Madison Moe takes the opportunities given to her

By Abel Tariku SPORTS EDITOR

From playing badminton casually, to winning back-to-back state championships, Madison Moe always takes the opportunities given to her.

Madison Moe, 21, kinesiology major, was recently awarded California Community College Athletic Association athlete of the month after leading the women’s badminton team to their second straight state championship.

“It was actually a surprise,” Moe said. “I wasn’t really expecting to win the state championship.”

Moe said she started to play badminton in fifth grade because “my cousin suggested to my dad that I should play and my dad signed me up for a summer camp.”

“The coach from the summer camp asked if I wanted to train with him after the camp and I said,‘I might as well give it a go,’” she said. “I started to train with him for a couple of years until I stopped in my freshman year of high school.”

She said her journey required a lot of hard work.

“Starting from when I was 10 to when I was 14 or 15, it was daily training,” Moe said. “It started to get more intense and competitive as I kept going.”

Moe said she wasn’t planning on playing badminton at De Anza, but when the opportunity came, she took it. She encouraged students to take any opportunities that come to them.

“If you see an opportunity just go for it,” she said. “Even if it doesn’t look good in the very beginning, if you just keep trying and give it a chance, it’ll come through.”