And from the outside, if you weren’t a Marblehead resident, visitors probably think the large green building at 51 Pleasant St. was abandoned.

Go to the building’s right-side door, turn its knob and walk inside, and you’ll quickly realize the building is anything but deserted.

The building is home to Gut ’n’ Feathers, one of the oldest badminton clubs in the United States; here, with its two courts under a large, cavernous ceiling held up by wooden beams, Marblehead Youth Badminton practices take place in preparation for tournaments up and down the East and West coasts and internationally. On display at the club are quite a few trophies to show for their successes.

But the club is also a place were adults let off steam, exercise, find friendship on and off the court and play in an adult, intramural league, organized by the club’s membership.

“When I tell people that I do this for a full-time job, they definitely take a second take,” says badminton trainer and coach Nick Vered, a former U.S. Badminton Olympian, as he laces up his shoes and inspects his racquet before hitting the club’s court. Awaiting his instruction are Marbleheaders and club members Kelly Rickards, Nancy Blouin and Reporter columnist Brenda Kelley Kim.

Sitting on a wooden chair within an arm’s length of Vered, Kim, lacing up her own shoes, says, “People think badminton is something you play at a backyard BBQ or a picnic-type sport.”

But if they step out onto a court like the one at the Gut ’n’ Feathers, they’ll realize just how competitive it can be, says Kim.

“Even just playing with friends, you get into the rally, the bird is going back and forth at times,” says Kim. “You just want that point.”

Once on the court, the three women and Vered line up and stack bleached white shuttlecocks, also called the “birdie” or “bird,” a coned-shaped instrument that’s volleyed back and forth between badminton players on the court.

The instrument historically was made out of 16 feathers, plucked from a goose’s left side, and then embedded in a piece of cork. Vered explains the fastest speed a shuttlecock has reached is 226 miles per hour. The racquet used to hit the shuttlecock, he notes, was made out wood and the guts of a goose back in the day, hence “Gut ’n’ Feathers”

On the game, Rickards offers, “It looks easy, but there is a lot more thinking involved, positioning yourself and strategy that takes place on the court.”

For 20 minutes during each lesson, an agile Vered, standing on one side of the court, hits multiple birds at impressive speeds across the net to Rickards, Kelly and Boluin, who all take turns, two at time, hitting them back from the court’s other side.

Rickards got her start in badminton through her son, who played it for a couple years.

Between taking her son to matches and practices, someone asked if she’d want to take a lesson.

“I said, ‘sure I’ll give it a try,’ said Rickards. “Then I got hooked, took a little break and began playing again in September, so I’ve been at it now for about two years now.”

By the time drills are over, about 200 shuttlecocks litter the court’s polished, wooden floor. After a quick cleanup, the student begin scrimmaging one another, taking turns on Vered’s team.

Vered says that while badminton may be a popular, vibrant sport in Marblehead – the Marblehead Community Center offers badminton hours and Gut ’n’ Feathers has roughly 100 families who hold memberships –  the sport remains an enigma in the U.S.

“We are unique in having this club here; it is an Asian-dominated, European-played sport,” explains Vered, adding that it’s the second most popular sport in the world.

Kim notes that the game is often overshadowed by other “wildly popular American sports.”

But for adults looking to stay healthy, badminton’s benefits extend into the mind and body, according to its enthusiasts. Playing the aerobic and cardiovascular sport for just thirty minutes a day conditions the body so that the heart rate drops a few beats per minute at rest, reducing blood pressure and sugar in the body, according to Vered.

Blouin, who’s from New Orleans, says she’s met new friends on the court, and the game itself offers much-needed stress relief.

“I feel like it just clears my mind when I’m out there on the court,” says a worn-out Kim at the lesson’s end. “You get focused on the game. You’re not worried about car pooling, your job, finances, the house or laundry.”

Kim, like Blouin and Rickards, participates in the club’s adult league. After a game this past weekend, she posted on Facebook, letting her friend know some good news.

“I won my first-ever tournament in badminton tonight,” Kim wrote in her post, which received 46 likes. “It’s quite possible I will not be able to lift my arm tomorrow, but it was worth it.”