by Brianna Smith
The Mira Costa High School badminton team left their mark at the CIF Southern Section. Their hard work and popularity in recent years cannot go unnoticed as six standout players qualified for the individual tournament. Six players qualified, including two boys doubles teams and two boys individuals. The first team was team captain Zach Berkes and Hao Lin. The team was 3-2 and made it to the consolation quarterfinals. They played their final match against Arcadia, the number one seeded team. The game lasted until the third set, where the pair lost 21-17, just short of qualifying for CIF Regionals. Unfortunately, the pair also played against their own teammates earlier in the tournament. TJ Lee and Andrew Pedrotti were the other boys doubles team that qualified. They went 1-2 and made it to the consolation round 16 where they played Berkes and Lin. “It’s a little funny, but also a little sad that I had to be the one to knock them out of the tournament, but I’d rather me than someone else I guess,” Berkes said, half-jokingly. Skylar Irby and James Zhang both qualified and competed as individuals at the tournament. A majority of the players who competed are also seniors who will be graduating this spring. A total of seven “highly skilled varsity players” are graduating, according to volunteer coach David Levin. He remarked that the next year will be somewhat of a rebuilding period, but feels confident in the players. Many of the students have other academic and extracurricular priorities, like AP classes and band practice, which allowed for several JV players to sub in for varsity players when they were unavailable. “I have trust in a lot of the underclassmen and hopefully what I have taught them as a captain, they can sort of reflect that on to the other new players and sort of have a nice cycle of a good foundation of a team,” said Berkes. In what can only be described as bittersweet, the seniors leave their team better than they found it. As badminton becomes more popular amongst Gen Z, the team’s popularity only continues to grow. The Costa team went from 12 students in 2021 to holding tryouts for 36 available spots this year. With the end of their season, the team’s hard work and games can be properly reminisced. David Levin remembered plenty of exciting matches that were played up to 21 points. One trait that stood out was the team’s perseverance. Amidst other commitments, losses, and general high school life, the players consistently worked and practiced to build a foundation for the future of the Mira Costa badminton team. “It’s not just about the badminton–and that’s the rewarding part of the whole job–watching people come from, you know, freshmen wet behind the ears young people who then grow up to become young adults,” said Levin.
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The 2024 Mira Costa Badminton Season is officially complete and judged to be a big success.
Going 8-4 in season and post-season Team matches, with three of the four losses by just one or two games. We won our first Mira Costa Invitational Tournament and had place winners in the Arcadia and Cerritos Tournaments. For CIF Southern Section team play we were just one game away from making the Division 1 finals as the eventual CIF SS winner Marina, edged us 10-11. We first defeated Sierra Vista 19-2 and then Redlands 16-5 before falling to Marina in the CIF SS Division 1 Semi-Finals. All three matches had exciting competition. Zach Berkes and Hao Lin went undefeated in Boys Doubles for the three matches as was Hao and Jaclyn Wang in Mixed Doubles and Isabelle Chen in Girls Singles. All varsity players got wins in the CIF SS Team Tournament Our Boys Varsity players were then selected to compete in the CIF SS Individual Tournament, with 180 of the best players in SOCAL. Hao + Zach and TJ Lee + Andrew Pedrotti played Boys Doubles and James Zhang and Skylar Irby played Boys singles. Zach and Hao nearly defeated the #1 Seed from Arcadia in the Consolation Quarterfinals taking them to three sets. TJ and Andrew got a win on the first day but fell to Zach and Hao in the consolations in an unfortunate draw. Skylar made it to consolation Quarter Final as well with two wins before falling to a good Redlands player. James fought hard in his two matches on day one. In our Mira Costa Invitational Tournament early in the season Zach, Hao, Isabelle and Skylar won gold with James winning silver. Isabelle won Gold in the Cerritos Tournament and Silver in the Arcadia Tournament. Isabelle and Hao won gold and Hao and Zach took 3rd at the Arcadia Tournament. Zach led for the second straight year as Varsity Caption while Spencer Stone lead Junior Varsity as Caption. Our Junior Varsity players competed hard as well with Evelyn Green winning Gold in the Cerritos JV Tournament and many of them earning Varsity letters at various matches. Even though we are losing eight seniors the team looks strong with James Zhang, Kate Kligys, Hao Lin, Evelyn Green, Pamelyn Wang, Luka Wong, Micah Chu and other underclassmen poised to lead. We’ve also had unprecedented news