The Irvington Badminton team began their season with a strong start, winning against Mission San Jose for the first time in 24 years on Thursday, Mar. 15 at Mission. They are currently undefeated in the season, having won against Newark Memorial, Washington, and Logan High School prior to the match with Mission.

“I think it’s great for kids that they won and I’m happy they pulled together as a team,” said Coach Strout.

At games, winning varsity matches score a point for the team. To win the badminton game, a team has to win at least 9 of the 17 varsity matches. Irvington won 10 to 7 against Mission San Jose.

“Everyone did a good job. It was a team effort” says Jeremy Chen (10).

While this is still the beginning of the season, a new strategy has been implemented to help improve the team this season.

“A lot of players who usually train outside made an effort to come to practice more often,” says Team Captain Emerson Chao (12).

The teammates have also been more supportive of each other.

“We watched each other more and coached each other more. [We also] cheered a lot during the match” says Henry Chen (12).

With the new victory, the team feels confident that their success will continue in the future.

“We have a better group, they pulled together and been working hard all year. I was happy for them and it was good to see people work hard to achieve their goal” says Coach Strout.