Mosaic Badminton Club

If you’ve missed our last newsletter, we are excited to announce that our club is officially incorporated as a non-profit society. This has been a long journey in the making for over a decade. Read more about our announcement here.

To usher in this new era, our regular calendar release is now reformatted to bring you a monthly dose of Bad News. Enjoy!

Venue Changes

Due to school availability, we are bounced among three different venues with different start times this month. We apologize for the inconvenience. At St. Alphonsus on November 13, we will experiment with a three-hour format. This will allow more play time and flexibility to attend.

Did you know?

Kirsty Gilmour of Team Great Britain was the only out LGBTQ badminton player at the Paris Olympics this year. The Commonwealth Games and European Games medallist made her third Olympic appearance at age 30.

Planning ahead?

Did you know you can subscribe our calendar and look months ahead? Venues are booked months in advance. Go to our Calendar page and click on +GoogleCalendar to add Mosaic Badminton dates on your calendar. You will receive reminder alert the day before the event.

Good News Everyone!

As of 22 October 2024, our club is now known as, and operating as Mosaic Badminton Club, registered as a non-profit society within our province.

Since 2014, our club has been operating independently, so it’s long overdue that we establish our own brand and identity with the incorporation. The official status will provide the accountable framework for us to govern and manage the club, and allow interested members to become involved. This will also allow us greater access  to funding opportunities that will be used to expand our programming.

We continue to build on the legacy left by those before us (Apollo Friends in Sports, Absolutely Smashing!, and Apollo Badminton) to continue serving the community of LGBTQ+ badminton players and friends in Calgary. Our new name reflects the pluralistic and diverse backgrounds and identities with which our participants associate, and united in our common interest of the sport.

All orange “Apollo Badminton” punch passes will remain valid. In fact we’ll continue to issue them until newly designed passes become available.

Mosaic Badminton Club

We’ll have a special Halloween edition on 29 October. Wear a costume, special accessories, and/or make-up and receive $2 off / rebate on admission. We’ll have a costume contest with winners chosen by you.  We’ll also have treats for everyone as well.

A special reminder that we are playing at Stanley Jones School (950 6 STREET NE) starting at 8:15pm. Entrance is through the doors NW corner of the building. We are officially not suppose to prop the parking lot door open so it may be locked when you arrive. We’ll have a number posted in case you need to call. Please use only the washrooms across from the gym as change facility.

Happy Halloween!

Planning ahead?

Did you know you can subscribe our calendar and look months ahead? Venues are booked months in advance. Go to our Calendar page and click on +GoogleCalendar to add Apollo Badminton dates on your calendar. You will receive reminder alert the day before the event.

Be a Founding member!

We are in the process of formally incorporating this club and we need founding members for the application paperwork. There is minimal need for involvement for now, but we will be determining appropriate member benefits. Once the club is registered we’ll be opening membership to everyone. If you are a community-oriented individual and interested to be a part of this next exciting chapter, please email us or speak to James directly.

Planning ahead?

Did you know you can subscribe our calendar and look months ahead? Venues are booked months in advance. Go to our Calendar page and click on +GoogleCalendar to add Apollo Badminton dates on your calendar. You will receive reminder alert the day before the event.

Hope you are all having a great summer and staying active! We’ve been working behind the scenes this summer on some important changes to our club starting this season. We’ll make the announcement once everything is confirmed.

But first, a new season awaits us this fall as we resume our Tuesday’s badminton drop-in sessions on 10 September. We play at our usual venue at Georges Vanier School at 7pm. The September calendar will be released the first week of the month.

Until then, happy smashing!

Apollo Badminton

End of season!

As we are winding down to the end of the 2023-2024 season, please check that all prepaid passes and most complimentary passes will be expired after the last session in May. As always, all passes are shareable and transferable, so bring a friend if you find yourself in an enviable position of having lots of unused sessions. A new season will resume in September.

Get on board

We are looking into the prospect of formally incorporating this club and finalizing it before the new season in September. This would let us establish governance, give us access to grant funds, and let us plan for the future development of this club. If you are a community-oriented individual and interested to be a part of this next exciting chapter, please get in touch with James W. We’ll be having meetings over the summer.

June 8 – A Badminton welcome

We are pleased to partner with Sport Calgary for a “try-it” badminton session for the LGBTQ+ Newcomer Group. We will showcase newcomers to Canada the sport of badminton and provide them an opportunity to connect with our community of badminton players. Sport Calgary is graciously bearing all costs to this event so it will be a FREE badminton session for all of us as we take the opportunity to meet new friends through badminton. Nine courts in Fieldhouse 2 will be available for playing except for couple of the courts reserved for instruction and practices during the first hour. Details and time are shown in the calendar graphic above. Watch for a special facebook event post that you can join and bookmark on your calendar.

Planning ahead?

Did you know you can subscribe our calendar and look months ahead? Venues are booked months in advance. Go to our Calendar page and click on +GoogleCalendar to add Apollo Badminton dates on your calendar. You will receive reminder alert the day before the event.

The first Western Cup badminton tournament in more than a decade made a smashing reboot this Easter long weekend. We had a modest turnout of 15 doubles teams and 6 individual competitors vying for medals in 3 divisions. We welcomed new friends from Edmonton — comprising one-third of the registrations — making the long drive to take part!

Once again, a special thanks to our hospitality sponsors 7-Eleven Canada, Red Bull Canada, and Calgary Inclusive Hockey Association. Also a special shoutout to Western Canada High School and staff who has done everything possible to make the venue in top shape for the tournament. Special thanks to Edmonton’s Doran W. who provided invaluable assistance to this tournament from conception to recruitment to execution. Thanks Kathy L. for sharing pictures from the tournament. For more pictures, or if you have more to share, please visit our tournament google drive.

Relaunching the badminton tournament has long been an aspiration for Apollo Badminton over the years. We trust that everyone had a smashing great time. We will be taking valuable notes from this experience; reviewing the feedback; and analyzing the results. If proven logistically and financially feasible we will be considering a return in 2025 .

Until then, happy smashing!

Apollo Badminton

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Volunteer is needed on May 21 to host the badminton session. This comes with complimentary drop-in that day as a small token of appreciation. Let James know in person if you are able to help.

Planning ahead?

Did you know you can subscribe our calendar and look months ahead? Venues are booked months in advance. Go to our Calendar page and click on +GoogleCalendar to add Apollo Badminton dates on your calendar. You will receive reminder alert the day before the event.

Apollo Badminton is proud to support the 40th Western Cup this Easter long weekend, and we are giving away swag and prizes in celebration of this annual event.

Pick up a complimentary single drop-in pass at each Western Cup event night while supply lasts. These event nights will be the Thursday night Registration, Friday night Athlete Social, and Saturday night Western Cup Dance. All Western Cup events will take place at the Hyatt Regency Calgary — the host hotel.

In addition, at the Athlete Social on Friday night, you’ll have a chance to win two badminton prize packs as part of the raffle draw.

See the Western Cup website for event details.

More importantly, making this year’s Western Cup an extra large event, badminton tournament is returning for the first time in well over a decade! Come see the competitions at Western Canada High School on March 30. Better yet, we have extended the registration so don’t miss your chance to have fun and win some prizes. We are looking for volunteers as well.

Not involved with the Western Cup tournament? Western Cup events are open to all, not only to the athletes. So come on out and enjoy the festivities!

Happy Western Cup!