Badminton Connects Bangladesh Natives including UTD Alumni, Students

The basketball court at the Allen Mosque in Allen, Texas, is a noisy place on most Friday nights as a large group gathers to play badminton on the court converted with nets to accommodate the racquet sport. The Indoor Badminton Group, which plays at the mosque each week, is keeping alive a sporting tradition that the group’s Bangladeshi members have brought from their homeland.

The group is a closely knit gathering of badminton players who are not only connected by nationality but also by ties to UT Dallas where nearly half of its 40 members are students, alumni and even employees. Along with the players, the group includes family members in its activities, bringing the number involved to more than 130.

“It’s a more casual sport and somewhat less physically challenging than cricket,” said Nafis Nasim BS’07, MS’12, the group’s organizer. “It requires less time to play. I can come home at night and put my kids to bed and come here and play for a couple of hours. It requires less effort to get involved and the time needed is very flexible.”

Badminton is a popular pastime in Bangladesh, almost as popular as cricket in the south Asian country where it is often played leisurely on mild winter evenings in backyards and on residential roofs. Begun in India under British rule, the sport has spread throughout the world and even became a Summer Olympics sport in 1992. Badminton is popular as an easily accessible sport that requires little equipment other than a net, racquets and shuttlecocks and can be played by anyone from children to seniors.

“It’s a very social game,” Nasim said. “We chat and talk while we play and for everyone here it’s fun to just hang out.”

For the players at the Allen Mosque, the attraction of badminton is as much about seeing friends and catching up as it is about playing. The nature of the sport means it can be as leisurely as the individual players choose with games ranging from casual to seriously competitive.

“The beauty of this group is that some people come solely for physical activity, and some come to mingle and see their friends while they play,” said Faisal Mahmood PhD’15. “This is a place to talk and share the outside experiences of our lives.”

The group began as a handful of people who met during the COVID-19 pandemic and started playing together in the backyard of UTD alumnus Iftekhar Shajib MS’11, PhD’21. Word soon spread, much of it through the UT Dallas community of Bangladeshi alumni and students, that a badminton group was meeting regularly, and the number of players grew.

“We started having 20 or 30 people playing at his house, and soon we just had too many for his backyard,” Nasim said.

“People would ask me, ‘Can I join?’ and we were like yes. You’re welcome to join,” said Shajib. “We’re very accepting of anyone who wants to join.”

The group soon found space enough for everyone at the mosque. The group’s numbers grew even more quickly when they hosted an annual tournament that adopted a festival-like atmosphere with native food.

“I got to know about badminton and this group through the tournament, and I had a wonderful opportunity to volunteer to help decorate for it,” said UTD student Sahil Akbar, who is an officer in the Bangladesh Student Organization. “The turnout from the Bangladesh community was amazing, and it inspired me to play. I had never played before.”

Not only does badminton provide the group’s members with a chance to be active and socialize, but its members are also organizing themselves to help with community causes. The group has donated to and helped feed people at a Dallas homeless shelter and raised money to send home to Bangladesh following severe flooding in the country last summer. They also raised money for construction of the Allen Mosque and plan to form a nonprofit as they expand their community outreach.

With many UT Dallas ties among its members, the badminton group has become a way for alumni, students and employees to connect and remain close following their time at the University. It’s not unusual for group members to greet new players and visitors with the question, “Are you from UTD, too?”

To learn more about the Indoor Badminton Group, visit their Facebook page.

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