Dan Falloon
Many of the players on the Muskie badminton team have been around the block before—and now they’re looking to strut around it more confidently.
The girls’ doubles pairing of Kimika Alexander and Chelsea Carlson qualified for the all-Ontarios last spring in Sudbury, as did boys’ singles player Rory Bagacki (although he was part of a doubles team with the now-graduated Tim Desjardins a year ago).
There’s still a bit of a road to hoe for the Muskie “birders,” however, as they’re looking to get out of the NorWOSSA level in Kenora today (April 21) to advance to the NWOSSAA championships in Atikokan on Monday (April 26).
“They all have a good chance to go back [to OFSAA],” enthused Muskie coach Manami Alexander.
The duo of Alexander and Carlson finished in first place at last Wednesday’s NorWOSSA qualifier in Dryden. So did the senior boys’ pairing of Robert Stevens and Spencer Pearce.
Bagacki, the Muskies’ final top qualifier, swept his way through the qualifier, speaking to his development as he transitions from doubles to singles play.
“All the strongest players like to play singles,” noted Manami Alexander.
“He’s been doing pretty good,” she added. “He’s won all his matches and has had no problem with them.”
In addition to these players, the Muskie team may hold another ace up its sleeve in the girls’ doubles team of Hannah Taylor and Jillian Berry.
The pair only placed third at the qualifier in Dryden last week, but brings a championship pedigree from the junior level—having taking the NWOSSAA junior girls’ title last year.
“They moved up from junior,” noted Alexander. “They’ll use the skills they’ve learned over the years. . . .
“They really know how to place the bird.”
Alexander stressed the importance of playing as many opponents as possible in order to have a better idea of what kind of competition may be lurking at high-level events like the all-Ontarios.
“Every player plays differently,” she remarked. “So when they play different players, they will be able to adjust to different players in different games.
“We encourage them to go to as many tournaments as possible.”
In part because of this philosophy, and in part out of necessity, each player will end up competing in drills against each teammate during practice. Male or female, junior or senior, singles or doubles, it doesn’t matter.
“They all practise together,” Alexander said.
“On the club team, the singles [players] are all together, and the doubles [players] are all together, but we combine practice [at the high school level].”
Another part of practice for the birders involves running.
The Muskie badminton season only lasts about a month, which is so short that players will not build up endurance through drills alone.
“The tough thing is bringing up their endurance level in such a short season,” Alexander noted. “So we have to do running as part of practice.”
The other Muskie competitors at NorWOSSA today are from the junior ranks.
The boys’ doubles team of Andre Emond and Bryson Skirten advanced from the qualifier with a second-place result.
Cassandra Spade, meanwhile, came out of the girls’ singles competition by also placing second.
After the NWOSSAA showdown in Atikokan on Monday, the all-Ontarios are set for May 5-8 in Stratford.