coverage this season with placements in Manhattan Beach News, a live TV segment on KTLA’s Morning News show and an in-depth spread in The Easy Reader on the history and growth of the Mira Costa Badminton program, coaches and roots at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club. We wish our seniors well as they navigate post-high school: Zach Berkes, Isabelle Chen, Jaclyn Wang, Nadia Kontorovsky Wong, TJ Lee, Andrew Pedrotti, Skylar Irby and Jeremiah Yip. We know their experience with Mira Costa Badminton has taught them to be good teammates in life. And a special thanks to our coaches, Patty Perkinson, Cindy and David Levin and George Murphy who put their time into making our Badminton program the best it can be. With the tragic loss of Coach Mike McAvin last year, Patty stepped in to support the program with our Booster President Cat Stone and Treasurer Krishna Berkes, whom without we wouldn’t be able to run Badminton at Costa. The Badminton Banquet is May 29th at Mira Costa where we can celebrate the amazing accomplishments of the 2024 season. Go Costa! by Mark McDermott
Three years ago, the Mira Costa High School badminton program barely had a pulse. Only 12 students, across both varsity and junior varsity, joined the team in 2021. Badminton appeared to be on the cusp of disappearing from Costa. It was a precipitous fall for a program that had produced CIF championships. The pandemic was partly to blame, but it was more than that. The sport got no respect. MCHS senior Zach Berkes said that two years ago, the badminton squad’s only home game got canceled – because the boys basketball team wanted the gym for an offseason practice. “We used to have to fight with off-season basketball to get a home match,” said Berkes, who is the badminton team captain. Things have changed. Beginning on Friday, and continuing next Monday and Wednesday, the Mira Costa badminton team will host the first three rounds of the CIF playoffs at the MCHS Pavillion. The MCHS team is quickly becoming one of the powerhouses in the state, and has a chance to capture both a team CIF championship, as well as individual and doubles titles. The team is generating a buzz on the Costa campus. Last year, 45 kids were in the badminton program, so many that the coaching staff decided to take only 36 players this year, after tryouts, in order to give players more individual attention from coaches. There are a few reasons for the turnaround, including the sparkling new Pavillion gym, robust community and administrative support, and a revered coaching staff that includes husband and wife Dave and Cindy Levin and legendary Mira Costa Coach Patty Perkinson. But perhaps the main reason is the players themselves have emphatically put badminton on the map. “I think the reason why we’ve been able to grow so much is because we’ve been able to foster this community on campus,” said Berkes. “Where before we had one home match in our whole season, and it ended up getting canceled because of offseason basketball practice, and we fought really hard – to get lines in the gym, to get time in the gym. Last year, we had to come in during zero period to work out in our weight room. Every day, we managed to fit in time, even after school in the preseason, to do some conditioning on the track. We really forced our way onto this campus. And we demanded the respect.” These days, the badminton kids are a force to be reckoned with on campus. They proudly wear their badminton team jackets, and more kids want to be on the team than there are spots. Last month, KTLA featured the badminton team, along with the MCHC Cheer squad, on its special “school spirit” morning segment. “It’s really unheard of, in past years,” Berkes said of this kind of attention. “You know, if you’d told me last year that I’d be getting interviewed live on television for Mira Costa badminton, I’d say you are a fool.” Mira Costa badminton has made its presence known, both by winning, and by doing so with a certain amount of undaunted swagger. “People have been hearing about it,” Berkes said. “And now it’s a known, respected sport on campus, which has been my dream my whole high school career.” Badminton is on the rise both globally and nationally. One recent study found a particularly rising popularity for the sport among Gen Z, and Pinterest reports a huge uptick in searches for “badminton racket” and “badminton outfit” on its sites. The sport, which originated in mid-19th Century colonial India and was originally called “Battledore and Shuttlecock” (battledore is another name for the racquet, the sport’s unique, conical projectile is called a shuttlecock) became an Olympic sport in 1992. “It’s an elite athletic event, and anyone who is familiar with Olympic caliber indoor badminton realizes that,” said MCHS coach Dave Levin. “But the view in the United States, which has harmed badminton’s development for many years, is that it’s a picnic sport you play in your backyard in the summer. The reason badminton continues to grow in the United States is because of the emigration of Asian and Indian players, who made