Nick Mayor is a tall, flexible, charmingly stoic sophomore from Birmingham, Alabama. Born and raised in badminton country, Nick has grown up on backyard barbeque matches, travel teams and butt-whooping losses to a fiesty Indonesian master at Birmingham’s local badminton club. Nick currently competes in the athletic department’s badminton class and is looking to start an Oberlin badminton club of his own. This strapping neuroscience major sits down to talk about badminton style, getting smashed and a “between-the-legs backhand.”

LR: Most elite college athletes began playing their sport of choice at a very young age. How old were you when you first picked up the badminton racket?
NM: I played around like any other kid. You get the cheap set and fool around in the back yard. When I was about 14 or 15 maybe, I started playing with my piano teacher’s son. I liked playing with him. He told me about the badminton club, which I started going to with my dad.

LR: So you started to take badminton more seriously once you joined a club and hit the court in a “father-and-son-dominate-all” type fury?
NM: Yeah. No. I just beat him a lot. I tried not to rub it in his face. What I really liked was going out with the club for a competition. It was just the badminton boys and I hitting the road and heading out into the sunset together.

LR: Badminton does not strike me as a team sport. You liked the team aspect? Did it improve your social status in high school or make you feel a lot more secure knowing that you had a crew of rough and tough badminton homies?
NM: I play doubles, so there is a team aspect and no, it would take a lot more than badminton to be cool in high school.

LR: Does your height give you an advantage over other competitors? Height and flexibility are two important components for a competitive badminton player.
NM: Uh... I think I’m a little tall. I guess it would help. There was this one guy in my badminton club back in Birmingham who was small, quick and could run all over the place really fast. He was awesome. I think he was from Indonesia. Unbeatable.

LR: I have heard that badminton players get treated like celebrities in China, Japan and most likely Indonesia. What is the local badminton scene like in rural Ohio?
NM: I have no idea. I have been trying to get into the badminton class since my first semester here. I haven’t really been exposed to the community. I would like to start a club. It would be hard though. I don’t really mess around with cheap garage badminton sets anymore.

LR: What kind of athletic gear is involved in the sport of badminton?
NM: I’ve got my Uncle Sam red, white and blue sweatband that I like to wear to keep the hair out of my eyes and also my high tops. Equipment-wise you are looking at a birdie, racket, sometimes a shuttlecock and a good soft grip.

LR: What is it called when you jump up and hit the birdie really hard into people’s faces or at weird angles so that they can’t return the shot?
NM: It’s called a smash. I perfected it around age 17. There is a certain noise the birdie and racket make when you know you did it right — a beautiful, soft crack.

LR: What other kinds of moves are there?
NM: I really looked up to this guy named Sam who taught me as a young budding badminton star. He could do a between-the-legs backhand. He would jump up and hit the birdie between the legs and it wasn’t even to show off. The birdie just went there and that’s how he had to hit it.

LR: I have found with badminton that sometimes the person on the other side of the net can teach you more than just the lessons of the game but also the lessons of life (sigh). Realistically though, is there enough interest for a badminton club or an ExCo in Oberlin?
NM: The class is competitive... enrollment wise, so yeah, maybe. We would call ourselves “The Bad... Mittens.”