Athlete Killed In Crash On Bike

Published: Apr 12, 2006

HOLIDAY - The crowded badminton courts at Holiday Recreation Complex will be absent a familiar and friendly face when players gather for their Thursday night games.

John C. Obara, a nationally ranked badminton player, died Tuesday after losing control of his motorcycle on Perrine Ranch Road, a Florida Highway Patrol report said.

Obara, 46, was heading west when he fell off his motorcycle after it started to tip over while he was negotiating a curve. Both Obara and the bike slid across the road and into the path of a Nissan pickup driven by Richard Goff, 39, of New Port Richey, the report said.

Obara, of 6336 Summerfield Loop, New Port Richey, was pronounced dead at Community Hospital.

A badminton player since he was 4, Obara at one time held seventh place in the USA Badminton U.S. Senior National Rankings for both men's singles and doubles, with partner Michael Anthony of Seminole. Obara, a professor of electrical engineering at the University of South Florida, also was certified as a U.S. Olympic badminton judge.

Obara's passion for badminton began with his parents, who met playing the game in Ohio, he told The Suncoast News a few years ago.

His wife, Marla, an internist in New Port Richey, gave up playing after her children were born, the newspaper reported.

Through word of mouth, Obara helped organize the weekly badminton games at the Holiday Recreation Complex not long after moving to Pasco nearly two decades ago. In a June 2004 Tampa Tribune article about the popularity of badminton, Obara said he played mainly because it's a fun workout.

Obara introduced a young neighbor, Zach Works, to the sport not long ago. Works, a senior at J.W. Mitchell High School, organized a tournament at his school in March and chose badminton as the topic of his senior project.

Funeral arrangements were pending Tuesday.