Alyson Tessier received the Prix Coup de cœur from Badminton Québec at its excellence gala, honoring the 26-year-old coach and player for extensive grassroots development work across the province, according to lenord-cotier.com.
Removing Financial Barriers for Young Athletes
Tessier serves as head coach for Husky Badminton and teaches English at Gamache school in Sept-Îles, where she has built youth programs designed to eliminate money as an obstacle to participation. Now in her fifth season leading the Husky Badminton extracurricular club, she originally stepped into the role as the program’s first female head coach at Jean-du-Nord/Manikoutai. Within her school day at Gamache, she introduced badminton for fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade students, engaging roughly 60 participants. Last year, her advocacy successfully restored the primary-school division at the RSEQ regional championship.
Launching Free Community Training Initiatives
Beyond standard practices, Tessier launched the “Husky for a Day” program. This initiative allows Gamache students to train alongside Husky student-athletes for a week to experience a four-hour weekly training schedule and a larger school dynamic. She also established the “Mini-Husky” series, running in April and May across various tournament formats for Sept-Îles elementary schools, drawing about 20 participants last year. Both initiatives operate at no cost to families.
Tessier Balances Competition with Coaching and Teaching
As a competitor, Tessier plays on the provincial civil circuit alongside regional tournaments, appearing in 14 events last year. Early in the current season, she has already contested events in Québec, Winnipeg, Montreal, and Sherbrooke, where she reached the mixed doubles semifinals. She targets 17 tournaments outside her home region this season, while supporting local competition in eastern Quebec and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean. Alongside coaching and playing—which keeps her away from home most weekends—she practices taekwondo, teaches swimming, serves as vice-president of the regional badminton association, and is training to become a certified referee.
Academic Pursuits and Prior Honors
Outside of coaching and her teaching career, Tessier is completing a master’s degree in education. Over the past four summers, she used the Explore program to spend a month outside Quebec in English immersion at Fredericton, Regina, Vancouver, and Winnipeg, combining her language studies with badminton camps. Badminton Québec’s Prix Coup de cœur follows a previous nomination as coach of the year at the provincial RSEQ gala.
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