It was a strong showing for the Estevan Comprehensive School senior badminton team at Regionals this past weekend, with three teams earning podium finishes and securing their spots at provincials.
“We're pretty excited about our results,” said ECS senior badminton coach Sheena Summers. “Not that we weren’t expecting it — the kids have been working extremely hard. It’s just such a nice time for us, especially as hosts, to have athletes advancing to provincials.”
All four ECS teams finished in the top four. While the mixed doubles team of Max Vicary and Sydney Brooks narrowly missed a medal, their coach said they played some of their best games all season.
“They ended in a three-way tie for second, which came down to points for and against,” she said. “They were right in the hunt. They played super well. They were obviously upset — they wanted to move on — but I was pretty proud of them.”
Several standout performances helped fuel the team’s success at Regionals. ECS’s boys doubles team, comprised of Xave Sequita and Moksh Rabari, went undefeated and captured gold.
“I wasn’t sure where they would end up, but they played incredibly well,” the coach said. “Dongjun (Won) usually does well in boys singles, and Jane (Contillio), our girls singles player, had a super tough match and almost placed first. She did really well.”
Contillio ended up with a second-place finish.
This will be Won's third time competing at provincials, and his experience will be an asset as the team looks to make an impact.
“For the other two, it’s just about gaining experience and playing to the best of their ability. That’s all we ask.”
This year, ECS is not only sending athletes to provincials, but also hosting the tournament. While it may seem like a stroke of luck, the school actually submitted a bid for the opportunity years ago.
“I don’t know if we’ve ever hosted provincials at ECS before,” she said. “We’ve known for the last couple of years that we were going to be the host. It’s a big event coming here.”
While there may be a slight home-court advantage, the ECS teams are up against fierce competition from urban schools.
“They have some really tough competition coming from the cities,” the coach said. “It’ll be great badminton to watch, and no matter how they do, we’re proud of them.”
The community is invited to attend the provincial tournament, which will be held at ECS this weekend. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for students in Grades 7 to 12.
The event is being co-hosted with Clark Savanna from Oxbow, who is handling the administrative side of things, while ECS is providing the venue.
“It’s exciting for our community,” said the coach. “Hopefully we do well.”