Shoes for Shuttlecocks

I gave my mom a tournament-quality badminton set for Mother's Day this year and we had a lot of fun yesterday playing each other 'til we could no longer stand. I got to thinking about Badminton style and realized that Jack Purcells, the iconic canvas sneakers, are actually named for and designed by a champion Badminton player!

Purcell was the 1933 Badminton World Champion. A few years later he helped to design the Jack Purcell sneaker originally introduced by the Canadian footwear division of B.F. Goodrich. Converse acquired the Jack Purcell trademark with its purchase of the B. F. Goodrich rubber division in 1972 and continues to manufacture the simple canvas shoe with the light blue rubber sole. I guess I have no choice but to purchase some JP's or else I fear my Badminton game will suffer. I like the J.Crew editions ($65) that are slightly distressed, but I might have to get the real deals ($55) to be a purist.