At Kathleen Macdonald High School (KMHS) the badminton team grew from only having a partial JV roster to now having a full JV and Varsity roster during the 2025-2026 school year. An influx of underclassmen coming to KMHS opened more opportunities for the badminton team to grow.
Underclassmen on the team don’t require much experience, when put into JV they will learn the basics of badminton. As more and more underclassmen over the years joined the team, they were able to grow over the season improving their skill over time.
Some underclassmen weren’t aware of what the sport was before joining the team.
A freshman on the badminton team had said, “I didn’t really know it existed.”
“No I didn’t [know about the sport]” said Athina Le, a sophomore on the badminton team.
Underclassmen, whether they had experience or not, didn’t change much of their chances of making the team. Some experience could’ve been from casual play.
“I mainly just played with my parents and some of my friends,” said Jon Baylon, a sophomore on the badminton team
Kriday Ramkumar, a freshman, said, “I started back in 2019, I joined a training thing until 2022.”
The badminton team had formed its own community. Bringing people who were once strangers together.
“I made 10 new friends from just being on the badminton team itself,” said Le.
Some players are able to enjoy the community the team has created.
Baylon said, “Being friends with everyone here, and just being able to have this community where we foster each other.”
The badminton team has been around for quite some time now and has grown a lot over the past few years. With more underclassmen coming to KMHS the badminton community may grow over time with some possibly inviting their friends to join taking the badminton team at KMHS to new heights.
