Cypress High’s Badminton team consists of hardworking and dedicated individuals, practicing daily for their games with Coach Brian, Coach Daniel, and Coach Spencer. The season began on February 28 and since then, their players have consistently proved themselves as they continued to show their efforts and success through their games. But who are the individual players behind the net?

Sophomore Gabby Duran shares her experience as a member of the team. “Competing on the badminton team has been a really fun experience overall. Our team is very welcoming and they are like a second family to me. I have zero regrets about joining the team, but if I were to redo one thing, it would’ve been to try out for the team during my freshman year rather than my sophomore year so that I could have met everybody on the team sooner and made more memories with them.”

When it comes to competing away at other schools, there were some mixed experiences, although the majority were good. “I had good and bad experiences competing at other schools, but they were mostly fun and a good learning experience. Although, in a couple of my first away games, I had bad experiences only due to the fact that those were my first official game experiences, so I did not build up a good mentality going into the game.” Duran added that she preferred to compete in away games because “I like the bus rides going to school and back home. The bus rides with our team range from being chaotic to peaceful. I also like exploring other schools, in general, to see what they look like.”

Duran went on to describe the various ways in which badminton had impacted her life. “Badminton has always impacted me as an individual in many ways, but the biggest change it had on me was expanding my comfort zone. I remember being scared to try out for the team because I was intimidated by all the really good players, but as time passed I started to grow more comfortable with them and they helped me improve as a player. Playing on a sports team in general was also a step out of my comfort zone, but overall I’m glad I started playing badminton because now it is like my second home.”

Sophomore Linda Taing said her favorite games were against Westminster and Fountain Valley because “they’ve been the most respectful and fun to play against.” When it comes to games, Taing prefers playing doubles because a partnership is always fun. “I prefer playing doubles because I enjoy having a partner who I can communicate with and have fun with, the pressure is a lot less when you know you can rely on someone else, and overall I enjoy how quick-paced it is.”

If she were the coach of Cypress Badminton, Taing says she would make JV players more of a priority to see their improvement. Taing also stated that she would probably cut down on team size overall.

“If we had more funding, I’d really like us to have more equipment and better uniforms for us without us primarily donating money, and maybe just spread more news and awareness for our sport. We’re really small on this campus but I want us to be known too!”

As the season comes to an end, the Cypress Badminton team never fails to show their hard work and dedication through their games. The diligent individuals on this team hope to see more recognition and support as they finish their season with a win in their final game against Whitney 16-5.