Dripping with sweat, Ben Hussey dives to the ground and slides across the dull gym floor just in time to pop the badminton birdie back over the net. Immediately the birdie is stuffed right back at him. From his knees, Ben kills the bird for the game winning point.

In the humid McAffee Gymnasium on any weeknight, while most college students would be relaxing and embracing the summertime, Ben can be found playing badminton with the EIU Badminton Club.

Since he was 11 years old, Ben, a senior in the teacher certification program, has been training and playing badminton at a competitive level that would put any high school P.E. class to shame.

“In the summertime I’m usually not playing as much, so I will just come out and play kind of low key a couple times a week,” Ben said. “But, when I’m playing for a tournament, I try to get out about four or five times a week.”

Ben is ranked number one for men’s badminton singles and ranked seventh nationally for men’s singles currently in the Midwest region.

While many people from the area may wonder “Why badminton?” he caught the badminton bug naturally.

His father, Kevin Hussey, from the Kinesiology and Sports Studies Program, has been ranked nationally and competed internationally in badminton, and his grandfather, Robert Hussey, established the EIU Badminton Club, as well as being a competitor.

“My dad started to play because my grandpa started the club here at Eastern and took on the (EIU Badminton Club) when he moved here to start teaching at Eastern,” Ben said. “Then I got hooked on it through that.”

Ben played his first tournament in Terra Haute, Ind., a few years ago and has played his way through different tournaments through out the Midwest.

“I got really interested when some friends told me about a junior national tournament so I went and tried that out in California,” Ben said. “As I’ve gotten a little bit older I’ve started to win a few Midwest tournaments and now I’m currently ranked number one in the Midwest for men’s singles and I’ve won a few doubles and mixed doubles as well.”

He has also played in the National Men’s Badminton Tournament this past year, where he made it to the quarterfinals round.

“I lost to Howard Bach-who is probably our nation’s best-so I wasn’t too disappointed,” Ben said.

In 2006, Ben was invited to play at Incheong, Korea, for the World Junior’s Championship and his father, Kevin, was chosen as the coach for the team.

“That was probably one of my favorite experiences because I was able to play with the U.S. Junior Team and compete in that kind of atmosphere and at that caliber with the different types of international players was a great opportunity,” Ben said.

Kevin still coaches him for tournaments and Ben said he enjoys it.

“Most people think its weird because most kids don’t get along with their parents, but for me its always just worked, maybe because I’ve done it for such a long time,” Ben said. “I guess my dad also has that reputation with badminton so I know he’s good, so I listen to what he has to say and its worked well for us.”

For a game type of practice, Ben plays members of the EIU Badminton Club, but he said there is more to just playing a game that goes into practicing. His father will have him do drills to build up endurance and muscle memory.

“During drill work someone will feed me birds and I will do all the work, basically working on different shots form different spots on the court,” Ben said.

While lifting weights isn’t his favorite part, he still tries to occasionally get into the gym. His competition for practices is sometimes hard to find.

“For competitive game play I really need to travel because I don’t find my competition level here as much, but my younger brother, Quinn, is up and coming, and he is getting pretty competitive with me,” Ben said.

Quinn Hussey, who is a senior at Charleston High School, has competed in tournaments just as his brother has.

Ben said he has competed at the Junior Nationals and goes with him to all of the regional tournaments.

“Last year at the Don Ross Memorial Tournament he made it the finals against me,” Ben said. “It was fun, I beat him that time, but that may not be so in the next few years.”

The next tournament Ben will compete in will be the Don Ross Memorial Tournament in Louisville, Ky., in August.

“I’ve won all three events at this tournament before, but it all depends on who is your partner with the doubles,” Ben said. “If you have played with your partner for a while, you can expect to do better.”

Looking towards the future, Ben has set some high goals for himself.

“Right now I’m just looking to up my rankings in the U.S.,” Ben said. “I would like to increase that before I do anything else, and with small steps I can obtain that.”

He said he would like to play for the U.S. National team and ultimately make the Olympic Team.

“In terms of getting there, I would have to work out some things with sponsorship,” Ben said. “If I was this good at a different sport, like tennis, I would be well off, but I love this game so much its not for the money, it’s never going to be.”

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7942 or at [email protected].