by Kylayah Davis

Patterson’s badminton team defeated Edmondson Westside High School on Friday, April 19.

Now, I always like to do research before any event but today I decided to go completely ignorant and learn from the team. So I interviewed Coach Bomar and players Banny and Jeani, where I learned some interesting facts about badminton:

1. There are both JV and varsity teams in badminton.
2. They play the best 2 out of 3 matches to determine a winner.
3. A typical game takes around 10 minutes.
4. It takes 21 points to win each game.
5. You have to win by at least 2 points.
6. There are no referees.

Yes, you read that right: There are no refs or officials in badminton. As Coach Bomar explained, badminton is a sport of integrity and etiquette; it goes by honesty. 

The players keep track of the score themselves by saying “Are you ready? (number of points) serving (number of points)”. You have to ask “Are you ready?” before you serve because if your opponent isn’t ready and you serve, it would be unsportsmanlike. 

When I asked Coach Bomar why he coaches badminton, he told me to look around.

“No-one’s yelling, no one’s arguing, there’s no flags, no fighting after the games.”, observed Coach Bomar. “There are Edmondson girls playing with Patterson girls. It’s really a fun sport”.

Coach Bomar has been coaching badminton for ten years, and Coach Bloom has been doing it for two years.

Badminton is an all girls sport in Maryland that was established in order to balance out the amount of male and female sports. Check out our school’s badminton games every Tuesday and Thursday.