The high school girls badminton season began Monday at schools across the state. West Valley Preps and Surprise Independent asked local high school coaches about their teams.
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The high school girls badminton season began Monday at schools across the state. West Valley Preps and Surprise Independent asked local high school coaches about their teams. Here are their responses.
Shadow Ridge Stallions
Coach: Andrew Engwall (third year) 2019 Record: 4-10 (Did not reach playoffs) Region: Division I Metro Who are your top returning players? We have several returning Varsity players with winning records last season: Julianne Meyer (Sr.), Emma Taylor (Jr.) and Maya Vallet (Jr.). Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Maitlyn Wydra played JV last season, and she is a newcomer that we hope can make an impact on the varsity squad. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? Our best attribute is that our girls understand the importance of working hard at improving on the fundamentals and strategies in singles and doubles play.
What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Our primary team goal is to win region; our individual goals are for the girls to win enough matches to qualify for either the individual or doubles in the state tournament.
Willow Canyon Wildcats
Coaches: Matthew Aragon and Teresa Perdomo (first year in badminton for both) 2019 Record: 1-11 (Did not reach playoffs) Region: Division II Phoenix Who are your top returning players? Ava Kupczyk and McKenna Lee are our top returning players Who are some of the newcomers that may have an impact this year? Lizzie Gloden, Nina Slater, Mya Welling, Lea Lerner and Alissa Holmes are promising players this year. What is your team’s best attribute entering this season? We have players that use strategy to their advantage when playing opponents. What are the primary goals for this year’s team? Individual goals: for newcomers to learn the game and improve on and develop skills. Individual goals: for newcomers to learn the game and improve on and develop skills.
Richard Smith Associate Editor | Surprise & West Valley Preps @rsmithYWV
Richard Smith has been with Independent Newsmedia since 2016, and worked at a Sun City-based news outfit covering the Northwest Valley for 22 consecutive years.
An NAU alum and lifelong Arizona resident, Richard began as a copy editor and page designer at Surprise Today and the Daily News-Sun, then rekindled his love of sports writing by taking the reins on West Valley Preps in 2008.
For most of the mid-2010s he was the Surprise editor and West Valley Preps reporter. Now he’s the West Valley Preps Editor and Surprise Associate Editor.
As COVID restrictions slowly lift, Richard is cautiously optimistic he will visit book stores, football fields and gyms again this fall.
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