CANMORE – With only a few weeks of practicing badminton doubles together, Canmore Wolverines duo Osa de Leeuw and Mabel Treustedt went from figuring out their game to winning zones and then challenging Alberta’s best.
The Grade 11 duo qualified for the 2023 ASAA High School Provincial Badminton Championships in Lloydminster last Friday and Saturday (May 5-6), advancing to the playoffs before being stopped by the eventual silver medal winners.
In doubles badminton, a sport which uses racquets to hit a shuttlecock over a net, trusting your partner and playing as a team are integral to success, and that chemistry was quickly developed between the Canmore Collegiate team on the court.
“I think we were a pretty good team and we both have our own strengths that are different from each other, but, like, worked together,” said Treustedt. “We always had a lot of fun together, so it was not just playing badminton, we were also having good talks and just being friends.”
Coach Roderick de Leeuw said the team “played their hearts out” at provincials.
“Unfortunately, two losses to the eventual gold and silver teams from Edmonton ended their run but the experience and heart they showed was admirable,” he said.
Treustedt, a German exchange student with a competitive badminton background, and de Leeuw, who’s been involved in playing racquet sports most of her life, complemented each other’s games in the short season.
“We were expecting to not do very well, but we did and it was super fun to have that opportunity and for our coaches to have that opportunity to be part of it,” said de Leeuw.
With butterflies in their stomachs before the start of the provincial round robin, the Bow Valley representatives shook off the nerves and showed they meant business with back-to-back victories over teams from Cold Lake and Barrhead.
However, their final round robin game was a match against the No. 1 ranked girls’ duo in the province, Edmonton’s Archbishop MacDonald High School. Canmore Collegiate lost in two sets to the eventual gold medal winners.
“We might not have been playing at such a high calibre that we could have been, but from kind of the beginning, when you can watch people play, you have a slight sense of whether you should or shouldn’t beat them, especially in just how provincials would be laid out,” said de Leeuw.
With a 2-1 record in round robin action, the athletic Wolverines advanced to the eight-team playoffs. However, their playoff run ended early in the quarterfinals with a two-set defeat at the hands of Lillian Osborne School from Edmonton.
Some good rallies were had and the local duo showed they could trade punches with the best, which overall, was a proud moment for them.
“This might have been a long drive, but so worth it,” said de Leeuw. “We got to go somewhere else and all of the teams were all super sweet. All of the coaches were super supportive and overall kind of the whole atmosphere was probably the best thing."
