“Badminton aficionado” doesn’t begin to describe John Lim, a distributor sales representative for Penn Valley Chemical Co., in Lansdale, Pa. John started playing badminton when he was 10 years old. Since then he has played, coached, refereed, served as chairman of his local group, and organized tournaments for the sport. Most notably, he served as a badminton referee in two different Olympic Games: Atlanta in 1996 and Beijing in 2008.

John is a native of Malaysia, where badminton is extremely popular.
“Badminton is second only to soccer in Malaysia,” says John. “It’s as big as football and basketball are in the United States.”

John played for his high school team, was on the Drexel University varsity team in Philadelphia and competed in the NCAA national tournament in 1976. He also was the coach at Albright College in Reading, Pa., for 16 years. These days, John is semi-retired from the sport, but still continues to organize tournaments, including the Pennsylvania state championships, which he’s been doing since 1985.

Though an orderly sport — it’s known as a “gentleman’s sport” — badminton is rigorous.

“A study was done showing that you run three miles in a three set match and you’re constantly moving,” says John. “Unlike tennis, there are no breaks.”
For John, his Olympic involvement started in 1995, the year before the Atlanta Olympics.

“Active badminton players in the United States were contacted to volunteer or participate in the Olympic event,” he says. “I didn’t want to apply, but my wife encouraged me. I submitted a resume, and then traveled to the Olympic site in Atlanta to serve as a technical official for the U.S. Badminton Open, which was sort of a test trial for the Olympics.”

At the U.S. Open, officials were evaluated and graded on their refereeing skills, including how well they called the match and how attentive they were. Officials were also given tests. John scored 100 points, putting him in the top 10 percent — high enough to be selected as an Olympic official.

There are typically 100 badminton officials selected for each Olympics, of which 90 are from the home country, and two are from each of five World Badminton Foundation regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Oceania and PanAm. John was one of two PanAm officials in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

“Before the games began, we arrived a few days early to acclimatize to the gym, security and receive our ID badges and uniforms,” he says. “Usually, it’s a 10-day badminton competition.”

With the 2012 Olympic Games coming up in London, John is competing for one of the two officiating spots from the PanAm region. However, he has a feeling he didn’t make the cut this time around. But, Olympics or not, John’s dedication to the sport is unwavering.

“It’s been a godsend to be a part of the sport,” says John. “I’ve met a lot of people and have seen a lot of countries.”  

Gretchen Roufs, an 18-year janitorial supply industry veteran, owns a marketing and public relations company in San Antonio. To suggest someone you think should be featured in “Freetime,” contact her at Gretchen@GretchenRoufs.com.




POSTED ON: 5/28/2012