We have just gotten home after completing the second day of clinic.  Once again we ran two sessions from 4 to 8pm which saw many returning players from yesterday plus a few new players.  Today our focus with the first group was on backhand shots and some net play.  The second group we focused on their overhead stroke and net play.  Everyone put in great effort and we can't wait to see many of them return for training tomorrow.

Side note, Charles, Chris and I did manage to enjoy part of the beauty of Jamaica.  We went out to Hellshire, a popular hangout spot for the locals on the weekend, for some fresh fish and some sun.  Unfortunately we didn't have much time and therefore wasn't able to jump in the water but we are hoping to make some time later on in the week.  On the bright side, the fish and festivals we had were absolutely DELICIOUS!!!!!


Tip of the day: For a backhand overhead stroke, remember to get your elbow above your shoulder and ear.

Today is the start of our first training clinic.  The day started off with sunshine (which isn't much of a surprise) and temperature around 30 degrees.  Charles and I spent the morning relaxing and doing some administrative work to finalize the details of the training clinic.  At 2:00pm, we headed over to the airport to pick up Chris and filled him in on the details of the clinic.  We headed over to the Chinese Benevolent Association of Jamaica (CBA) around 3:30pm to set up for the training clinic.  We were met by our other board members/coaches Greg Wong and Kingsley Ford.  

For the first day, we ran 2 sessions - 4-6pm and 6-8pm and we had 25 participants of different levels come out.  Everyone worked hard and we had a great time coaching them.  We worked on basic strokes and shots with the first group and worked on shorter swings (stick smashes) and flat shots with the second group.

Tip of the day: The bigger action of your stroke, the larger the margin of error.

Today started off with Charles and I back at Constant Spring Golf Club assisting with a training session that ran from 10am - 2pm.  We assisted with some of the drills and played a few games with the players.  It was fun to mingle with them and get a sense of where they are at to help us plan our upcoming training clinic. 

We started off the day with a visit to a family friend's for breakfast and food for the mind.  The breakfast is a regular gathering of a group of friends every Saturday with occasional visitors, like ourselves.   Our bellies were full from the lovely breakfast and our minds were full from the intellectual conversations with the various people we met who enlightened us with their knowledge.  Charles even gave a little presentation about CPBF to the people present and we received very positive feedback and support from the group. 

During a visit, I was happily clicking away at the various plants and creatures that crossed my path and after waiting patiently for 3 hours, I finally managed to snap some photos of the Jamaican national bird, the hummingbird. 

After enjoying the outdoor and good company, Charles and I stopped by Constant Spring Golf Club to check out a training session with some of the participants who will be at our training clinic.  It was very nice to see them and we can't wait to start our training clinic on Monday!

The alarm went off at 4:45am with a grunt, the alarm is now set for 5:00am... just 15 more minutes of sleep.... 5:00am, Charles and I rolled out of bed and scrambled around to shove the last few items into our suitcases and gather whatever food we can get our hands on for breakfast and we are on our way to the airport.  Thanks to my sister, Clara, for giving us a ride to the airport on this cold, wet morning, we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare before our 9:15am flight.   Good thing we arrived early because it took us almost 30 minutes to persuade the customer service at West Jet that we must absolutely carry our racquet bags as a carry on to avoid any damages to the racquets.  Apparently West Jet has a very strict restriction for carry-on luggage for flight to Jamaica.  Finally they agreed to let us store it with the strollers and not in the cargo space of the plane (which didn't happen because the flight attendants told us we can just put it in the overhead storage for luggage so that we don't risk our racquets getting damaged).  I must say though, the customer service at West Jet is really quite excellent. 

We arrived in Jamaica at 1:25pm and was greeted with the much appreciated warmth and sunshine of Jamaica.  Managed to get through immigration and custom without any incident and we were all settled in at our host's place by 3:30pm and were enjoying the delicious curry chicken that was prepared for us.   After being entertained by our host's kids, Charles and I busied ourselves with getting for the RJR Sportman and Sportwoman Award for which Charles is receiving an award for the category of badminton. 

Based on our experience last year, Charles and I did not arrived promptly at 6:30pm as requested by the invitation (which by the way we never did received) and we ate before heading out because hors d'ouvere were served after the ceremony at 10:30pm last time.  We arrived at 7pm to find the place mostly empty except for a dozen people who probably arrived at 6:30pm.  People slowly filed in and by 7:45pm, the place was almost full.  8:00pm the show started promptly at 8:00pm as it's being televised live.  For those who are not familiar, this is an award ceremony that showcases athletes that represent Jamaica in various sports and this year they also recognized high school athletes for their achievements.

The Guest Speaker for the event was Micheal Holding, a former West Indies cricketer and one of the fastest bowlers to play Test cricket.  He gave a very engaging and inspiring speech and I really enjoyed it.  His speech was not solely focused on cricket or on track and field but he spoke of athletes of various sports.  What I was most impressed with was when he spoke about the negative attention focused on the violence in Jamaica and how that attention needs to be refocused on sports to help develop the youth in a positive way.  This type of social change is also what motivated us to start CPBF, to provide additional avenues for youth to channel their energy and to support those who want to continue the sport past high school. 

After the guest speakers, we had a few entertainments and we had the category awards which is where Charles and Kathyrn, the female recipient for badminton,  were supposed to receive his award for badminton.  You may be wondering why I wrote "supposed to receive".  That's because they forgot badminton!  They went from athletics to basketball, boxing, cycling and down the alphabet.  When inquired as to what happened to badminton, we were told that they thought they had called us.... not sure how you can think to have called someone when the awards are sitting on the table?  Then the kicker is we went backstage to further inquire as to what was going on and we were told many more reasons.... "We did not receive your RSVP for your reservation?"... Yes that would be correct because you guys never sent the invitation but the president of the Jamaican Badminton Association (JBA) confirmed that the two recipients were coming...and Charles and Kathryn's name were on the list at the door where they checked in.... "Well, we didn't know you were here..." Right, but they checked in at the door and was personally ushered to their seats amongst the recipients... The best was when they finally decided to present the award "again" but we were told they only had Kathryn's because they didn't know Charles was coming so they didn't make his award....funny... how come when the president of JBA walked to the back where the rest of the awards were, he found Charles' award... Yes, we've caught them in a web of lies... and some where along the way a lady told us... "We are human, we make mistakes."  Let's get something straight here, we understand that human errors can happen and we are ok with that, however, don't come telling us all these things about how we didn't RSVP or we weren't there.  If it's human error, just admit to it and rectify the situation, no need for excuses.  And frankly, for a live televised event that has been running for 52 years, you would think they would've developed a system to minimize these kind of "human errors".  Throughout the ceremony, there were multiple times when they called for people to accept their awards but were not present and who knows who else did not get called.  One thing I can be sure of is if Usain Bolt did not RSVP or tell them he was there, he would still not be missed and be told "Oh, we didn't know you were here".  Yes, you may be thinking that it's a big comparison to compare Usain Bolt to badminton but the underlying issue is that all the athletes there should be recognized for their achievements and the dedication they put in.  Because someone did not win at the Olympics does not mean they put less effort into their training or dedication.  No one should ever be forgotten!  And to think that we purposely change our original plan of running the training clinic in February to January so that we can attend the award.... this is truly disappointing.  This served as the second reminder of the day of why we started CPBF...to promote the sport and improve its status so that when you tell people you play badminton, you don't get a reply  of "oh, I play that too in my backyard" or "badminton, is that like tennis?"  Badminton is one of the most intense sports and it needs to be recognized so that our athletes get the recognition they deserve!