Badminton champ a real class act

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2015 (3947 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Get into a conversation with David Snider and it doesn’t take long to come to the conclusion that you’re speaking to someone special. Not because David will tell you that but, in fact, because of how he downplays his remarkable achievements.

David lives in the West End but grew up in Fort Garry just down the street for the Wildewood Club. His dad was a member at Wildewood and an enthusiastic badminton player who introduced his son to the sport when David was five.

“My mom, Lisa, and dad, Don, were always very supportive, especially my dad because he played the game. They were always of the mindset for me to me to enjoy myself, and were always there if I needed them,” Snider says.

Please allow me to present David in a nutshell.

He just finished his first year in medicine at the University of Manitoba, and he’s been the national champion in badminton three times. For fun, he once ran in the Manitoba Marathon and finished fourth.

“What I enjoyed the most was the fitness and training aspects of badminton. I thought if I was lacking in an aspect of the game from a skill standpoint that fitness would win,” Snider says. “When I take to the court I want to make my opponent feel pain. I can lose a point but if the rally is long I am making my opponent work hard and will wear him down.”

Two of David’s national championships came after he stopped playing the game competitively in 2010.

“I was more at peace with the game,” he says.

David is incredibly cerebral and reflects with great wisdom.

“It was almost like I was being asked to be a robot when I always had a creative approach to my game. I stopped becoming the best player I could be.”

David thought long and hard after I asked him to offer some words to young athletes.

“Do what you enjoy. If you listen to that and you do what you love, things will fall into place. Sport is going to teach you things about life, and you can take those teachings anywhere.”

Former Winnipeg Blue Bombers kicker Troy Westwood is co-host of The Big Show, every weekday morning from 6 to 10 a.m. on TSN 1290 radio. He writes about Winnipeg’s unsung sports heroes every other week in the Canstar Community News weeklies. If you know of an athlete whose story Troy should tell, contact him at: troy.westwood@bellmedia.ca