This page covers the history of Sturt Badminton Club, including its foundation, incorporation into SABA, key moments and players. What has been included here is information from current and former members. If you are a past member or player and wish to add a chapter to our history, please contact us.

The start of a new club

The Sturt Badminton Club ('Sturt') was founded in Adelaide in 1981 by Jeff Stokes. He aimed to build a club with a focus on junior development and to influence the number of secondary school students in Year 10 and above who were being introduced to badminton. At that time there were like-minded teachers at Blackwood High School and Daws Road High School (now called Pasadena High School) who promoted our club to their students, helping us grow. Jeff's philosophy was, and still is, to teach badminton skills during school years so that the person can play immediately, or at any time in the future. This founding principle of junior development continues to drive the club today.

After much hard work fine-tuning the constitution, and a vote of acceptance by the members, the club became an incorporated association on 22nd July 1987. Jeff Stokes was our first President and stayed in that position until 1991. He was also involved with the Board of the South Australian Badminton Association and played a significant part in SABA moving from a Council to a Board structure.  

In the first year, Sturt entered one team in the South Australian Badminton Association (SABA) competition and the team members were John Woolford, Jeff Stokes, Bob Potter, Wendy Purdie, and Maureen Collins. These players had played the year before as 'Upper Sturt' with Gerry and Shirley Wrightson.

June Bevan Trophy hosted by Sturt

One highlight of the club's history and Jeff's Presidency was the successful bid to host the June Bevan Trophy tournament in 1988. Sturt was the first and only club in South Australia to host this major Under 16 event.  Jeff was involved in managing the State juniors and had the idea after taking teams away to the events held in Ballarat in 1986 and New Zealand in 1987. The 1988 event was held at The Parks Community Centre at Angle Park, Adelaide.  Teams entered from all over Australia and New Zealand. Before the event Sturt had intended to enter one team but Jeff, at short notice, put together a second Sturt team to even up the draw. Hosting this Australasian event was a major achievement for one club and has not been repeated!!

There was a lot to organise and many people assisted: programs were typed, team shirts were organised, interstate and overseas teams were billeted, Val Nesbitt entered results, Greg Hobba set up a temporary pro shop, there was a canteen, the Commonwealth Bank agreed to sponsor the event, there was media coverage, and the local Member of Parliament presented awards.  Sturt is extremely proud to have run this successful event. 

The event was won by the Victorian Rebels with the Shrikes S.A. team finishing sixth and Shrikes Too S.A. finishing tenth.

The Next Decade

· Sturt's logo was designed by club member George Hum, year unknown.

· Our first Double Blue Newsletter (the paper version!) was released around 1990. 

·  Over 400 members in 2019-2020!

Venues and Social Events

Historically, Sturt has operated training sessions at various venues: Glenunga High School, Urrbrae Agricultural High School, Brighton Secondary School, Seymour College, and then Loreto College. Saturday night Performance Academy training sessions have been consistently held at Satterly Hall Lockleys, with tournaments organised by the club run at either WA Satterley Hall, 42 Rutland Avenue, Lockleys, or Loreto College.

Sturt has also been about having fun. Not everyone wants to or is able to commit to playing in a team competition, and for those people Sturt offers social events available for all our members to attend if they wish. The club, in past, has arranged social ten-pin bowling days, held summer barbecues and picnics, organised a dolphin sightseeing cruise, and arranges presentation lunches and dinners.

Meng Fong Award

This annual award was created in 2003 in memory of Dr Meng Chung Fong.  A Club member for 7 years, Meng was a keen badminton player and an active participant and assistant in many Club activities, both social and competitive. Meng was diagnosed with cancer in late 2002 and, despite failing health, continued to support the club until passing away in May 2003 at the age of 23. Though not an exceptional player, his enthusiasm, friendliness, consistent good humor, selflessness, sportsmanship, and team spirit was greatly admired within the Club as well as the wider badminton community. Meng truly epitomised the values and qualities the Sturt Badminton Club aims to foster through this Award.

The Meng Fong Memorial Award is an award designed to acknowledge the Sturt Badminton Club member who demonstrates any, some, or all of the following qualities during the calendar year: Good sportsmanship, courtesy on and off-court, assistance to the club and its members, team spirit, enthusiasm, and dedication.

