A local mother is singing her daughter’s praises, as she competes against the best high school badminton players in Ontario.
Kelly Durant is the mother of Millie Cathcart, a 12th-grade student at North Grenville District High School.
Cathcart, alongside 11th-grade classmates Elyssa Miller and Kayley Van Herpen, have spent the last half of this week competing in the Ontario Federation of Student Athletic Associations’ (OFSAA) annual badminton championship.
Durant says this year is her daughter’s first time competing in badminton, after two years of no school sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“They went to the [Leeds and Grenville Secondary Schools Athletic Association] championships,” she says, “where, we just said ‘go have fun,’ and she ended up being a silver medalist, just losing in the third set of the finals to her other North Grenville colleague, Isabelle Bergeron.”
After that tournament, another run at the Eastern Ontario Secondary School Athletic Association championship saw Cathcart place second again and qualify for the OFSAA tournament.
Van Herpen and Miller also took part, placing in 3rd place in the two-on-two bracket to qualify for OFSAA as a pair.
Durant says she’s extremely happy for all the North Grenville girls competing at the event, especially her daughter.
“I’m over the moon,” she says. “I’m just so thrilled that she’s getting to finish her high school on this high note.”
