Blue Devil Boys’ & Girls’ Badminton Teams Set to Debut

Huntington High School’s new varsity boys’ and girls’ badminton teams will make their debut this March and compete in the Section XI spring season.

The two teams will practice and play in the high school gym. Lines for eight courts are being painted on the floor. Uniforms and equipment were already ordered and delivered. Two coaches have been approve by the board of education to coach the teams with Alex Nelson serving as head coach and Eric Triolo as the assistant coach.

The Blue Devils will compete in Section XI’s League II with home and away matches against Lindenhurst, Northport, Connetquot, Smithtown East, Smithtown West and Miller Place.

Practices will begin on Monday, March 13. Sessions will be held daily after school. The season will run until mid-May with playoffs to follow.

Huntington UFSD decided to offer the sport after students petitioned the athletic office. Superintendent James W. Polansky has spearheaded the development of more than a dozen new teams at both J. Taylor Finley Middle School and Huntington High School.

Mr. Nelson has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2017. A graduate of Smithtown High School East, he obtained his undergraduate degree at Adelphi University, where he dual majored in physical education and accounting. He earned a master’s degree in coaching and exercise science at Concordia University Irvine in California. He played on Smithtown East’s badminton team throughout high school.

Licensed by Eastern New York Youth Soccer as a professional soccer trainer working for Long Island Professional Soccer, Mr. Nelson has coached middle school and JV soccer, middle school basketball and JV softball. He trains travel soccer teams for the Long Island Junior Soccer League.

Mr. Triolo has been a Huntington physical education teacher since September 2000. A graduate of Walt Whitman High School, he obtained undergraduate and graduate degrees from University of Massachusetts and Hofstra University, respectively. He has coached varsity lacrosse and middle school girls’ tennis.

Interested in playing badminton for the Blue Devils? Seek out Mr. Nelson at the high school or send him a message to him at anelson@hufsd.edu.