“In my 32 years as the head badminton coach at RMHS, this is one of the best seasons I have ever been a part of,” said Ken Mills, the head badminton coach. This year has been a season for many to remember by, especially the varsity badminton girls.

Badminton is a rising sport at RMHS. This year’s varsity team has proven this to be true. At tryouts, 68 athletes competed for their spot on the team and 53 achieved a spot. Out of those 53, 12 were selected to be on varsity and made an outstanding team. “I have 12 awesome varsity badminton players,” said Mills. 

Throughout the season, the girls were faced with many victories. These included 1st place at the Mustang Quad, 2nd place at the Mustang Mega Quad, and 3rd place at the IHSA Sectional Badminton Tournament. At this specific tournament, Jaslyn Philip and Haasini Vidapalapati qualified for the IHSA State Badminton Tournament on Friday, May 12 and Saturday, May 13.

“Badminton is a sport I’ve always enjoyed and I’ve been wanting to go to state ever since last year,” said Vidapalapati. She expressed how excited she is to be going to state and how she is honored to be part of RMHS history. 

Her teammate Philips expressed similar words of gratitude. “I’m really proud of myself and my partner Haasini, and I hope we both do great and play our best,” said Philips. In addition, she said that she is looking forward to it and is ecstatic to be going to state.

“I was blessed to have coached all 53 of my badminton players this season,” said Mills. This season is one for the books for RMHS badminton history and will forever be remembered by teammates and coaches.