From March 4-11, the 2023 class council held a badminton tournament in the gym every day during lunch. The winning team earned a $50 amazon gift card.

“This tournament was organized by the 2023 class council. Players were able to pick their partners, and they competed in teams of two,” 2023 Class Council Vice President Vinay Ayala said. 

The tournament went smoothly. Prior to the tournament, teams were created, and brackets were formed to minimize complications during the competition. 

“It went really well, and we were able to complete the entire tournament in less than 2 weeks. Competitors and spectators were happy with the structure of the tourney too. Special thanks to Mr. Thompson for providing us with readily available nets, space, and equipment to use,” Ayala said. 

Players believe that the class council did a good job of making sure that all participants understood the rules of badminton, and when each team would play.  

“It definitely went smoothly. They also told us all the rules, and how the general schedule is going to work. They even created a group chat, and they would let us know the day before that we had a match the next day and would ask if we were able to play,” junior participant Tianhao Chen said. 

Students were informed of the tournament through Facebook, and were given ample time to sign up. Also, they made sure that students were aware that you did not need to be familiar with badminton in order to participate. 

“Everyone was allowed to play, regardless of their prior experience with badminton. We wanted this event to be inclusive,” said Ayala. 

Because players with any amount of experience could participate, there was a lot of variation with competitiveness. Some participants took the event as a way to demonstrate their skills on the court, while others did it for fun. 

“I’ve been playing since 2014, so that’s quite a long time. I would say, I am pretty decent. For me, the tournament was just to have fun. I did know a couple people in the competition that were also good, so my goal was to play them in semis and finals. In the early rounds, it wasn’t that competitive, at least for me. However, towards the end, when I played people I knew, it was pretty competitive,” Chen said. 

Three of the players in the tournament were national badminton players, two of which made up the duo that won the tournament. Chen, the other national player, lost in the finals against sophomore Aaron Wang and Eric Tang. 

“After playing multiple tough opponents, Aaron and Eric won, earning two Amazon gift cards. They are both sophomores and it was fascinating to see them knockout juniors and seniors from the bracket,” Ayala said. 

This was the first time that a badminton tournament was held at Jefferson. This idea for the event was proposed two years ago, but was interrupted by the pandemic.

“We wanted to bring back this tournament when we found the opportunity. We definitely had a good turnout and people had fun watching and playing the games,” Ayala said. 

Both students and teachers reported to have enjoyed the event. From this support, the 2023 Class Council has decided on planning another tournament soon. 

“Lots of people messaged me after the tournament, asking if there was going to be another one held this year, so there is still interest for more. We are planning another tournament soon, so sign up for that,” said Ayala.