the sport explode in the U.S.” Manhattan Beach is unusual in the U.S. in that badminton has a long history here, which is another reason underlying the Mira Costa program’s success. The Manhattan Beach Badminton Club was founded in 1936, and for most of its existence was one of very few such elite caliber badminton facilities, and clubs, in the nation. For decades, before Mira Costa built its new Pavillion gym, the MBBC was the high school team’s home, as well. Alan Berkes, Zach’s father and a key volunteer who does everything for the Costa badminton club from photographing to running its website, said that MBBC is fundamental to MCHS badminton’s rich history and present resurgence. “The club is really the core of the success of the program,” he said. Coach Cindy Levin began playing at the club when she was eight years old. “My parents belonged to the club since the early 1960s, and all four of us kids played,” she said. “Our whole family would play.” She was part of CIF Southern Section championship teams at MCHS in 1976 and 1978, and then went to Arizona State University, where she won two national badminton championships in 1980 and 1981. It was at ASU that she also met her future husband, Dave, who had coached the ASU men’s and women’s teams to national championships in 1978. He actually moved to Manhattan Beach, later in 1978. He and Cindy were not yet boyfriend and girlfriend. He moved to be near MBBC, because very few such clubs existed at the time and he wanted to continue training as an elite player. When she returned to her hometown after college, their romance bloomed. They’ve played together ever since, and in 2016, after retiring, became MCHS coaches together. “Badminton is truly our life,” Dave Levin said. It’s fitting that the couple coach together, because badminton is the only coed sport in the CIF. Boys and girls practice together, and compete together on doubles teams. One of the team’s best players is senior Isabelle Chen, and when she is on the court, she is feared by opposing players, male and female alike. The team’s other best player is a 14-year-old freshman, Hao Lin. Dave Levin said this speaks to another unique aspect of the sport. “Badminton is not dictated by someone who’s six foot five inches tall or 200 pounds or bench presses 300 pounds,” he said. “Speed is the most important factor of a high quality badminton player. The current world champion is six foot four, but he competes regularly against people who are five foot seven and five foot eight, and it is not an advantage or disadvantage. Speed is the great equalizer, and that’s why badminton is a unique sport.” As Zach Berkes told KTLA, what those unfamiliar with badminton fail to realize about the sport is its intensity.“It’s something you might not think of when you think of badminton,” he said. “I think a common misconception about badminton is that it’s slow, that you hit it lightly over the net,” Berkes said. “In reality, it’s very fast paced. You need to have quick reflexes, especially in the higher level matches. It really gets your adrenaline pumping.” Levin said that the physics of badminton are what make it such a unique and thrilling sport. “The shuttlecock leaves the racket at over 200 miles an hour when hit by an Olympic caliber athlete,” he said. “So the unique nature of badminton is that it loses its momentum over a period of time. The design of the shuttlecock, which has not changed since badminton was brought to the Western world in the late 1800s, allows it to decelerate enough to give your opponent the chance to return the shuttle, even though it leaves their racket at these enormous speeds. A ping pong ball maintains its momentum, a squash ball maintains its momentum, but the deceleration of the shuttle allows you to return even the hardest shots. At the elite level, you have less than one second in between rally shots to return the shuttle.” David Levin said that along with speed and hand-eye coordination, skill in handling the racquet is key. A well hit shuttlecock explodes off the racquet. “When it hits the sweet part of the racquet, it really is satisfying,” he said. “Like Hao Lin, who is one of my partners, he’s a freshman, but the way the birdie sounds when he hits it – it’s like a sonic boom. It vibrates through the whole gym. It’s incredible.” Alan Berkes, who works for an organization called Steel Sports that was co-founded by former Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda to promote positive youth sports experiences, cites a study by Aspen Institute’s Project Play which found that 70 percent of kids quit sports by age 13. In part, this is because sports can become overly pressure-packed, and no longer fun for kids. Berkes said that watching even the most high-level matches the Costa badminton team plays, you rarely see a player who isn’t exuberant about playing. “I’ve never seen kids in the heat of competition smile as much as they do in badminton,” Berkes said. “It’s a very different vibe. When they make a mistake, they support each other. There’s a thing where you click your racquets, and typically