Badminton Districts On Saturday
By Robert Thomas ,
The city champions for badminton have been decided but it’s not the end of hitting shuttlecocks or birdies on the court.
See Related - Seniors City Championships
See Related - Juniors City Championships
This Saturday from 9 AM to approximately 4 PM - 5 PM the district championships will be held at Peacock Collegiate.
The two top teams in all five categories - girls singles, boys singles, girls doubles, boys doubles and mixed doubles - will compete against other teams in the south central division to decide which teams advance to regionals.
This year the decision was made to host not only seniors district playoffs, but also juniors (bantams) grade nines at the same time.
WEDNESDAY’S HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS CITY BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS WAS NO LESS EXCITING THAN THE SENIORS CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS ON TUESDAY - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
“The gym will be wide open. It is like three bucks to get in,” Lee Behrns Cornerstone Christian School coach as well as commissioner of the city senior badminton league told MJ Independent.
“It’s a new experiment this year running bantam and senior together in one venue normally it’s in two (venues), he said.
Behrns said the event is open to anyone who wants to come and watch the competition.
This Year’s Senior City League
As far as the number of competitors goal in the city league that wrapped up this past Tuesday participation was on par with the long term average.
The three league nights there was no limit on the number of students who could play.
“Some schools are a little less this year and others were a little more, so we kind of averaged out about the same,” he said, adding “ every league night we let tons of kids in. We let everybody play. We didn’t limit the amount and kids had fun.”
“It’s only one month, the season, but it was all about getting these kids playing and having tons of fun.”
ACTION FROM TUESDAY AFTERNOON’S HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS CITY CHAMPIONSHIPS - MJ INDEPENDENT PHOTO
Asked about how badminton had a diverse group of participants - not simply the athletes who participated in volleyball and basketball - Behrns said that was true to some extent.
For Cornerstone, a smaller school, many of the male badminton players were also on the basketball team.
“For some other schools there was some opportunity there (for other athletes to participate,” he said.
He said he “absolutely” happy to see students who never played volleyball or basketball come out and play badminton. The sport is open to all students.
“Badminton is one of those sports where anyone, anywhere and anytime it’s kind of played a little bit so students come out.”
“It’s lot of fun for people from all walks of life to come out and play.”
Although badminton is more of an individual support he said he was happy with the large turnout for the city championships on Tuesday afternoon.
The bleachers were not just full of players but many of their parents, grandparents and special guests showed up to watch the auction.
It’s something Behrns saw as a good thing to see such a large crowd come out and support high school badminton.
“It was awesome to see most of the stands were packed with people. We had lots of parents, lots of grandparents and special guess. There was a lot of cheering,” Behrns said.
It’s a formula they hope to repeat on Saturday.