OLDS — While the rest of us were battling a typical frigid January, seven members of the Olds College badminton team were in Hawaii, competing in the Honolulu Open.
And they did well, placing in the top three in five divisions in the competition, held Jan. 3-5.
Because it was an open tournament, some college coaches competed.
Broncos head coach Mary Smith and NAIT head coach Sinead Cheah teamed up to win the women’s division.
“We showed the kids how it’s done,” she said with a laugh. “It was nice for the students to see their coaches compete as they rarely do.”
In women’s singles, Smith finished first and Priyanna Ramdhani, the team’s international champ from Guyana, placed second.
Beau Stevenson finished third in the men’s singles D division.
Jenna Kardos finished third in women’s singles C division.
Smith and Rylan Head placed third in mixed doubles.
Smith was impressed with how the team did.
“I thought that they had a good showing overall,” she said.
“Jenna and Beau, it being their first year, they did play in a lower division. But they played really well; they played above their normal (level).
“Troy Morgan, even though he didn’t win a medal, he did place fourth overall in open men’s singles. He played extremely well at the tournament,” she said.
Smith said Ramdhani, along with two other team members -- Noah Jeffery and Alex Boulier – had “a bit weaker showing than I expected, to be honest.”
She had a theory as to why that happened.
“I think they had a hard time adjusting to the climate,” she said. “We were not in air conditioning. We were competing in a gym that was probably 35 degrees. And even though Priyanna is from Guyana, she had acclimated to the Canadian climate.”
There was another factor.
“The birds in Honolulu are heavier, so there’s an adjustment to them because of the humidity. It weighs them down,” Smith said.
“So I think some had a harder time adjusting than others.”
This trip was not funded by the college. Each athlete had to pay their own way, although some fundraising was also undertaken.
“We did have long layovers for our flights to keep the cost down, but everybody just kind of banded together and decided they wanted to do this big thing as a team, so we did it as inexpensively as possible,” she said.
The team was back at it this past weekend, competing in the second ACAC tournament of the season in Edmonton. Results will be provided in an upcoming edition of the Mountain View Albertan.