Nominations: Any financial club member can nominate any other financial club member (excluding current committee members) for the award. Nomination forms will be available from committee members. Nominations must be made between 1 November and 28 February and will be judged and presented at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Meng Fong Award Recipients

2021  Jin Weng Lim

2016  Ly Ming

2014  Richard Yin

2013  Margot Strelan

2012  Andrew Reed

2011  Daniel Reed

2010  Simon Yeo

2009  Sokhan Chap

2008  Lina Choo

2007  Boo-Hin Khoo

2006  Kevin Conlon

2005  Pauline Arthur

2004  Adam Douglas

2003  David Lim

Elite Members

Leanne Choo

Leanne has been a member of the Sturt Badminton Club since she was ten years old.  Leanne started playing in the junior league and then graduated to playing in the senior competition at an early age.  Leanne has represented South Australia on numerous occasions, her first State team was in 2004 at the June Bevan Under 17 National Carnival held in Auckland, New Zealand.  In 2006, Leanne at the age of fifteen, won the triple at the Under 17 National Championships in Perth, Western Australia - the first South Australian to win the triple title at a national event.  Leanne then became the first South Australian to win the triple at the Under 19 Australian Junior Championships in 2008. Leanne has also represented South Australia at Senior Level and was part of the winning team in 2010 when it was held in Adelaide. She has also been selected to represent Australia on many occasions in Junior National Teams. In 2010, at the age of nineteen, Leanne was selected to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, the youngest player in the team.

Leanne has won over 21 National Championships at Under 17, Under 19, and Senior levels. In 2011 Leanne deferred her university study to concentrate on qualifying for the ladies’ doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.  This allowed her to compete overseas in international tournaments gain valuable ranking points and earn automatic entry to the Olympics in 2012.  Her highest world ranking was 26 in women's doubles in December 2011. In 2012, Leanne made her Olympic debut at age 21, reaching the quarter-final play-off with women's doubles partner Renuga Veeran. This placed Leanne and Renuga in equal 5th position for the tournament. Leanne was selected again to represent Australia at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the mixed doubles event with partner Robin Middleton. Unfortunately, Leanne and Robin were unable to progress beyond the preliminary rounds.

Congratulations to Leanne Choo on again being selected to represent Australia at the 2018 Australian Commonwealth Games in April 2018.  Leanne and Renuga Veeran again competed in the Women's Doubles event While not ultimately successful, a highlight of the tournament was Leanne and Renuga Veeran taking on Ren-Ne Ong and Jia Ying Crystal Wong of Singapore in the Round of 32. Leanne and Renuga won an 80-shot rally during the third set but unfortunately were defeated 2 sets to 1, going down 22-20, 16-21, 21-18. Leanne also competed in the Mixed Teams Mixed Doubles Event partnered with Ross Smith. Unfortunately, the team did not progress to medal rounds.

Today she is the head coach for the Australian Badminton Team!

Australian Team Representation

2007    World Junior Championships, New Zealand

2007    Pan Pacific U19

2007    World Junior Championships, Korea

2008    Oceania Team Championship, New Caledonia

2008    Uber Cup preliminaries, New Caledonia

2008    Junior Commonwealth Games, Pune, India

2008    Pan Pacific Championships, New Zealand

2009    Pan Pacs U19, Melbourne, Australia

2010    Uber Cup preliminaries, Invercargill

2010    Oceania Team Championship, Invercargill

            Winner Women's Doubles with Kate Wilson-Smith 

2010    Commonwealth Games, Delhi, India

            Finished 5th in Women's Doubles with Renuga Veeran 1-2 versus Singapore

2012    Thomas and Uber Cup, Wuhan, China

2012    Oceania Team Championship, Ballarat, Australia

2012    OLYMPIC GAMES, London, England 

            Olympic debut

            - Quarter-finals in Women's Doubles with Renuga Veeran 9-21, 21-18, 18-21 versus Canada

2016    RIO OLYMPIC GAMES, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

            Second Olympic games

2018 Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, Australia

            - Competed in Women's Doubles with Renuga Veeran and Mixed Team Event Mixed Doubles with Ross Smith

Source: Badminton Australia, Australian Olympic Committee

Ryan Kinner

Congratulations to Ryan Kinner for his achievements at the BWF Para-Badminton World Championship 2017 in Ulsan, South Korea.

