Now that spring sports have sprung back into session, the JC badminton team is well into their season. A power duo, seniors Charlotte Peverley and Grace Welzenbach, has returned as champions for this season of badminton.

Last season, this duo ended as Doubles Champions, as well as being selected for the All-Conference team by the end of the season.

When looking forward to this season, Grace said, “This year we plan to work just as hard as last year. It will be tough since we combined conferences with the A conference, but it is nothing we cannot handle.”

With this season being a new set of competition, the girls are not concerned with the potential obstacle that could be posed. Instead, they are ready for the challenge.

In order to do their absolute best in their games, the girls must stay focused and “know [their individual] strengths. Do you work well with others or are you better by yourself? Do you have good hand-eye coordination, or is it something you can work on?” Grace said.

Knowing oneself is valuable in so many aspects of life; specifically to sports, it helps gauge what are the strengths and where each individual needs to work harder.

Grace started playing badminton in hopes to “do something fun and meet new people who [she] would not usually do things with.” Since then, she has flourished in the sport.

For Charlotte, her start in badminton was casual playing at gatherings with family growing up. This led her to wanting to learn the true rules of the sport.

Once playing, this duo became partners, starting with completing warm-ups together. Grace said, “We ended up working really well together.”

Charlotte reminisced on the two playing soccer together in middle school as they have now started another sport together as partners in badminton.

Both girls expressed their love for being on a team with a group of girls who are always ready to have fun and work hard. “Especially with having Mrs. Roy as a coach, she makes practices and matches fun to be a part of and pushes us to play our best,” Charlotte said.

The worst part for Charlotte is “not having refs and having to call if the birdie is in or out when it lands super close to the line. It can cause conflict when the other team thinks differently than you.” Not having referees is a unique aspect to badminton that is easily frustrating and misunderstood by other sports.

For Grace’s future in badminton, she said, “I will definitely play intramurals, but sadly, most schools do not actually have a collegiate team.” Charlotte also will not be playing in college although she will carry her love for the sport.