BADMINTON. Who said music and sports don’t go well together? It is certainly not Daniel Couture who will confirm this statement.
The Drummondvillois has been teaching music at Cégep Drummond since 2005, but also plays badminton at a high level. He won gold medals in doubles and silver in singles at the Pan American Masters Games last summer in Cleveland, Ohio. The fifty-year-old shares his story full of discipline and passion.
It was during his time in high school that Mr. Couture began playing badminton seriously. He participated in a few provincial competitions and showed great potential for the sport. However, the call of his other passion was stronger. While continuing his studies in music at CEGEP, the percussion specialist had to put his sport aside.
After a break of a dozen years and stints as a teacher in the various secondary schools of Drummondville, Daniel Couture returned to badminton at the turn of his thirties when he had just been hired by Cégep Drummond. Having started participating in amateur tournaments again, he quickly realized that he could still do well despite his years away from the field.
“I had a better analysis of the opposing player. I was easily able to find weaknesses with experience and my ability to understand people. This difference made up a lot for the fact that I was slower than when I was 15. This is what made me want to start training and playing professionally again. I arrived late in the professional network at 34, the age when almost everyone no longer plays badminton at this level in Quebec. I arrived as a old-timer», remembers Mr. Couture, who was competing against players mainly aged 21 to 27.
In Quebec, a professional badista cannot earn his living solely by practicing the sport, despite the scholarships offered during tournaments. For Daniel Couture, the combination of work and training was essential, but was not always easy.
“To perform in badminton, you have to train almost every day. It’s the same thing in music. It was a lot of scheduling in those days. When I had children, I had to sacrifice badminton. I had more time before having family constraints. When the children grew up, it was no longer possible to do everything at the same time,” emphasizes the father of two girls.
Fortunately for him, several elements of drumming and badminton come together, such as gripping the drumsticks and racket and certain arm movements to hit a drum or the shuttlecock.
Discipline
During this era, discipline was a watchword for Daniel Couture. Schedule management had to be tight in order to be able to practice his two passions. He obliged himself to respect his schedule, because the slightest delay could have consequences on everything else.
“You really had to be disciplined. I saw it as a whole. What I did in sports also served me in music. Whether in terms of rigor, being in shape and being efficient. What I did in music also helped me in sports, like better feeling what was happening around me and the emotions of a match. The two parallel worlds complemented each other really well. I didn’t feel that sport was harming me in music and vice versa,” maintains Mr. Couture.
According to him, the best way to stay in shape as you age is to do an activity that you find exciting and that you consider captivating. For Daniel Couture, badminton allowed him to create great friendships with other badminton players from all over the world, he says.
Daniel Couture plans to participate in the Canadian championship in June 2025 in singles and doubles. To get there in top shape, he will have to resume almost daily training from January. Having achieved seven podiums in previous championships, without having been able to win gold, he goes there with the firm intention of climbing to the highest step. At the same time, he acts as drummer for country singer Irvin Blais with whom he has toured for five years.