smile, like, ‘I’m sorry.’” At practice, Dave Levin said, “There is some giggling going on.” These are different kids. Were it not for badminton, they probably would not be engaged in high school sports at all. They tend to be true scholar-athletes. It’s not unusual, Berkes said, to see players studying and doing homework in between matches. “It’s a great group of kids,” he said. “They’ve got a lot going on at school. If you total the GPA up for the badminton team versus any other team at Costa, probably you would get a higher GPA with the badminton team. The kids are overachievers when it comes to school, but they want to be involved in sport.” “In a lot of the other sports, you have the typical jock kind of person,” said Zach Berkes. “In badminton, we have band kids, kids who are in orchestra, Model UN and all sorts of different backgrounds and interests, and a lot of academically proficient students who really focus on their academics, while also playing badminton.” “Our biggest competitor is not other schools,” Dave Levin said. “Sometimes, it’s the AP testing regime, because so many of our players take AP classes. Almost all of them play a musical instrument. It’s amazing to see what they achieved, and I’m proud of them when they go off to school, to Princeton, or UCLA, Berkeley or Stanford. They are very high achieving. It’s a pleasure to watch.” Make no mistake, though, when the Mustang badminton team gets between the lines of the court, their focus is laser sharp on excelling at their sport. “It’s a really good community of people we sort of curated with this program,” Zach Berkes said. “And we all have a really great time with each other. But when it gets down to playing, we really do get down to business.” The business at hand is winning CIF. The team captain feels the hand of fate moving in that direction. “I think the past four years have been accumulating toward this one moment,” Berkes said. “It’s sort of what the stars have aligned. We have a really strong team this year, and we’ve been able to beat a lot of the teams that are in our division…This is a very winnable tournament. We have three home matches in a row, which helps us, and probably one of the best teams we’ve had in many years. So I think we could really win it all. That’s our aim.” ER Coach Cindy Levin started playing badminton at 10 years old, at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club (MBBC). When she joined the Mira Costa High School Badminton Team, they won two CIF Southern Section Team Championships, in 1976 and 1978. She met her husband of 43 years David Levin, when she attended Arizona State University, winning two national Badminton Championships in 1980 and 1981. David coached the ASU Men’s and Women’s Badminton Teams to National Championships in 1978. A match was made.
“Cindy and I still play and compete in international age group tournaments where we regularly win gold in our age group,” says David. “Badminton is truly our life.” David moved to Manhattan Beach in 1978 and became a Junior Instructor at the MBBC. In 1985 David coached the USA Maccabi Badminton Team to a silver medal while taking home silver in men’s singles. All team members were from MBBC. When they both retired in 2015, they became the coaches of the Mira Costa Badminton Team. “Mira Costa has a rich tradition in Badminton, largely due the training available at MBBC. But COVID devastated our program with only 12 kids joining in 2021,” Cindy recalls, “we needed to re-build, basically from scratch.” While Mira Costa was building their new sports complex, David and Cindy were building back the badminton program at MBBC, but when the team was now able to train in the new Pavilion Gym on campus, the team exploded with interest from students. “Our core players will always come from MBBC, but being able to practice and play matches on campus is a big draw and integrates badminton into Costa sports,” David remarked. The badminton season consists of matches against other high schools and tournaments with dozens of schools. This year Costa is succeeding in both formats, winning the bulk of their matches and taking top places in both Varsity and JV Tournaments. “Badminton is the only coed sport in CIF”, says Cindy. “Our boys and girls practice together and compete together in mixed-doubles. David and I coach all of the kids but having both a male and female coach shows all our players that they can succeed.” “To play badminton at the competitive level, you need agility, strength and aerobic fitness. As an athlete, you will be pushed to your athletic limits. But it’s also a lifetime sport. Cindy and I are two examples that you can play badminton forever!” Follow Mira Costa Badminton on social media: @miracostabadminton Schedule and info are at: miracostabadminton.com Arcadia is a hotbed of high-level badminton so their annual Arcadia Open Badminton Tournament is packed with talented players from Cerritos, Fountain Valley, San Marino, Long Beach Poly, host Arcadia and more. Mira Costa brought ten athletes on Saturday and came away placing in three of the five categories!
