OLDS — Thirteen École Olds High School (ÉOHS) badminton players have qualified for zones and thus have a shot at going to provincials.
They qualified for that shot as a result of their play during divisionals, held April 8 in the Community Learning Campus (CLC) gym.
Senior high school zones will be held April 16, also in the CLC gym. The Grade 9 zones will be held May 10.
ÉOHS badminton coach Mary Marshall is thrilled with the team’s performance.
“They all just did really well. I had 23 athletes compete. Thirteen are going to zones," she said during an interview with the Albertan.
“Six got third place, one got into playoffs and there were only three that didn’t get into the playoffs, so they just did really well as a group."
Following are the divisional results for the ÉOHS badminton team.
Grade 9
Gabby Schoeder, girls singles, second, going to zones;
Zijan Exavea and Jan Bugaoian, boys doubles, second, going to zones;
Kimmy Shang, girls singles, third;
Berkley McDonald, boys singles, third.
Grade 10
Ryder Persson, boys singles, first, going to zones;
Reid McDonald and Ole Pilar, boys doubles, first, going to zones;
Anastasia Plowman and Mateya Sept, girls doubles, first, going to zones;
Talia Challoner and Hunter McDonald, mixed doubles, second, going to zones;
Lily Vandenhoven, girls singles, third;
Grade 11
Carmela Gamboa and Andre Bombasi, second;
Spencer Clifford, Oliver Wells, third.
Grade 12
Melody Fuller, second;
Pearl Reyeg, third.
This year, the ÉOHS badminton began every Wednesday at 7 a.m., because gym time was booked while the basketball season was underway.
Marshall was impressed with the number of kids who came out and their enthusiasm. For several, their dedication has paid off.
“We had about 30 come out in total, but in February we had about 12 kids come out every Wednesday and those are the ones that are going to zones, actually,” she said.
“This year we’ve doubled the number of people going to zones, so we definitely fared a lot better this year.
“I think it’s been a development over the last number of years. They’re getting better every year.
“And a testament to the students; they’re coming out to the practices and balancing their schedules, so the ones that want to do well, they have been.”
Marshall said about four of the students who came out to the practices had never played badminton before.
“They got better over the course of the training, but they didn’t end up competing in the tournament, they just came out all the time. But I think next year they’ll do pretty well,” she said.
“They kept coming out and actually, by the end, they were pretty good.”
She had some players who had tried the game while at École Deer Meadow School.
“They continued on,” she said. “The ones that never played, they didn’t really make the team. But next year they probably will, because I have a few kids dedicated to learning.”
