With the Agua Fria badminton team 2022 season just starting, it is time to see what skills they developed.

The varsity team’s first game was held on September 1st, against Mountain Pointe. Unfortunately, the varsity team lost their game 5-4 but still managed to put up a fight.

Even though the varsity team lost their game, this does not mean they would take this loss harshly. However, it would be an opportunity for them to learn from their mistakes and find a way to take advantage of that.

From a coach’s perspective, “Losing is disappointing, but I’m happy as I saw this game to be one of the best games I’ve seen my team played. They played hard and did their best,” Coach Martin said. It is great to hear him supporting his team, as this first game was incredibly close.

Let us take a look at a returning varsity player for the badminton team: Alissah Smith. During her first singles match, she lost 16-21; Then in her second match-up, she lost 20-22. An unfortunate loss for Alissah but she played hard, almost winning her second set in singles. 

After her singles match, I interviewed Alissah Smith and asked her how she will improve coming forward. Alissah responded, “I will use the court more to my advantage and be aware of my opponent’s body gestures.” It will be interesting to see how Alissah would use the court more often in her games throughout the season. Also, being able to see her opponent’s body gestures before hitting the shuttle to see if they would hit it with more or less force, as well as if they would hit it in the middle, left, or right direction of the court takes a lot of practice and observation.

Now, let us look at her doubles match-up. In her first doubles round, Alissah and her teammate, Sofia Soto, won their first round 21-16. Then in their second and final round, they won 30-28. Alissah played her best, winning her doubles match, and making up for her singles.

Once their doubles game was finished. I asked her questions about how well she and Sofia cooperated during the match. Alissah responded, “We were great at communicating and had no problems with each other. There was no frustration between us.” a wonderful and supportive response from Alissah, as she would not let anything distract her mentally or physically while communicating with her teammate during a match. 

As the first badminton game of the season came to an end, I interviewed Coach Martin to see what advice he had to give to improve his team’s gameplay. Coach Martin responded, “I would want them to be focused and relax during matches, and to not overthink because badminton is a pacing game.”

This is great feedback from Coach Martin as he does not want his team to overthink on upcoming plays but instead, wants them to keep calm and focus as the game progresses.

As I reflected on my interactions with the team I realized they are really supportive of one another, wanting the best for their teammates and coaches. Hopefully, other students would also come and support the badminton team as the season goes on.