Shuttlecocks fly to begin season
The men's and women's badminton
team competed in their first
tournament of the season at
Humber College recently. Head
coach Matt Plachta was pleased
with the results as Danica Swep
made the quarters in the women's
singles "A" flight, Jovana Pecic
won the women's singles consolation
flight, and doubles team Dania
Zwep and Candice Kim did well,
making the quarters "A" flight.
The team will compete in three tournaments over the course of the season including one at Fanshawe on November 16. Last year the team had a few close calls, but Plachta is hoping for a better season, "We had a couple people finish in fourth at regionals and our girl's doubles team went to provincials and finished fourth overall. It was a good season for them but not as good as we're hoping for this year, we want a couple more teams to get through to provincials."
About half of the women's side is new to the team and the men have one rookie as well. To reach his goals, Plachta is looking at the athletes to make a strong effort in practice. "It's going to take a lot of hard work, the athletes have to really buy into pushing each other in the practices. The only training we get is with each other and with some returning players from other years."
The team currently practices twice a week and had some valuable training with former badminton players in the summer. "We invite past athletes who are still in the city to come out and play as well … anything ranging from 20 year olds to 35-40 year olds come to push some of the athletes," Plachta said. "Once you reach a certain age you can't move quite as well on the badminton court, but you do adjust your shots, so it's more of a finesse game. It gives our athletes a view of slowing the game down, they start to think about what they're doing on the court and to attack when given the opportunity."
Plachta is heading into his fifth year as head coach and this year is going with a smaller roster. "Were running a smaller team this year to try and focus on certain aspects or certain players. We know a lot of their abilities, so we're starting off at a higher level than we were last year to see if we can push them even further."
Plachta said teams to watch out for are Georgian and Humber who look to have strong players, but he is confident that Fanshawe will succeed.
The team will compete in three tournaments over the course of the season including one at Fanshawe on November 16. Last year the team had a few close calls, but Plachta is hoping for a better season, "We had a couple people finish in fourth at regionals and our girl's doubles team went to provincials and finished fourth overall. It was a good season for them but not as good as we're hoping for this year, we want a couple more teams to get through to provincials."
About half of the women's side is new to the team and the men have one rookie as well. To reach his goals, Plachta is looking at the athletes to make a strong effort in practice. "It's going to take a lot of hard work, the athletes have to really buy into pushing each other in the practices. The only training we get is with each other and with some returning players from other years."
The team currently practices twice a week and had some valuable training with former badminton players in the summer. "We invite past athletes who are still in the city to come out and play as well … anything ranging from 20 year olds to 35-40 year olds come to push some of the athletes," Plachta said. "Once you reach a certain age you can't move quite as well on the badminton court, but you do adjust your shots, so it's more of a finesse game. It gives our athletes a view of slowing the game down, they start to think about what they're doing on the court and to attack when given the opportunity."
Plachta is heading into his fifth year as head coach and this year is going with a smaller roster. "Were running a smaller team this year to try and focus on certain aspects or certain players. We know a lot of their abilities, so we're starting off at a higher level than we were last year to see if we can push them even further."
Plachta said teams to watch out for are Georgian and Humber who look to have strong players, but he is confident that Fanshawe will succeed.
