Diane Hales

Right- handed Player

U.S. (National) Women's Singles Champion, 1971

U.S. (Open) Women's Doubles Champion, 1973, with Pam Bristol (Brady)

U.S. (National) Women's Doubles Champion, 1974, with Pam Bristol (Brady)

U.S. (National) Women's Doubles Champion, 1975, with Carlene Starkey

U.S. Uber Cup and Devlin Cup Teams, 1971, 1974

In the mid 1950's, Diane's late father, Harry J. Moore, discovered a challenging but enjoyable sport called badminton his fellow chemical engineers played at lunch break at work.  He quickly discovered the Long Beach (CA) Badminton Club, which met at the nearby Long Beach City College gymnasium, and he encouraged the family to join him.  As an active eight-year-old youngster, Diane decided to give it a try, especially because she was promised root beer floats after practice.  It wasn't long before she was hooked on the game!

Because of Diane's small stature her father found a way to shorten a racket for her to use.  No shoes with traction capabilities were made for children at the time, so he carefully "waffled" the bottom of her court shoes with a razor blade so she wouldn't fall when making quick directional changes.

Her father memorized Ken Davidson's book on badminton fundamentals.  He gathered information from experienced players and began sharing it with Diane. Though he had no formal training in coaching, he was a "quick study" and had a natural ability to help her learn how to execute strokes and strategy properly.  His patience and grace in coaching a family member simply were amazing.  Once, when Diane started to get lazy at practice, he said, "There are two kinds of people in the world: those who get things done, and those who whine and make excuses." He made it very clear that Diane would have to decide which category would define her, because he was not going to be a "nag" of a coach. Her father also realized that endurance was critical to the sport.  He instilled a love of jogging in Diane before jogging was a "fad."  He also bought her a jump rope because he knew foot speed was an important component of badminton.

Many members of the Long Beach Badminton Club encouraged and helped Diane.  The late Bill Giles gave technical advice early on to both of us.  Ada Wurst was a brilliant tactician and shared her knowledge of doubles and mixed doubles with Diane.

At age eleven, Diane entered her first tournament, a junior tournament at Long Beach City College.  She soon learned her coach-father's tournament philosophy: "We will never be concerned about your placement in the tournament draw, because if you are number one for a given tournament week-end, you will win no matter where you are placed.  If you aren't number one on a given week-end, we will just go back to the gym, work harder and give it a try next time."  With sound training and good competitive philosophy she surprised herself by winning the 11-and-under singles competition.  During this phase of her training she also met another junior, Stan Hales.  At that time neither of them had any idea their future would be tied together in later years.

The Long Beach Badminton Club where Diane did her early training was a busy club and courts were usually filled from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. every Monday and Thursday.  Club members were very gracious in allowing her father and her singles court space early in the evening. Her father was her primary singles sparring partner in those early years, and he made it very clear that any point Diane made was an earned point, because he was not going to be easy on her.  It wasn't until Diane was seventeen that she was able to take a game from him.  At that point Diane knew she had earned it!

Some time later they started going to other clubs for practice so she could play more than twice a week, she will always value the kindness and friendship the members of the Long Beach Badminton Club showed her and her father. Throughout her competitive years and today, Diane continues to volunteer her time coaching youngsters; she says "I do it out of gratitude for the caring that my father and other members of the clubs showed me." 

Diane received her B.S., at California State Teaching Credential, and M.S., California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, 1971, 1975, 1979 (Physical Education); She wrote her master's thesis, A History of Badminton in the United States, which is available at Cal Poly, the Pasadena Historical Society, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Her life changed in 1967 when she married Stan Hales, a former national junior champion.  He was a busy young professor, and Diane was a full-time college student at Cal Poly Pomona in California. Diane says,  "Stan and I practiced together. Our sessions had to be short and efficient, so we did a series of drills we call the ‘Hashman Drills' for about an hour several times a week." Diane's early morning jogging also continued to be a part of training. Jumping rope and doing sprints on the track also were part of training.  Former national champions Joe and Lois Alston were generous with their time and advice when both she and Stan were able to practice at the Pasadena Badminton Club.

In 1969 Diane and Stan began a family and together celebrated the birth of their first child, a daughter Karen. Karen played badminton all through her college years. She now is an assistant professor of biology at Davidson College in North Carolina.  Diane's second child, a son, Christopher, was born in 1976.  He is an attorney in San Francisco who still enjoys playing badminton and was on the 2008 Thomas Cup Team.

Diane says, "My greatest badminton experience was winning the U. S. singles title in 1971 over Pam Bristol (Brady).  In the third game, the serve went back and forth several times at 11-all, before winning match point and winning the national title."  She is also proud of the 1973 U.S. Open doubles championship that Pam and she won, as they faced some tough international competition in order to achieve the goal. Winning the 1974 Devlin Cup mixed doubles match with Mike Walker was also very satisfying.  Diane states, "In that match, many shuttles came my way because our opponents did not know that I had trained extensively in mixed doubles! My partner, Mike was an amazing mixed doubles player, and it was a treat to be on the court with him."

Judy Devlin Hashman is the badminton player she most admires.  She had the honor of playing this ten-time world singles champion (as well as holder of several world doubles titles) at a national tournament in Michigan before she retired.  "Our match was interrupted by a tornado warning, and all those in the gym had to scamper down to the basement.  While I was busy chatting with everyone during this break, I looked over and noticed that Judy looked almost as though she were in a trance.  She was still focused on our match!  Not only did she have amazing focus and concentration, but she also was a brilliant tactician who was very creative.  She saw each match as a "blank canvas" and was always trying to perfect her own game, even after winning many world titles."

Over the past many years, Diane continues to coach some eager youngsters in Wooster.  Some went on to be named to the junior national team, and others simply continued to enjoy the "fun" and fitness aspects of badminton.  Presently Diane is a volunteer therapy dog handler in nursing homes, libraries, and schools.  She also enjoys hiking, light opera, the theatre, and reading. Her husband just retired from a college presidency, so she has retired from her support role as well!