Isabelle Chen and Hao Lin took 1st Place in Mixed Doubles as the top seed. Isabelle took 2nd Place in Girls Singles losing only to a top Arcadia player that she beat last year in CIF. Hao and Zach Berkes, who were undefeated going in to the tournament, and inexplicable not seeded, placed 3rd losing only to the eventual winners from Arcadia in the semi-finals. TJ Lee and Andrew Pedrotti won their first Boys Doubles match before being eliminated while Nadia Wong and Kate Klygis competed in Girls Doubles. James Zhang and Luka Wong competed in Boys Singles. “This is one of the top tournaments of the year,” says Coach David Levin, “it shows us where we will be competitive as we prepare for the CIF Team and Individual Tournaments.” Mira Costa also hosted Arcadia on Wednesday with some of the most exciting matches taking place all season. Hao and Isabelle won their Mixed-Doubles, Isabelle won her Girls Singles matches and Hao and Zach won one of their two Boys Doubles matches. Many matches went to three games as our full Varsity and JV Teams competed. The team catches a break during Spring Break then comes back to face more tough competition at the Cerritos JV and Varsity Tournaments. “We’re measuring ourselves at this part of the season and will see how our hard work pays off down the stretch,” remarks Coach Cindy Levin. “We have more work to do as we come back from break and finish the season strong.” Follow Mira Costa Badminton on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Check schedules on miracostabadminton.com It was an early start Friday morning for the Mira Costa Badminton Program to spotlight our sport for the KTLA Channel 5 News cameras. The KTLA TV segment called School Spirit Spotlight was to feature several Mira Costa High School programs including Badminton, Cheerleading, Link Crew, Comedy Sportz, Drama/Tech and Jazz Band. With 15 student-athletes playing in the background, KTKLA Host Megan Telles interviewed Coach David Levin and Senior Captain Zach Berkes.
“I love the intensity of the sport, something you might not think of, when you think of Badminton,” said Berkes. “It’s great for competition.” Coach Levin pointed out that the new Pavilion, Badminton in PE and a new Badminton Club at Costa has contributed to the increased interest and growth of the program. KTLA Host Telles responded that the South Bay is known for highly competitive sports programs but that you wouldn’t think about Badminton and Cheer together, which is what makes the story compelling. The cheer team performed a special cheer for KTLA Morning News while the Link Crew and Comedy Sportz help up signs and the Jazz band played. One of the signs said, “MCHS BADMINTON ROCKS”. “Our Badminton Program does rock!”, says Coach and PE Teacher Patty Perkinson. “It was great to have Badminton represent sports for this special news spotlight. We had players show up at 6:00am to showcase our sport and Coach Dave and Captain Zach kicked off the story in style!” KTLA also featured segments with Comedy Sportz, Drama/Tech and Jazz Band showcasing the talented Costa students throughout the morning. The cheer team even lifted Host Telles skyward! The undefeated Mustangs take on Long Beach Poly away on Tuesday 3pm start. Then they compete in the tough Arcadia Tournament on Saturday where some of the best teams in Southern California attend. “This is an exciting year for Costa Badminton”, says Coach Cindy Levin. “We have a lot of talented players on Varsity and JV, who are working hard to compete and improve. As coaches we are thrilled to see the sport thrive and represent the Manhattan Beach School District so well!” Be sure to view all of the segments on KTLA’s website: https://ktla.com/.../school-spirit-spotlight-mira.../... It may be Oscar Sunday but on Saturday our Badminton athletes earned their own hardware.
