Volleyball and Badminton heat up for the new semester
After a long break, the second semester started, and SMIC athletes are ready to prove their capabilities after regaining their energy and developing their skills over the winter break.
Particularly speaking of Middle school Volleyball and High School Badminton, the two teams are planning for a big step forward after all the time and efforts they put into training and workouts. Right now, both teams are full of confidence and anticipation for a new promising season.
Last year, many new members joined the MS Volleyball team. In order to improve their teamwork and skills, the team members not only worked hard during after-school practices, but also invested into independent training by themselves outside our campus. As a result, middle school volleyball team were able to impress many students and successfully attracted more members to join their team.
Coach Rob Luo emphasized on the important qualities of an athlete, which are: do not count on game results, work hard and play tough in games. Also, all members are required to attend practice on Tuesday and Friday every week. After practicing consistently, the coach and the team members now feel very confident about their ability and established a strong sense of sportsmanship and teamwork. “I feel like the team this year have some good team chemistry, although there are some new faces in the team, we were able to quickly get familiar with each other,” Eric Du (8C) said. Also, Coach Rob went on to say that, “We are Sharks, we are fighters, we are men. So we work hard and play game[s] in a tough way.”
As for Badminton, there are a lot of new members and a new coach. “Both the original and new members are looking forward to getting to know each other better. “A team needs to feel like a family in order to improve together,” commented Olivia Lu (11A). As Olivia mentioned, Badminton team members are working tirelessly to grow stronger as a team through practices.
Badminton players also seemed to have an optimistic outlook for their new season. “There are lots of great players this year, so I hope that we will all do our best on the tournament day and be proud [of] our achievements no matter what the results are!” said Olivia.
The first tournament game for HS Badminton team is on April 14th and members are already practicing hard for the big day as well as the interschool games that will take place throughout the season. Badminton Coach Gina Zhou expressed that students are welcome to join the badminton team. “If you want to enjoy yourself and improve in a very good environment and atmosphere, join our badminton team.” said Coach Zhou.
Students have been devoting an impressive amount of time to practices and team-bonding sessions to refine their skills and teamwork. Because of their efforts, regardless of what the results are at each game, this season will turn out to be a fruitful and rewarding time for all athletes.
Featured Image – Brendan ready to hit the ball Courtesy of Gina Zhou