Koinonia wins bronze at badminton provincials

Kennedy Coates and her mixed doubles partner Bryce Parrott won bronze medals in the Category B competition at the 2016 ASAA Provincial Badminton Championship last month.

It was the first time playing at the big tournament for the two Grade 10 students from Olds Koinonia Christian School, who competed against Grade 11s.

"It was fun; it was exciting, a new experience and opportunity to see how far I could go and do my best," said Coates, from Didsbury.

This year, OKCS sent eight players to provincials, the most in school history.

Earlier in the season, they had all medalled at the South Central Zone championship to qualify. Coates credits lots of practice and a culture of continuous improvement, constantly coaching and playing against each other.

At zones, the team won their medals in doubles.

"Mr. (Ken) Terpstra's really good at pairing people together so they'll go far and work well together," she said.

"He sees what your strengths are and tries to match them with the strengths of others. Same with what your weaknesses are."

Coates explains how playing doubles differs from singles, the tactical strategies people might not notice when watching the sport.

There are typically two formations. In one, players set up with one teammate in the front and the other in the back. This allows them to better cover the length of the court.

She refers to the other as "side-to-side." Here, players line up roughly on the same plane next to each other, giving them superior lateral coverage from one side of the court to the other.

Good teams can play well both ways, she said.

Coates said she and Parrott mostly played front and back. They each bring their own approach to the game.

"He's very good at thinking about things. He's very strategic. He definitely likes to think about placing the bird and where to put it, different moves, different plays," she said.

"I'm a little more intense. I like to go for it. I like to make that thing hit the ground."

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