Ryan started playing badminton as a teenager, in addition to playing soccer and tennis. He has already participated in the two Australian Para Badminton National Championships (November 2015 & February 2016). He finished runner-up in Men’s Singles SL 3/4 in 2015 and was a semi-finalist in the same category in 2016. He was noticed as a potential Paralympian in soccer at the age of 13. When he turned 15, he was selected for the Australian team which played in UAE, Ukraine, Spain, Canada, Denmark, and England.

Australian Team Representation

2017  BWF Para-Badminton World Championships, South Korea

Other achievements

2016 Runner-up in the Australian Para-Badminton Championships SL3/4 Men's Singles. A fantastic effort to reach the finals at his first tournament.

2015  Captained the young PARAROOS Australia’s National Football Team in the 2015 IFCPF CP Football World Championships, an international 7-a-side competition for athletes with cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury or symptoms acquired from stroke, at the U19 World Games, England.

Kate Wilson-Smith

Kate has been a member of the Sturt Badminton Club since she started playing the game at twelve years old under the guidance of Kevin Conlon.  Kate represented our club starting in C Grade and then graduated through all the senior grades until she moved interstate to train with the Australian Squad but remained a valued member of our club.  Kate represented South Australia on numerous occasions at both junior and senior levels. In 1996, Kate won the Girls Singles, her first of many National Titles, at the Under 16 National Carnival held here in Adelaide at the Golden Grove Sporting Complex.

Kate has also competed at the highest level and has represented Australia both at the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games.  Kate made her Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games. She joined with teammate Jane Crabtree in the women's doubles event going down in the round of 32 to their Danish opponents Pernille Harder and Mette Schjoldager. Kate also teamed up with Travis Denney to contest the mixed doubles losing to Björn Siegemund and Nicol Pitro of Germany. At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, Kate paired with He Tian Tang to win Australia's first Commonwealth Games medal in badminton in 12 years. The pair claimed the women's doubles bronze medal in a closely fought match between England's Jenny Wallwork and Gabby White.

Australian Team Representation

1996    World Junior Championships, Denmark

1997    Junior Development – Asia, Malaysia

1998    Uber Cup, Manila, Philippines

1998    Commonwealth Games, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

            - Bronze medal in Team event

1999    World Junior Champs, Denmark

1999    Oceania Team Championship, Brisbane, Australia

2001    Arafura Games, Darwin, Australia

2001    Whyte Trophy, New Zealand|

2002    Uber Cup, Melbourne, Australia

2002    Oceania Team Championship, Suva, Fiji

2002    Commonwealth Games, Manchester, England

2003    World Championships, Eindhoven, Netherlands

2003    Whyte Trophy, Australia

2004    Uber Cup, Ballarat, Australia           

2004    Oceania Team Championship, Auckland, New Zealand

2004    Uber Cup, Jakarta, Indonesia

2004    OLYMPIC GAMES, Athens, Greece 

        Olympic debut

        Round of 32 in Women's doubles with Jane Crabtree 2-15, 3-15 versus Denmark

        Round of 16 in Mixed doubles with Travis Denney 5-15, 15-8, 4-15 versus Germany 

2005    Sudirman Cup, Beijing, China

2005    Whyte Trophy, New Zealand

2006    Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, Australia

2009    Sudirman Cup, China

2009    Whyte Trophy, Invercargill

2010    Uber Cup preliminaries, Invercargill

2010    Oceania Team Championship, Invercargill

          Winner Women's Doubles with Leanne Choo

            Winner Mixed Doubles with Glenn Warfe

2010    Commonwealth Games, Delhi, India

            Bronze medal in Women's Doubles with He Tian Tang 21-23, 21-12, 21-16 versus England

Presidents

We would like to acknowledge the past and present presidents of Sturt Badminton Club who have kept it alive and running!

1981 – 1991        Jeff Stokes

1992                      Dr Guy Eitzen

1993 – 1994        Cindy Barker

1995 – 1999        Des Rodgers (deceased 2014)

2000 – 2021        Paul Godden (deceased 2022)

2022 – Now         Jeremy Yu

Life Members

Life Membership is awarded to dedicated people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Sturt Badminton Club.

1992    Jeff Stokes

1994    Maureen Collins

1994    Kevin Conlon (deceased 2015)

1997    Paul Godden (deceased 2022)

2002    Bob Potter

2008    Darren Reed

2009    Rupesh Batra

2009    Pauline Arthur

2014    Cindy Barker

2022    Simon Yeo

2025    Sokhan Chap

2025    Jin Weng Lim