Losing almost all of the previous seasons players would be devastating to any coach, but John Britton refuses to be deterred by the lack of returning players.
“This is the first time since I’ve been here that we have only had one returning player,” Britton said.
However the coach has great faith in this season’s eleven women’s badminton team members.
“We’ve got a lot of athletic ability, most of the players excel in other sports, they just haven’t played the game of badminton.”
Britton even jokingly goes on to describe the practices as “Badminton 101,” stating that he has to teach the fundamentals of the game.
The players, however, are optimistic and excited about the possibilities brought on by this season in a game that many of them are new to.
“I expect to do a lot better this season, we have a lot of strong players and a much bigger squad,” Iliana Gonzalez, the sole returning player, said.
The Warriors were also able to breath a little easier after capturing a win for their first match.
The team was scheduled for their first competition on the Feb. 27th but Los Angeles City College was forced to forfeit because they did not have enough players to compete.
Los Angeles City College, like some of the other teams in the league, cannot begin to compete until they have their full team.
Many of their players are still competing in basketball playoffs.
“I was excited when I heard they were unable to play, they have some really hardcore badminton players and our team is still really new,” Gonzalez said.
One of the new players felt differently.
” I was disappointed that we didn’t get to play, I wanted to see how I would match up to their players because I’ve never played badminton competitively before,” Jamie Tribble said.
Britton, who is the coach of both women’s soccer and badminton, recruited Tribble, who plays for the women’s soccer team as well.
Now Tribble, Gonzalez, Britton and the rest of the team must look forward to their upcoming match against East Los Angeles College.
“Hopefully we do a little better th
an last season. As far as our performance, I think we will fall somewhere in the middle,” Gonzalez said.
“I think we will be pretty average this season,” Tribble said, “just because the other teams have a lot more experience.”
And coach Britton would agree with his players.
“This will definitely be a learning experience,” Britton said, “with more practice and our athleticism we will improve and hopefully by the end of the season I can turn [the team] into real badminton players.”