Chasing the birdie
30 players show for badminton tournament
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Thursday, November 24, 2016
INUVIK
Despite steep competition from the arts and crafts fair, a badminton tournament last weekend managed to attract about 30 players.
Athena Wells bats the birdie during doubles play Saturday, Nov. 19. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo
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The two-day tournament had several categories for men, women, teenagers and doubles, with a range of skill levels.
"It's mostly just people who play for fun," said organizer Kenzie MacDonald.
"We've got some fairly talented students playing both singles and doubles. The adults are a mish-mash of talent, ranging from probably my skill level to the two who won the adult division. I didn't win a single game in the round robin, but I play for fun. That's all this was intended for, meant to be a fun tournament for the kids."
Some Grade 7-12 youth are gearing up to go to a tournament in Yellowknife in early December. The weekend tournament at East Three School helped MacDonald narrow down the team he's going to take, but there's still some work ahead. A few more practices and seeing how students are doing in their academics will allow MacDonald to make the final cut.
The East Three School tournament is an annual event, usually the second or third weekend in November.
"The issue we had with this tournament this year is it's the same weekend as the craft fair and everybody's at the craft fair, so not a lot of people were interested in the tournament," said MacDonald, though it still attracted enough for two solid days of play.
"I'm hoping to do another one in the spring while the ice road is still in so people can travel in from the communities. Hopefully we have a better turnout in the spring."
Badminton is held for $5 drop-in for adults and free for high school players every Tuesday at 8 p.m. at East Three School.
