Mr. Choi –

I actually graduated from Irvington, so I felt that if I were to be a teacher, it would be really easy to come back because I knew the area and the culture around here. During my time as a student at Irvington, I also played on the badminton team, so naturally, I started coaching and helping out as an assistant right after I graduated. So it was pretty easy to transition into actually coaching here, while being a teacher as well. When I was a team member in high school, I just really enjoyed the experience, and learned a lot by being on the team, and wanted to give back to the community in a way. Coaching at Irvington was actually my first time doing any sort of coaching. Obviously, I took outside classes as a kid, so I knew the proper badminton form and technique, but in terms of actually doing the teaching and doing the coaching, it was my first time. It took me a few years before I got really comfortable with the coaching part, and I definitely learned a lot along the way.

I wasn’t really nervous about being a coach at Irvington at first because I although I was just starting out, I was open to learning anything. My coaching philosophy really depends on the group of kids I’m working with. For example, in the earlier years when I was coaching, there were a lot of passionate athletes who didn’t really train outside, and school badminton was kind of all they had. So they were super invested in the school team, and it was almost my job to teach them badminton. Nowadays, I think this is true for a lot of sports. I know a lot of people training clubs, and there are outside competitions that everyone goes to, so people come in already knowing how to play. So my priority has now shifted to making sure people can play and win as a team, which is something they don’t get as much in club play, since badminton is a very individualistic sport.

I don’t really have a specific favourite memory, but something I really like seeing is when a student kind of gets that light bulb moment where they finally understand something. So any time I see that when I’m coaching, even teaching, it’s a moment I look forward to. I think this season was really nice because we were a lot more strict with attendance, and as a result, a lot of the people on the team got closer than in previous years, and it actually felt like a team, because everyone was showing up to practice and getting to bond. I think that, heading into next year’s season, it’s always going to be uncertain what type of kids we get and what the culture will be. As I said, Irvington is always evolving, so I look forward to what next year’s culture will turn out to be like.