Over the past few years badminton has become extremely popular at Sequoia High School. During the spring, one can see people holding their rackets cases in the hallways and wearing their jerseys in preparation for a game. But what started this badminton uprise? 

“I would say that that probably comes from the fact that it seems like a simple game that’s easy to get into, and it’s fun because it’s easy to learn. So that’s why a lot of people end up joining it,” Junior Gavin Powell said. 

Powell has played on the badminton team for the past three years along with his doubles partner, Zachary Lew who is also a junior, but started playing his sophomore year. According to Powell it’s an easy game to play, which is an important factor into why the sport has grown so much. Another interesting fact is that Badminton is becoming one of the most watched global sports. 

“I liked the more dynamic aspects of it. I liked all the different techniques and the ways of hitting the birdie,” Lew said.

Lew also explains that though it seems like an easy sport to play, the more serious you get the harder the techniques become. 

“The sport is very entry level, but mastery in the sport and all of its techniques are what make the sport difficult,” Powell said. 

This is the reason many have joined the sport, with floods of students joining the team and competitiveness increasing along with the people. Another draw to the sport has been their coach, Coach Kevin or Coach K. Everyone on the team loves the coach.

 “Our coach, Kevin, he’s very good at bringing the team together,” Lew said. 

Badminton has a reputation for being an easy sport, which helped fuel the popularity of the sport. However at Sequoia, the Badminton community has grown very much and this is exciting to see for a previously unpopular sport.