There are many spring sports at Taft: Baseball, Boys Volleyball, Track & Field, and many more. There are also some unique sports that a few students never really knew were a sport. Bass Fishing, Water Polo, and Badminton. Badminton is a sport that many students did not know was at Taft.
Many were surprised when they found out there was a team. Now a question that’s been circling Taft is “What is Badminton?”Amelia Gorzelany, Taft senior, has answered this question along with many others. She’s a player on the Taft Badminton team. Gorzelany described Badminton, “Is kind of like Volleyball.”
There’s a birdie and you have to hit it back and forth over a net. Once it hits the ground, the team with the last hit gets the point. You use a racket.
“It’s kind of like a tennis racket,” Gorzelany stated.
You play against the other team until one team gets 21 points. You play two times, if both teams win one match, a third match happens. Some rules in Badminton are: you can’t touch the net, you have to stay in the lines, and can’t hit it two times. It has to go over the net with only one hit.
Gorzelany stated some pros about Badminton: “It’s very fun” and “You make a lot of friends from it.” Along with pros Amelia also had a con about Badminton: “You have to be prepared to run a lot.”
In Badminton, you play in singles or doubles. Playing in singles you struggle with having to be in charge of the whole court which can be exhausting. While playing with a partner you don’t have to run as much but you have to have a connection or know your partner’s playing style.
There are 25 people on the team. “But not everyone gets to play in games,” Gorzelany stated.
The last question that was asked to Gorzelany was, What’s the hardest thing about Badminton? “The amount of swinging you have to do during a game,” she stated.
It starts to hurt one’s shoulder over a long period.“It gets to the point that the power in your swing becomes weak.”
Badminton may look easy, but it’s actually very difficult. As Captain, I’ve learned that teamwork is very important. If you don’t have teamwork on the court, lots of injuries or accidents can happen on the court when you’re playing doubles. I hope in the future, the sport gets more attention and people realize it’s a team effort at Taft.
