Bellerose Composite High School hosted the ninth annual Golden Birdie Cup, a small year-end badminton tournament filled with fun, friendly matches between the Bellerose and Paul Kane High School teams.
Bellerose Composite High School hosted the ninth annual Golden Birdie Cup, a small year-end badminton tournament filled with fun, friendly matches between the Bellerose and Paul Kane High School teams.
Geoffrey Howard, Bellerose teacher and badminton coach, says this tournament gives the students an opportunity to “connect with others in the community who share similar interests.”
“[This tournament] is a really nice kind of community building piece between the St. Albert community, but Bellerose and Paul Kane themselves,” Howard said.
“We have the camaraderie between the two schools for this event going on a decade now. It’s a lot of fun to be a part of, and it’s really cool to watch the kids be excited for this type of thing.”
The Golden Birdie Cup is a best-out-of-five competition where the schools compete in men’s and women’s singles and men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles events. The players’ names are put into a draw to determine the matches they will compete in. Each event has an unexpected twist where players use randomized, modified equipment that adds a “unique challenge” to their game. Howard said this year’s equipment was shortened rackets and rackets with missing strings.
“The kids don’t know what they’re getting. The other coaches don’t even know what they’re getting,” the badminton coach said. “I manipulated the rackets [during] the block before school ended.”
As the years go on, Howard said the tournament has become more competitive between the two schools as it has been “neck-and-neck in the overall series” with Paul Kane leading 5-4. Bellerose made the gap even closer this year as they claimed victory with an overall score of 3-2, winning in the men’s singles and women’s and men’s doubles; Paul Kane won in the women’s singles and mixed doubles categories.
“Both teams have been able to go through the entirety of their seasons, develop their skills, go through all the practices and then challenge the rival school, which is really nice.”
The Golden Birdie Cup continues to increase and challenge the players’ competitiveness in a fun way by adding awards that recognize the students’ efforts and skills. The Taking Flight award is given to the up-and-coming players and was awarded to Mia Huang (Paul Kane) and Sanjna Singh (Bellerose). Alejandro Deloso (Paul Kane) and Matthew Lenz (Bellerose) received the Greasy Bird award for pulling off impressive shots. The Golden Crispy Bird award was given to Katie Wong (Paul Kane) and Nathaniel Wyton (Bellerose), who showed great sportsmanship and remarkable competitiveness.
Howard said the kids look forward to this event every year as it gives them a chance to play and challenge their friends from the rival school. It’s the only time they can compete against each other since they play in different divisions.
“You obviously get the competition piece within the league, but to be able to play your friends within the community and do it in a way that’s both competitive and really fun and a little unorthodox is a really, really nice way to wrap up the season.”
2024-05-11 20:27:00
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