High school badminton has its own version of March Madness

Amid the basketball “madness of March,” which begins in total regalia this week, a distinctive model of “March Madness” arrives this time of calendar year.

It is referred to as tryouts for the spring year of superior school badminton. A “insanity” of another sort.

Audio pretty tame? What could be so tumultuous about the nice, peaceful match of badminton?

“Oh yeah, it can get a tiny ridiculous,” claims Glenbrook North head badminton mentor Tiffany Kim. “Twelve courts going at a time through tryouts, and we have 30, occasionally as a lot of as 40, 50, or even 60 girls trying out for the staff.”

Birdies flying, players talking, whistles blowing, courts rotating, ladies speaking, echoes in the gymnasium. It is all aspect of the exceptional craziness that goes along with badminton tryouts every yr.

“The insanity of march,” in truth. And that is just to choose the group!

For any visitors snickering at badminton as a activity, thinking of it as just a recreational yard game, keep looking at you should. Believe it or not, ladies badminton has among the the highest quantities striving out of any sport in the overall university, which include all 3 seasons. It can be correct for each GBN and GBS.

So with all these issues and interruptions and so a lot of women to pick out from, how does a mentor basically decide on who makes the crew?

“It is not quick,” claims Glenbrook South 2nd-12 months head coach Kelli Nitihara. “1st of all, we will most likely have to have tryouts at 6 in the morning simply because the basketball team is even now actively playing, so that offers some exceptional difficulties. Next, what we appear for in players is mind-set, coachability, potential, and the means to engage in doubles, mainly because each player — by rule — ought to play doubles in competitiveness.”

“Also,” Nitihara adds, “we don’t overemphasize rating in tryouts, but much more procedure, strategy and skill amount.”

The two Nitihara from South and Kim from North are alumni of the faculty the place they coach

Kim, who also coaches the women volleyball crew, has been head mentor for 9 years, and she performed on the Glenbrook North badminton groups throughout her several years as a Spartan.

Counterpart Nitihara graduated from South in 2009, wherever she performed 4 years of volleyball, one yr of basketball, and 3 several years on badminton for the Titans, lacking one particular calendar year since of a torn ACL. Nitihara produced it to state in her junior year participating in doubles. She was an assistant mentor below longtime head coach Terri Kimura prior to getting around the reigns.

Personally, I adore to see this. It is often great to see some of our ex-athletes occur again to mentor at the identical faculty, and in the same application, in which they after played.

Kim and the Glenbrook North squad will have several battles this calendar year for positioning who plays where, and in what places in singles and doubles. But a single location that will never be in issue is No. 1 singles.

The Spartans have 1 of the major players in the condition returning in Jade Huang, and she will no question be a threat as soon as once again to make it to point out and a probable contender for the medal stand.

Glenbrook South, on the other hand, does not have the one superstar, but instead the workforce is blessed with a good quality depth of expertise led by seniors Leah Dessercih and Kara Yoo, and junior Justine Liu.

Both of those groups commence their seasons in a couple weeks following some intense observe and schooling periods.

Now let’s handle the skeptics out there. The backyard weekend enthusiasts who enjoy the activity recreationally and think anybody can engage in badminton. Are you guys nonetheless reading through this? Hope so.

Basically, in one feeling, you would be proper. Anyone can engage in this recreation — but not at the higher intensity expected to be productive in aggressive higher school badminton, where by it is a completely diverse story.

Below, the elite badminton players have to combine speed, agility, toughness, adaptability, stamina, great hand/eye coordination and, definitely, rapid reactions. The birdie arrives at you with impressive pace, and with the small length amongst players on the smallish courts, superfast reflexes and reactions are a have to.

Whilst most of us taking part in the yard activity just purpose to get the birdie more than the internet and into the opponent’s court, at the significant university level the sophistication of the video game is so a lot a lot more. Women should master pictures these types of as the serve, the lift (assume lob), net pictures, block pictures, drop shots, the apparent (large and deep) and, of training course, the often effective, and crowd satisfying, smash shot.

That is a minimum amount of 7 diverse expertise, and they have to learn every on both of those the forehand and backhand sides.

The skill level and psychological facet of the large faculty activity has jumped drastically in latest decades here in the suburbs.

“There are some golf equipment in the Northwest suburbs that some of the little ones play on, which definitely support with their enhancement,” states GBN mentor Kim.

GBS’s Nitihara provides “We ran a summertime camp for badminton in this article very last summer time and experienced really fantastic attendance, so we are hoping that allows.”

Both equally teams will be all set for motion, no question, in a couple of months.

But to start with … people tryouts, and all the madness of 12 courts likely all at at the time.

• Jon Cohn of Glenview is a coach, retired PE teacher, athletics formal and prep sporting activities admirer. To get hold of him with remarks or tale concepts, e mail [email protected].