North Grenville District High School is sending three badminton teams to the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association (EOSSAA) championship.
Ireland Thurler, Bram Hazelton, Laura Byrd and Regan Stevenson qualified at the Leeds and Grenville Secondary School Athletic Association championship. EOSSAA will be held in Brockville next week. Â Â Â Â
Coach Cathy Parent says the players missed out on practices leading up to LGSSAA due to bad weather. She says they asked to come in at 7:00am the day of to get in some extra court time. Parent says the vast majority of her team showed up.
Hazelton is first seed in men’s singles and Stevenson is second seed for women’s singles. Byrd and Thurler, who went to EOSSAA last year, are second seed for women’s doubles.
Parent says badminton is a gentleman’s sport. She says it teaches values because there are no referees on the court and athletes have to learn to negotiate, advocate and resolve conflict. Â