Joe Alston (1926-2008) was a two-time world badminton champion and 12-time
national badminton champion, one of the greatest badminton players ever
to play in the United States.
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Stan Bischof.
Born in San Diego in 1926, his mother was a recreation-conscious mother, and a constant source of inspiration and encouragement to him. He was the youngest of four, with two brothers and a sister. Alston started playing badminton at 9 years old, and while in junior high, played every day after school at the Balboa Park Federal Building, would go home for dinner, then back to the gym. He won his first tournament at 11 in Pasadena. He attended San Diego High School where he was a cheerleader and student body president. Local players who mentored Joe in high school included John Murphy and Carl Loveday, and he was known as the “boy wonder.”
An honor student at San Diego State College, Joe earned a B.A. in Business Administration. He met his future wife, Lois Smedley, at the Hoover High gym in 1946. He spent two years in the Merchant Marine as a purser, taking “trips” on the Pacific. In 1951, he married Lois and they relocated to Minneapolis for training with the FBI. They were assigned to Fargo, North Dakota, and Detroit, Michigan, for the FBI, continuing to play badminton while in the Midwest, and were frequent winners of “A” flight events. In 1953, Alston was transferred to Los Angeles, and provided a shot in the arm to L.A. badminton with the likes of Dave Freeman, Dick Mitchell, Marten Mendez, and Ken Davidson.
Joe Alston was the only male player to win each of the three basic events (Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles) at both the U.S. National Badminton Championships (closed to foreign competition) and the U.S. Open (open to foreign competitors). He and Wynn Rogers were ranked #1 nationally in MD for 14 consecutive years, 1951-1964. He played XD with his wife Lois, and she was on the first U.S. Uber Cup team. He was a singles finalist 8 years in a row in U.S. tournaments from 1949-1956. His titles included:
Joe was the only U.S. badminton player to be on a Sports Illustrated cover in 1955. Joe & Lois were invited to Europe in 1956 and 1957 to play in the top tournaments, and had the good fortune to meet Sir George Thomas and Betty Uber in London.
Joe was the only American to win MS at the U.S. Open since the tournament was open (until Jim Poole in 1958 and 1961), and the only American to win the All-England MD and World Invitational MS. The All-England MD title came with Malayan Johnny Heah, 15-8, 15-5. His greatest MS play, according to him, was versus Eddy Choong of Malaya. In the 1955 U.S. Open, Joe won in two games, but in the 1957 All-England semifinals, Choong won, 18-16, in the third game. He played on seven consecutive Thomas Cup teams between 1952 and 1970, and coached the team in 1979. He competed in Great Britain, Canada, Indonesia, Singapore, Mexico, Jamaica, and Peru.
Joe retired from singles in 1957. He was elected to the USA Badminton Hall of Fame in 1956, and was chosen for the Ken Davidson Memorial Cup in 1959. He was elected to the San Diego Hall of Champions, the Breit Bard Athletic Hall of Fame, in 1993. He was said to have had a vibrant personality, a likeable nature, and was determined to win. Joe worked for the FBI for thirty years. He and his wife Lois had two sons, Nick, and Tony, a badminton player and FBI agent himself. They spent many hours on the administrative side of the game, and both players ran tournaments and worked tirelessly for the sport. Hip replacements in 1982 and 1986 slowed Joe down, but he retired to Solana Beach, CA, and continued to play golf and enjoy his grandchildren.
Joe was asked to write an article for the Bird Chatter in 1954 on his reasons for playing:
Joe passed away in San Diego April 16, 2008, at age 81. What a badminton player and what a career!
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