As the school year is wrapping up and Gables students are finishing up their 3rd grading period, several of Gables’ sports are just coming into season, one of which is badminton. The sport has its own niche at the school and, while not known by many, it is loved by all of those involved. Badminton pre-season training and practice first began a few weeks ago, when Coach Campagna called all potential players to come and try out. Once team tryouts came to an end, the team would go through several weeks of pre-season training and then begin playing their regular season games.

Throughout the pre-season, new incoming players are taught all of the basics of the sport, while the more experienced players would work on perfecting their skills. This meant that players would be shown how to hit, pass and serve, while also learning the basics of proper technique and precision. They also had to get accustomed to the speed of the game and the relatively small size and complicated movements of the birdie as it gets smacked around the court.

“During the preseason we basically try and get accustomed to the speed of the game once again and sharpen our skills before our first games,” senior David Howie said.

Badminton matches against other schools are often long and are in large part individual as the matches are done either solo or in a doubles group. This means that each competition against a school involves multiple games between different players at various levels since most of the athletes compete against players from the other school.

So far this season, the team has played Coral Park, Coral Reef, Southwest and Ferguson, while also playing in the Youth Fair Invitational tournament. While each player’s individual record varies, team captain Andrew Aramayo currently stands at 4-3 in his matches, both single and double. The rest of the team follows behind, such as seniors Lauren Pettigrew and David Howie, and juniors Alejandro Vasquez and Hi Vu, who all look to succeed throughout the season.

Thus, on behalf of Gables, make sure to wish the best of luck to the Cavalier Badminton team this season! With the practice and training they have dedicated to their craft, they are sure to meet all of their goals this season and improve as a team in every way possible.