Alex Park, a junior at La Jolla High, is in only his second year on the school’s badminton team and co-coach Tony Taing says, “His racket control and bird placement have grown leaps-and-bounds from his rookie year.”
The Vikings won two of their first four matches this spring, and Park is one of the leading reasons from his spot as a singles player who starts off every encounter with another school.
Meanwhile, La Jolla has definitely upped its game following COVID, as captains Daphnie Tseng and Julia Olfe, both seniors, continue to tighten up their skills as, respectively, singles and doubles players.
But there’s no doubt about the participants’ high scholastic performances, along with their badminton-playing. Never has this long-time reporter gotten a response to a question like Tseng’s about captains’ responsibilities: “They are academically focused with determination to master the sport with strength, agility, and finesse.”
On Olfe’s doubles-playing, Taing said: “Her defense in blocking smashes and drives is top-notch. (In her four years on the team) she has played with many different partners, and is able to communicate effectively.”
Regarding Tseng, he said, “Daphnie is our hard-hitter. She is very tactile in her placements and she can really get her opponent out of breath.” Tseng has mastered every shot in the sport, including clears, drops, drives, and smashes.
High school badminton matches involve 17 pairings of two school players, with girls and boys, singles and doubles. Playing in a best-of-three format for those contests, the first team to get to nine wins is the victor.
Besides veteran returners Park, Tseng, and Olfe, rising freshmen Emily Upatham and Max Ying get a shout-out. “Emily embodies La Jolla’s fighting spirit,” says Taing, a 2009 LJHS alumnus himself. “Fierce, gritty, and relentless. As a freshman, she has cemented a spot on our varsity singles lineup. A very aggressive player with a great net smash.”
Max Ying is always looking to improve: “He has gotten varsity lineup experience this season. His footwork gets him to every shot.”
While Taing is the technical expert, co-coach Jerry Tellers has taught World History and AP U.S. History at LJHS for 18 years, coaching the badminton team for 15 of those years. Daphnie Tseng calls him “the most beloved teacher on campus”.
Tellers says that Canyon Hills, Canyon Crest, and Hoover are traditional powers in the area. La Jolla is trying to break into that threesome.
The Vikings have some firepower, with junior An Pham, junior Jiho Moon, sophomore Jake Hiner, and Ying being among the tougher boys singles players, in addition to Park.
Among the girls, juniors Tamika Hsieh and Cathy Nguyen rank high along with Upatham, as well as Tseng and Olfe.
La Jolla plays in the Eastern League, as CIF San Diego only has one division in badminton. Being coed, the sport is one of the few to not have separate teams, like beach volleyball, tennis, and water polo.
