The underdogs of badminton

By Antonio Franco Reporter

There is a strange sound and dance when it comes to the sport of badminton. The pop and subsequent whistle of the shuttlecock flying through the air, all of course continuing with another pop and whistle and finally ending with an eventual thud on the ground. A shout of the score, a curse under their breath, and then back to the serve and alluring song of the game.

The Skyline women’s badminton team played their first match of the season on Friday, March 18, against Fresno City College. It’s also worth mentioning that for a majority of these players, it was also their first game ever, so it’s not surprising that the Skyline team lost 20-1 in this match.

The women’s badminton team has been going through a transitional period of sorts. A year ago, a long standing coach, Jan Fosberg, retired. Now former women’s soccer coach, Kevin Corsiglia, has since taken up that role for the team. Coach Corsiglia has no prior experience with the sport but has stepped up to the plate nevertheless despite the obstacles.

“It’s been a learning process,” Coach Corsiglia said. “If you can communicate well with athletes, then you can get the information out and usually you can see an increase in perfor- mance.”

Emily Dubon, who is majoring in allied health to get into respiratory care, has been with the team since the transition of coaches. In fact, she was a part of the women’s soccer team before this with Coach Corsiglia and was given a chance to play badminton through that connection.

“It was kind of a rough start, you know? We didn’t really win,” Dubon said. “This season I’m hoping to get better and win