In our inaugural Mira Costa Badminton Invitational Tournament, our Mustang student-athletes brought their A-game to the beautiful Pavilion Gym which was the scene for three visiting high schools to challenge the undefeated Mustangs in a four-team tournament format. Long Beach Poly, Mark Keppel and Loara have strong programs and the competition was fierce from the start. Different than our tri-meet to kick off the season, the Invitational placed athletes in double-elimination brackets in Girls and Boys Singles, Mixed Doubles, Boys Doubles and Girls Doubles with two entries per school. Our results were exemplary. In Boys Singles Senior Skylar Irby Senior advanced to face his Junior teammate, James Zhang in the final. In a grueling three-game match Skyler prevailed to win the gold. Isabelle Chen, who placed 3rd in the CIF Southern Section Girls Singles in 2023, dominated Girls Singles and won Mixed Doubles with Freshman Hao Lin, without dropping a game. Hao added a 1st place finish in Boys Doubles with Senior Captain Zach Berkes, they also didn't drop a game. All our Varsity players all won at least one match with Sophomore Evelyn Green rounding out Girls Singles, Seniors TJ Lee and Andrew Pedrotti battled in Boys Doubles, Senior Nadia Kontorovsky Wong competed in Mixed-Doubles with Zach Berkes and Girls Doubles with Sophomore Priscilla Chen. And coming off their gold at the Arcadia JV Tournament, Junior Alyssa Garcia and Freshman Yumi Yamada were moved up to Varsity to round out Girls Doubles. Coaches David and Cindy Levin, a rare husband and wife coaching tandem, led the players though an efficient 6-hour Saturday with little down time. The Badminton Boosters provided hot dogs, snacks and drinks complimentary to all of the school's players, coaches and families. "Our first multi-team Tournament was a huge success," says David Levin, "not just for our Costa players, but for the teams who came to our home court and competed at a high level. This format sets up both our experienced and newer players for the upcoming tournaments in Arcadia and Cerritos heading into the CIF Team and Individual Tournaments where we are looking to make noise this year." Next up for the 5-0 undefeated Mustangs is Animo Venice on Wednesday March 13th at the Costa Pavilion 2:30pm. Come cheer on your Mustangs! It’s only one week into the badminton season and the Mustangs are already 5-0. The last three matches had Costa winning 17-4, 18-3 and 21-0. The fast start is due to a solid group of experienced players and a deep bench of rising stars. The coaches have mixed players up to give younger athletes some varsity experience when the match was in hand.
“Badminton is an Olympic sport, but you don’t have to be an Olympian to play it”, remarked Coach David Levin. “We serve an underserved group of athletes, not economically underserved, we expand opportunities for kids who, if it weren’t for badminton, may not be playing a sport.” According to the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, a think-tank measuring impact and tracking participation in youth sports, 70% of kids quit sports by age 13. Pressure to perform which makes sports not fun anymore is cited as the top reason. Also, once kids enter high school, they may not make the team of a sport they have been playing. Adds Levin, “We’d love to have all of our South Bay neighboring School Districts embrace badminton to give an additional three or four dozen kids an opportunity to play a high school sport. Plus, our badminton players tend to be high performing in the classroom, and involved in other extracurriculars. Playing a sport keeps them well-rounded.” It's also not unusual to see badminton players doing homework in the stands during matches and tournaments. Or balancing their Orchestra or Model United Nations (MUN) schedules with court time. Badminton is certainly an athletic sport, but skill, finesse and shot making can overcome physical stature. After the three successful wins during the week for Varsity, on Saturday the Junior Varsity players competed in a JV Tournament in Arcadia, a powerhouse badminton program. Several players placed in the top four across doubles and singles, all underclassmen, and the future of the program. “The bottom line is that badminton is a sport all kids can try. We have players who have trained at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club since birth, and players who picked up a racket for the first time in High School. You won’t see coaches yelling and screaming on the sidelines, and all of the kids are having fun,” says Coach Cindy Levin, who along with her husband Coach David and Coach Patty Perkinson, guided the players for hours in Arcadia. This Saturday the Mustangs host their first Tournament at the Mira Costa Pavilion with Mark Keppel, Long Beach Poly and Loara High Schools looking to put a dent in the Costa record. Start time is 8:30am. Come out cheer on the Mustangs! Check out our schedule on miracostabadminton.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook Saturday was a landmark day for Mira Costa Badminton. Hosting a tri-meet at the beautiful Pavilion Gym on campus, Costa came out on top winning 14 matches to Redlands’ 10 and Long Beach Poly’s 9. But it wasn’t just the success on the court, it was the journey the program has taken since Covid that should be spotlighted.
