User:AaronAspelund/sandbox

History
In the United States the first badminton club was formed in New York in 1878. During the 1930s, badminton had become a popular sport in the United States. Establishments such as the YMCA, universities and more all formed badminton clubs and the popularity of the sport began to take growth. The sport was also aided by the support of celebrity participation. Celebrities such as Bette Davis, Douglas Fairbanks, Dick Powell and more all participated in the sport helping badminton gain popularity during the mid half of the 20th century.

Starting in 1936 the American Badminton Association was formed, however, in 1978 and 1996 the name would be changed to its current name of USA Badminton ( or USAB). The main reason for the evolutionary changes is because different groups and clubs from all around the United States joined together to standardize the rules of the game.

The time period between 1949 and 1967 was the biggest period of badminton popularity in the United States. In 1949 David Freeman brought the United States its first ever world championships. Freeman won the Men's Singles at the All-England Championships. Additionally, between 1949 and 1967 the United States won 23 championships in badminton. The success led to Sports Illustrated featuring Joe Alston on the Cover of the March issue of 1955 to recognize the United States success in badminton during that time period.

In 2016, USAB announced that they would be relocating their professional training facilities and headquarters from Colorado Spring to Anaheim California.

Ben Lee
Lee is the current Board of Directors Chair. Lee was elected in 2017 to take over the spot in replacement of David Simon. Lee was a former olympian in the 1992 olympic games in Barcelona. He was also formerly the head coach of team USA at the 2012 olympic games in London. Lee is very experienced in badminton as both a coach and former player. Additionally, Lee is a nine time United States doubles champion. On top of all of these accomplishments he has also been inducted into the United States Badminton Walk of Fame.

Board of Directors
Lee will remain in the position of Board Chair until 2020. He will be eligible to run for another four year term.

Nibu Paul
Paul is the current Coaching Director for USAB. Paul will serve on the Board of Directors while also helping with strategic planning and coaching objectives. Paul is the main representative in the interests of USAB coaches. Paul is a certified coach who has over 15 years of experience. He has served multiple platforms of badminton. Additionally, Paul is a Technology Manager in Texas where he oversees 15 developers.

Coaching Director
Pauls term will run until 2020 where he will be up for re-election. If elected, Paul can serve up to another four years.

Popularity of Badminton
Badminton is not a popular sport in the United States for several reasons. One of the main reasons is because badminton in the United States is seen as a backyard sport. Due to this, the sport has not grown much in the United States. Another reason is the lack of olympic success. Team USAB has not had much success in their olympic runs. This lack of success is another reason why the sport has not grown in comparison to other sports that have had olympic success. Finally, wages are a huge reason why badminton has not gown. Badminton fails to receive a lot of media attention in the United States and with that comes low wages. Participants can earn up to $15,000 for winning a championship. That is a relatively small amount of money in comparison to the average football player that has a salary of 2.7 million dollars.

Diane Cornell
January 7th 2020 marks a sorrow day for Badminton lovers. Diane Cornell passed away after her fight with breast cancer for many years. Diane served as president of the United States Badminton Association ( now USA Badminton) during the 1990s. During her time as president she worked in partnership with IBF ( now known as BWF) to welcome individuals to the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.

Outside of Badminton
Outside of badminton, Diane was a long time official for the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) and served as chairmen for several years. In 2017, her hard work was recognized after being awarded the the FCBA Excellence Award in Government Service.

Beiwen Zhang
Beiwen Zhang is one of the most accomplished United States professional badminton players. She has a record of 290 wins and 170 losses. Beiwen Zhang has made over $250,000 in prize awards from her winnings. Zhang currently has a world ranking of 9.

Background
Beiwen Zhang started playing badminton at the age of eight. The reason she started playing was because her immune system did not function properly and her parents encouraged her to participate in a sport in order to strengthen it. Zhang started playing competitively in 2004. Her most memorable match came in 2006 in the French Quarter Final versus Yamaguchi.

USAB National Elite Rankings
As of December 6th 2019 the National Elite Rankings for team USA in Badminton go as followed.

Men Singles:



 * 1) Timothy Lam
 * 2) Howard Shu
 * 3) Mark Alcala

Womens Singles:

 * 1) Beiwen Zhang
 * 2) Isabel Zhong
 * 3) Iris Wang

Mens Doubles:

 * 1) Philip Chew and Ryan Chew
 * 2) Ferdinand Sinarta and Sattawat Pongnairat
 * 3) Hongkheng Yew and Yaohan Ow

Women Doubles:

 * 1) Sydney Lee and Ariel Lee
 * 2) Jennie Gai and Breanna Chi
 * 3) Isabel Zhong and Emily Kan

Mixed Doubles:

 * 1) Paula O'Banana and Howard Shu
 * 2) Brenna Chi and Vinson Chiu
 * 3) Isabel Zhong and Mathew Fogarty