Badminton team displays unwavering dedication during pre-season
The badminton team this year has shocked some of the student body by starting pre-season practices a whole quarter before the season. It seems that the passion students have for badminton easily rivals that of more conventionally popular sports like basketball, soccer, and volleyball.
In recent years, badminton team tryouts have consistently exceeded 50 students with spots for only 20 or so, making it a pretty competitive pool of players. Although the team has had a few shortcomings in the past few years, they are hoping to make a comeback this season. Before, the team would usually start occasional practices during Winter Break, weeks before tryouts. This year, they are taking it a step further and have started in the second quarter of the school year. With badminton being a 3rd quarter sport, many people were confused as to why the team decided to start practicing so far ahead of schedule. When asked why and how this came to be, TingTing Xu (12A) explained that “Our players this year are very dedicated… and have a genuine love for the sport. We actively try to organize as many practices as we can during the off-season, even if it means finding gyms outside of school to play in.” He goes on to explain that none of this would have been possible without Coach Derek Janssen, who worked hard to plan a suitable time for the team to practice during basketball season. Furthermore, Coach Derek has shown his dedication to the team by helping to purchase new nets, posts, and birdies for them to use. With the help of his training and passion for badminton, the team has grown exponentially in a very short amount of time.
The predicament of having one gym means that the badminton team must wait until 7PM to begin practice, which lasts until around 9PM. This proves to be a big commitment, with college apps and big projects in the way for the seniors on the team. When asked about the challenge of such timing, Leon Cheng (12A) reflected, “It’s not that bad, like we have almost four hours to do work before practice. Once I get home it’s already like 9:30 PM and I pretty much go straight to bed. Honestly, getting to play badminton makes it worth it.” It seems that while getting home at 9:30 PM can be tiring, Leon’s passion for badminton easily overrules it. Students like TingTing and Leon have been on the team for years, but a few aspiring players come to the practices as well.
This year, the team expects to see plenty of new players at tryouts and is looking forward to growing the badminton community in SMIC like never before.
Featured Image– Isa Kou (GAP 12) whacks a high-serve against her severely intimidated opponent Photo Courtesy of Connie Wen
by Brendan Wang