With sports shut down in 2020 and only 12 players in the spring of 2021, the storied history of great badminton players, born from the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club (MBBC), seemed like a distant memory. Coach Cindy Levin, who has 25 years of experience coaching badminton reflects, “we had CIF champions, club and international players to lead the team, and then after Covid we barely had enough players to field one varsity team. This year, we actually had to limit the team to 36 players after having 45 last year, so we can give everyone more individual coaching and playing time.” The new Mira Costa Sports Complex helped the growth of the program by allowing kids to practice and play right after school in the Pavilion gym instead of traveling off-site to the MBBC. And with a tri-meet like Saturday and six other matches scheduled for home, including the first Mira Costa Badminton Tournament at our new Pavilion Gym on March 9th, badminton is truly integrated into the Mira Costa sports community. “It was great to play on campus while volleyball, baseball, swimming and lacrosse were also competing,” says Patty Perkinson, who took over as Badminton faculty Coach with the passing of Mike McAvin, who helped steel the program through Covid. Perkinson, a PE teacher at Costa, coached Costa girls’ soccer for 33 years and stepped up to work with the badminton team on strength and conditioning before taking on head coach duties this year. “Badminton is the only true co-ed sport, where we train together and compete in mixed-doubles. We’re also inclusive for different level of players, first timers and experienced players are welcome.” To say that badminton is fun to watch is an understatement. Matches are fast and furious, with the top players executing smashes and drop shots, while needing lighting fast reflexes on defense. Senior Captain Zach Berkes played all of the traditional sports before picking up a badminton racquet for the first time in 9th grade. “The team needed players and I was immediately accepted by coaches and teammates, despite never having played before. I was encouraged to learn and am honored to be named captain the last two years.” Berkes and his mixed-doubles partner Senior Isabelle Chen and boys doubles partner Freshman Hao Lin swept their matches Saturday. Chen and Senior Jaclyn Wang swept girls singles as Lin and Wang swept their mixed-doubles matches also. Seniors TJ Lee and Andrew Pedrotti swept their two boys-doubles matches and Junior James Zhang and Freshman Luka Wong won one of their boys-singles matches each to give Costa 14 wins and the match. “Saturday TJ and Andrew won two close battles which last year, they lost similar close matches”, remarked David Levin, Costa Badminton coach who also coaches the girls program at El Camino College, “It was their hard work at the MBBC in the off-season that made the difference. We’re so excited for this year’s squad, deep with senior talent but sprinkled with underclass players to build for the future.” One thing Covid did for athletes was make them appreciate their sport and the opportunity to compete and have fun in the process. “Badminton has changed my life”, says Berkes, in his fourth year on Varsity and who hopes to play club or rec at college next year. “Many skills that I learned in other sports come into play, and it's so much fun. Our season is off to a great start!” Check out our schedule on miracostabadminton.com Follow us on Instagram and Facebook |
AuthorAlan Berkes is a Costa parent who has coached multiple youth sports in Manhattan Beach Archives
May 2024
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