Don Paup
Born: Los Angeles, California
Left-handed player
USA National Championships:
Men's Doubles: 1968, '70, '71, '72, '73, '74, '75, '76, & '82,
Mixed Doubles: 1971
International Records:
Five time Thomas Cup Team
Two time Devlin Team
South African Open Men's Doubles Champion, 1971
Mexico Open Men's Doubles Champion, 1964
Awards:
Ken Davidson Award, 1976
Senior "Hall of Fame", 2001
Helms Hall of Fame, 1973
USA Badminton "Hall of Fame", 2005
Don Paup started playing badminton in 1954 when he was attending Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California. His interest in the sport led him to the Long Beach Badminton Club where he spied Johnnie Franks, a polio victim, playing even with his handicap, and that was all the inspiration he needed to improve. He played primarily doubles at the Long Beach club, and remembers playing with policeman Chuck Randolph who staked him for milkshakes against all comers. One of his earliest memories is that of winning the Junior Nationals Boys' Doubles title in 1957, and being the finalist in both singles and mixed doubles that same year.
Don continued to play at the Long Beach Club, and knew he had arrived as an "A" player when he and partner Ted Ebencamp beat Tom Gray and Earl Hellman from his club in a local tournament. Don holds ten national titles, winning Men's Doubles in 1968 and 1970-75 with Jim Poole. He and Bruce Pontow partnered for the title in 1976 and 1982. He also won the national Mixed Doubles title in 1971 with Kelly Tibbetts. Don played on the U.S. Thomas Cup Team from 1964 to 1973, and represented the U.S. on the Devlin Cup Team in 1966 and 1974. He also won the 1964 Mexican Open Men's Doubles title with Erland Kops, and the 1971 South African Open Men's Doubles title with Chris Kinard.
Election to the United Saving Helms Hall of Fame (the original USAB Hall of Fame) came in 1973, and Don received the Ken Davidson Memorial Sportsmanship Award in 1976. He was elected to the USAB Senior Hall of Fame in 2001.
As a coach, Don coached the U.S. Thomas Cup Team from 1971-1975, and served as a Playing Coach for the U.S. South African Tour in 1971. He served as a coach for the 1974 U.S. Devlin Cup Team and the 1975 Uber Cup Team, as well as the GWU Women's Intercollegiate Badminton Team from 1977-1989. He coached his 1995 U.S. Olympic Festival team to a silver medal.
Don also served as a coach at the Connecticut Badminton Camp from 1974 to 1983, and was the inspiration for Rosemary McGuire who started the camp with Don's help. He also served as a coach for the Oregon Badminton Camp from 1977-78, was on the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports from 1968-1997, and has hosted the George Washington University Badminton Camp for sixteen years, beginning in 1988.
As an administrator, Don served as the President of the Long Beach Badminton Club in 1961, and was on the Planning Committee for the Men's Intercollegiate Badminton Championships from 1976-78. He was on the AIAW Badminton Sport Committee from 1980-82, and served as the Tournament Director for the 1979 and 1982 AIAW National Championships. He was a member of the Board of Directors of the American Badminton Association from 1976-82, and served on the USBA Intercollegiate Committee from 1987-2002. He has also served as the Chairman of the Intercollegiate Badminton All-America Committee from 1987-2004, Chair of the USBA Regional Coaching Committee from 1989-93, and the Chair of the USAB Sports Medicine and Science Committee from 1995-2004.
As an official, Paup was a Service Judge for the Thomas Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia, in May of 1967. He served as an Umpire for the World Games in San Jose, California, in 1981, and was a Line Judge in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.
As a writer, Don published Winning Badminton in 1983 with Dr. Jim Breen, and Skills, Drills, and Strategies for Badminton in 2000 with Bo Fernhall. He has also written several book chapters and produced three badminton films. He served as a clinician at the AAHPERD National Convention in 1990, and from 1994 to 2004 with "Hands On Badminton."
Don lives with his wife Helen in Vienna, Virginia. He is Professor and Director of the Exercise Science Programs in the School of Public Health and Health Services at The George Washington University, and has been on the staff for thirty-one years. He and his wife have two daughters, Elizabeth, married to Carl Schlier, and Jennifer, married to Steve Butlin. Grandchildren include Inga, Eric, and Rachel.
