By Mikayla Weiss, Sports Editor
Photos by Max Decena
[Junior Tairan Liu and Adrian Huang]
The badminton season is off to a good start. To prepare for their upcoming games, Var practices seven and a half hours a week and JV practices five hours a week. The badminton team is more than just a team, they show Moreau Catholic’s values by building respect and being family.
“During practice we run a lot and do a lot of drills. Coach Ethan makes us run laps in the gym and then we do dynamic stretches. After that we do rallies and drills,” Sophomore Mia Sy Su says. “Some of the drills are called clears, smashes, and drives,” she says.
Some students go beyond practice, and train outside of school, like Sophomore Adrian Huang.
“I practice once a week outside of school at a place in Union City, but I used to go twice a week until I switched to weight training on Sunday instead,” Huang says.
[Adrian Huang]
Senior Captain, Max Decena explains what it’s like to be a captain on the badminton team and how it builds a connection between the new players.
“We have to help lead JV practice from 4-5:30pm every day. 5:30-7 is when the real training begins for us since that’s when Varsity starts. This allows us to form a stronger bond with our JV team since captains would often have one-on-one training by giving tips and good examples on what to do,” Decena says.
Besides all the practice they’ve been doing, the team is close and comfortable with each other, building a place where they can be themselves and play the sport they love.
“Everyone on the team is really nice and helpful. I just started playing and the captains helped me improve a lot,” Freshman Cassidy Olguin says, who plays on JV.
“Badminton builds community. We do drills at the start of practice, but towards the end it gets fun because we play competitive matches with each other,” Junior Tina Chu says.
[Senior Ellie Canio and Tina Chu]
Looking forward to upcoming games, the team seems to be rather excited than nervous. Senior Braden Dougherty thinks that all the practice pays off during their games.
“The best part of badminton has to be the games! People would never expect it, but we actually bring the hype during matches. No competition,” he says.
[Tairan Liu]
In all, the team appears to be very confident because of their rigorous practice schedule. They enjoy the sport so much because it’s something they truly enjoy playing, and they are excited to crush the new season, ready for whatever lies ahead.
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