Aragon badminton team looks onwards to a hopeful, optimistic season

Aragon badminton coach Linda Brown is feeling confident about the upcoming season. Her goal is to repeat the same feat as last year- win the PAL championship. Brown says, “The players are very competitive and we have a big group this year.”

The tryouts were extremely competitive because there were around 90 people, and after the first tryouts, Brown cut down the number to 63.

Brown says, “During the tryouts, I was looking for eye-hand coordination, background, and athletes. It’s hard to keep upperclassmen because I need to train the younger freshman for varsity. So, you have to be really good as an upperclassman to make the team.”

Brown adds, “To train my players, I have to work on their explosives. They have to work on their wrist speed and their endurance because sometimes matches can go up to 30 minutes.” In addition, players have to work on their reaction time.

Although many seniors have left, there are still enough returning players to make a good team, so Brown does not foresee encountering any future difficulties.

Seniors Andrea Chau and Jasmine Huang remember they were really nervous and serious about their freshman tryouts. Chau says, “We tried the best we could to make a good first impression.”

During this year’s tryouts, as a veteran player, Chau helped Brown scout for talented players and played with some of them.

Juniors Jamie Moore and Megan Reinertson are two best friends who play badminton together. “Although people are being moved around, we still think this upcoming season will be a good one and that we will continue to win PAL like last year.”

Moore adds, “Ms. Brown is a good coach. She motivates us and she keeps it real. She wants improvement and the best for all of us and keeps us challenged without stressing us.”

However, the girls have differing opinions regarding new assistant coach William Wong. Reinertson say, “He sees a lot of potential in us and he wants us to live up to that, but sometimes he’s too intense.”

“Our biggest challenge is usually movement, but we have really good team chemistry,” Reinertson adds. “So once we get into it, we start working together and having fun. Our strength is that we like to goof off and play off when we make mistakes. It helps us stay focused and keeps us from getting frustrated.”

Sophomore Sam Bunarjo is a returning badminton player who was on the exhibition team last year. He says, “I feel good about the badminton team’s chances of winning this year because we have a good team.”

Bunarjo says, “[Ms. Brown is] a bit rough, but she’s a good coach because she cares for each and every member and strives to improve them.”

During the week of varsity team tryouts, Bunarjo and sophomore teammate Jaehee Park had a bad first game, dropping them from the ladder. Bunarjo says, “I got really nervous and scared. Because I haven’t played with my partner in a long time, we did not have complete chemistry.”

In their second match, Bunarjo and Park stepped up their game and won, resulting in their placement of fourth place on the ladder for boys’ doubles on Varsity.

Freshman Nathan Zhang plays badminton outside of school and has been playing for about three years. Zhang says “I am excited about the upcoming season because I feel that the players are good.”

Aragon will go up against Carlmont in its first official game of the year on March 22. Even though the team is young and fresh since half of last year’s team has graduated, the players and coaches have confidence in their upcoming season.