Huntington Girls’ Badminton Sets Stage for Success

Huntington High School’s first ever varsity girls’ badminton team set the stage for what Blue Devil head coach Alex Nelson believes will be a successful future for the program.

“Our best accomplishment was making history in having the first ever girls’ varsity badminton team at Huntington,” Nelson said. “It was accomplished through a combined effort by administration, coaches and players. It was an incredible journey and was an absolute pleasure to be a part of this program. It wouldn’t have been possible without every player on the team working hard and putting in the effort to learn the sport and compete at the highest possible level. It was truly inspiring to watch students pick up a sport for the first time ever and compete day in and day out against programs that have been around for decades.”

The Blue Devils were led by freshmen Mia Kaufman (No. 1 singles) and Anis Oyuela (No. 2 singles) and sophomore Sophia Weiss and junior Megan Lewis, who teamed up to play No. 1 doubles.

“Mia is the most skilled player on the team,” Nelson said. “Her background in tennis gave her an advantage in quickly picking up the techniques and tactics. Mia has a very bright future and is a huge returning asset to the team.”

Oyuela also shined. “Anis played No. 2 singles, but she also filled in at No. 1 on multiple occasions,” Nelson said. “Anis is one of the most eager and enthusiastic players on the team. Her consistent drive to improve paid dividends throughout the season.”

Weiss and Lewis proved to be a perfect pairing. “They started out as singles players, but a few weeks into the season we decided to combine their talents to create a powerful duo. It wasn’t long before they established themselves as the top doubles team. We can’t wait for them to pick up where they left off last spring.”

The team was captained by Lewis and senior Breyelle Corvoisier. Jordan Ioviero assisted Nelson in coaching.

“I was an absolute pleasure and honor to coach the group of players we had,” Nelson said. “They worked so hard and put in so much effort to learn the sport as quickly as possible and compete at the varsity level. Their attitude, humility and enthusiasm was truly inspirational. We are going to greatly miss our seniors, Ayesha Iftikhar, Breyelle Corvoisier and Emely Cruz. It will be challenging to fill the shoes of those leaving, but I’m confident the returnees and incoming players from Finley are up for the challenge.

Nelson believes the sport is on the cusp of popularity and growth at Huntington High School. “We will have 17 returning players in addition to new players,” the coach said. “More importantly, we will all have a year of experience under our belt, which will make a big difference as we go about practicing and competing next season.”