About 80 athletes in grades 7 to 9 took part in the Junior Broncos' Badminton Tournament April 13 at the Ralph Klein Centre. Following are results for Olds and area students from that tournament.
About 80 athletes in grades 7 to 9 took part in the Junior Broncos' Badminton Tournament April 13 at the Ralph Klein Centre.
Following are results for Olds and area students from that tournament. Where possible, students' last names and the schools they're from are listed. However, in some cases, that information was not supplied.
Grade 7 Boys' Singles
1. Christian Persson - École Deer Meadow School (EDMS), Olds Badminton Club
2. Rhett Miller - Olds
3. Ryder Hammer - Olds
Grade 8 Boys' Singles
1. Zach Short - Olds Koinonia Christian School (OKCS)
2. Owen Callow - EDMS
3. Treyton Mirus
Grades 7-8 Girls' Singles
1. Myla Plett - OKCS
2. Sharlese Weigum - EDMS
3. Madison Deleau - Olds
Grades 7-9 Boys' Doubles
1. Zach Short and Michael Good - OKCS
2. Christian Persson and Declan - EDMS-OKCS
3. Cohan and Zach - OKCS
Grades 7-9 Girls' Doubles
1. Hannah and Maddy - OKCS
2. Taurie and Kirsten - Didsbury
3. Davina and Sharlese - EDMS
Grades 8-9 Mixed Doubles
1. Zach Short and Myla Plett - OKCS
2. Michael and Amaris - OKCS
3. Zack and Mikayla - Didsbury
Broncos head badminton coach Mary Smith says the level of athleticism displayed by many in the tournament was impressive, given the amount of time they had to learn the game.
"I think that we have a lot of athletic kids but I don't believe that badminton is in the schools long enough to develop proper technique," she said during an interview with the Albertan.
That said, Smith saw some kids who showed a real knack for the sport.
For example, she named OKCS athletes Zach Short and Myla Plett as two students who "showed a lot of potential."
"And then Rhett (Miller) and Ryder (Hammer), with the limited information available to them it was very obvious that they were real athletic kids," she said.
"So there is definitely a lot of potential there with the kids."
Participants played a lot of badminton during the tournament.
"The Junior athletes played roughly 14 games for each division and some athletes played up to 40 games if they were registered in more than one division," Smith said.
She said many of these athletes played in this tournament to gain valuable competition experience leading up to county and zone tournaments.
