In checking out the Southern Badminton site that Phillip Ayoung-Chee maintains (along with the Florida Badminton Association, and the USBEF site.... hes one busy, and selfless man!), I see Phil had freshened up the look and I looked at a link he had posted. It was a link to a video tribute to one of South Floridas badminton pioneers, and one Im grateful to say I got to know very well. He was such a character, and a man who loved the sport. Between him and Bill Graham, these were two of the bedrocks of South Florida badminton in the 1960s all the way to their passing. Bill Graham passed away on the Saturday morning of the Jerry Toms Senior International, the last day of the tournament he annually hosted in Miami Lakes. He was surrounded by his family as he passed away peacefully. Bill was 86... or 87, Im not certain, but it was one of those. His longtime friend and doubles partner, Jerry Toms, passed away 2½ years later. Jerry was a salty old character who loved the ladies almost as much as he loved badminton. He was the better of the two players (Bill Graham NEVER beat him in a singles match), but a stroke robbed Jerry of the use of his left side for the last decade of his life, and it took away the ability for Jerry to play the sport he loved so dearly. He missed playing badminton so much. But Jerry was always Jerry. Heaven help any woman that came within the reach of his right side, because he was going to get hold of her and give her as tight a hug as he could with his one good arm! For a senior guy in his 80s, he sure was strong. All of us who have played badminton over the years in South Florida have all been positively affected by these two great gentlemen and their passion for the sport of badminton; directly and indirectly. So, after way too many words, I present to you the tribute to one of these men, both of whom I love tremendously, and miss oh, so much. Heres to you, Jerry Toms: vimeo/27868301
Posted on: Sat, 13 Dec 2014 03:03:23 +0000