A competitor confronts his or her opponent. Constantly lunging and changing positions, both contenders retrieve and return a rubber-nosed shuttlecock. Honing in on fast reflexes, steady mental concentration, and hand-eye coordination, the badminton team prepares for its opening season in March.

“The challenge is the majority of players are novices,” Coach Zarco said. “[Although], we do have a few who made it to the county championships: Marcos Muiña, Wendy Lau, and Tahlia Quartin.”

Under the inspiration of her brother, a former Palmetto badminton player, junior Tahlia Quartin exemplifies her commitment to the team. Now her teammates drive her to succeed with the guidance of Coach David Zarco, who continues to challenge her. Last year she won girls doubles and entered GMACs.

“[Due to the team’s size] you are able to meet a lot of new people. It’s a great friendly team with some good competition in it,” Quartin said. “Badminton is not a sissy sport. Those who think it is should attempt to play with our coach.”

Coach Zarco prepares his team every day after school with warm-ups and stretching exercises to strengthen the thigh and foot muscles. He teaches the players different techniques to hit the shuttlecock, using various arm movements and positions. Above all, before every tournament kicks off, potential players compete to determine who can participate in single or double matches. Now the team struggles from the loss of last year’s county champions who graduated: Monica Dyches and Hannah Lutz.

“The new players are constantly learning and incorporating the footwork into their games,” junior Wendy Lau said. “As well as understanding that badminton is more about using their brain rather than strength.”

One of the novices on the team, freshman Shaun Son’s impression of the sport and the expectation of newcomers in the team positively altered after joining the team.

“Badminton is not what most people think. It’s a fast-paced, active, and competitive sport that I think most people will find fun and challenging,” Son said. “At first I thought it would be an easy, simple sport, but then I saw the competitive side of it and it’s extremely intense. They’re very friendly and show good sportsmanship whether they lost or won. I definitely love it.”

In addition, financial issues hit the core values of the team to compete this year. In hopes to alleviate the financial cost availability for bus ride to tournaments and materials like the shuttlecock from the potential attitude of garage sales and t-shirt sale.