Lucas Punkari
With no losses to his name yet in high school badminton play and a berth at the all-Ontarios now secured, Muskie Taylor Whitehead just is trying to wrap his around what he’s accomplished over the last couple of weeks.
“It’s pretty mind-blowing,” he admitted. “I’m just starting out here in Grade 9 and now I’m going to OFSAA.
“I have to say things have been going pretty good so far.”
Whitehead secured his first trip to the provincial championships at the NWOSSAA playoffs last Wednesday in Dryden, going a perfect 5-0 to finish in first place.
“While we were there, everyone was saying that they don’t think anyone has ever qualified for OFSAA when they were in Grade 9, so Taylor is really setting his own trail here,” noted Muskie head coach Tracy Rob.
“His strategy has been improving, he’s been covering any areas that he may have weakness in out there, and his backhand and drop shots have improved a lot,” she lauded.
“He’s just consistently getting better, and he’s just playing at a very high level right now.”
Of his five matches last Wednesday, Whitehead’s toughest encounter came midway through the day when he earned a narrow two-set victory (21-19 and 21-16) over Ryan Dasno of Sioux Lookout.
“That was a bit of a surprising [match],” Whitehead recalled.
“He had finished in fourth at NorWOSSA, but he really stepped up his game and it was a totally different [match] when we played this time around,” he noted.
“We both played pretty well and it ended up being a good close game.”
Another big win for Whitehead came earlier in the day—a 21-18 and 21-9 triumph over Aaron Parilla of St. Ignatius (Thunder Bay).
“In the first game, I was trying to get used to what kind of style he played,” Whitehead said.
“And then in the second game, I figured out what shots he would do the most and things just went from there.”
“He [Parilla] was one of the top competitors there, and he’ll be going to OFSAA along with Taylor,” Rob noted.
“Taylor was on the top of his game against him, and he was really playing at his very best,” she stressed.
With just over a week to prepare for the all-Ontario championships May 2-4 in Chatham and Pain Court, Rob expects a lot of work will be done to help Whitehead with his endurance, especially since he’ll playing against players much older than he is.
“Since he’ll be going up against well-developed players in Grade 11 and 12, who are more physically developed than he is, that is going to be the biggest challenge,” she explained.
“Before he heads down, Taylor is planning to do some practices with the Muskie track-and-field team to build on his conditioning, and he’ll also be doing practices with the Muskie badminton team and the local club, as well,” Rob added.
While having no clue yet on who he’ll be matched up against at OFSAA, Whitehead is looking to use his trip as a learning experience for the future.
“I just want to see how I can match up against the older players there,” he remarked.
“As I get older, and if I have a chance to go there again, I think having that experience early on of playing at OFSAA will help out a lot,” he said.
