Costa badminton reaches CIF semifinals

By Emma Rosenbaum
Sports Editor

Not many students at Costa are aware that a badminton team is a part of the school’s Athletic Department. This year, the team reached the CIF semifinals.

“I put a team together nine years ago when my daughter showed interest in the sport,” coach Rocky Wilson said. “In the first year, the team had nine players. Now we have 34 boys and girls.”

The Mustangs claimed the third-place title for CIF this year, making its ninth CIF run.

“People think of badminton as a backyard sport, but it is actually very competitive,” senior captain Gina Alfandary said.

The team doesn’t see badminton as a backyard sport. Players practice every Tuesday and Wednesday at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club for two hours.

“Badminton is a fast-paced sport, and that’s why I love it,” freshman Sean Wong said. “But our team wasn’t persistent enough to continue to CIF finals.”

Because very few schools have a team, even of the closest badminton leagues are far away. Costa organized its own games against schools from different leagues in order to gain enough points to qualify for CIF.

“We are really fortunate to have a badminton team,” Alfandary said. “Several schools had to drop it because of lack of funding.”

The Mustangs also competed in tournaments this year. They placed second in both the Pasadena and Azusa tournaments, and won Costa’s hosted tournament.

“We put a lot of effort into this season,” Alfandary said. “We won all games but one.”

The team lost, 14-7, in the CIF semifinals to Mark Keppel High School in an away match.

“We got stuck in a more difficult bracket,” Wilson said. “If we had been in a different one, we might have made it to the final.”

Despite the loss, members still enjoyed the season because of the camaraderie that comes with being on the team.

“Everyone on the team pushes each other to do better,” Wong said. “Having many great players helped us get far.”

One of the more successful players on the team is senior captain David Copeland, who only lost a total of three matches.

“We all worked really hard,” Copeland said. “I’m happy that I was able to help the team get as far as we did.”

Although the team will be losing nine seniors, Wilson is optimistic about next season.

“We’re losing great players, but we have a lot of strong freshmen” Wilson said. “I’m confident that the team will stay competitive.”