This year’s varsity girls badminton team is hoping for the same success they had just a season ago. Coached by Mrs. Nicole Frye in her third season, the team hopes to make a run the IHSA Sectional playoffs just like they did a year ago when they placed fourth. Some of their top returning players include senior Emily Gorczynski, and underclassmen Nika Belova, and Grace Gescheidle. Both Gorczynski and Belova were able to make a run at the IHSA State tournament last season and hopefully can have the same outcome this year.

I caught up with senior Trisha Bhagat to ask her some questions about this year’s squad. She spoke on the change in this year’s team and what to expect this season. “We don’t have many returning players for varsity so a lot of new girls will be joining us this season. Hopefully we will have some great new additions to the team.”

What would you tell someone to encourage them to come to a badminton match?

“Badminton is definitely an non-traditional sport, but the matches are really fun to come watch! Many people don’t expect badminton to be challenging, but with two equally skilled players, rallies can get pretty intense with both players moving all over the court. If you’ve never been to a match, try to stop by because they are very entertaining and are worth coming to!”

What are you most excited about this season?

“I’m definitely excited to work with the new players on the team and work on new skills to win more matches as a whole. The team dynamic this year should be great with Mrs. Frye as our coach and players who have had previous experience playing badminton. In addition to this, I think our team has a lot of potential to do well so I’m looking forward to this season!”

Be sure to keep a lookout for this year’s varsity badminton team and stop by their opening game vs. Conant at LFHS.