Although York High School Badminton may seem unknown to a lot of students, it is actually one of York’s most successful sports―winning first at conference and fifth at state. With their season quickly approaching in the coming weeks and tryouts being held this week, badminton newcomers and alumni alike are looking forward to yet another rewarding season.

Unlike basketball, baseball, or soccer, throughout Elmhurst, badminton camps, workshops, or teams are hard to find. Because of this this, most of the girls on the team did not begin their badminton career until they got to high school.

Junior Irin Abraham has been playing competitive badminton since freshman year. In her first year, she was on the freshman team, but sophomore year, she made varsity.

“I started playing badminton when I was 5 or 6 years old for fun. I loved to play it but high school was my only opportunity to play on a team,” Abraham said, “So when I was in middle school, I was so excited to go to York just so that I can finally play on a team. When I got to York I finally had the opportunity and here I am!”

This year, it will be senior Rose O’Connor’s fourth year on the badminton team. The past three years have meant a lot to her, and this last year is going to mean even more being that it is her final year.

“Being a senior, I expect this season to be bittersweet. This will be our fourth year playing together at York and I’ll be sad to see it end, but I know that we’re going to be great this season, like we always are,” O’Connor said.

Fellow junior teammate Olivia Possley has been playing on the team since her freshman year as well. Unlike other teammates, Possley did not have a long-time love of the sport, but rather she heard about the opportunity for a new activity as an incoming freshman and decided to give it a try. She ended up loving the team.

“I am super confident in the hopeful team this year, we are a great team and we hope to do well again in state this year,” Possley said.

Alyssa Woodward is a senior this year. In past years, she has played singles on the team and this year she is hoping to play as number two or three singles.

“There are a lot of good seniors, juniors, and sophomores on our varsity team,” said Woodward, “ I expect to play singles and doubles this year and hopefully will go to sectionals.”

Not only do the participants of badminton love hitting birdies on the competitive side of the sport, they also love being able to make friends with similar interests.

“My favorite part of being on the team is becoming a family with the girls and our coaches. We are with each other 6 days a week and it’s basically like having 30 new sisters between all the teams. The coaches really get to know you and treat you like their own,” said O’Connor.

Similarly, Abraham also thinks of the badminton team as a family due to the relationships they make spending countless practices and games together.

“I’ve met some awesome people through badminton and I think of these people as my 2nd family. And we help each other get through the tough practices,” said Abraham.

Overall, this season is looking better than ever before―with new talent coming in and old talent returning, the future is bright.

“I haven’t heard of York Badminton not having a great year. Since I was a freshman, every team, every year has been amazing. The coaches push us to be our absolute best, and the girls never stop working to be better,” said O’Connor.

York students should consider coming out to support their Lady Dukes Badminton team if they want to see the success first hand. They kick off the season with a home meet against Downers Grove South on March 14th after school.