By Timothy Phang (19S03T) and Li Zheng Yu (19S06Q)

As you step onto the court, you start feeling the pressure; you hear your coaches encouraging you, you hear the supporters, your heart pounding furiously, the adrenaline rush…

There is no other feeling in the world like this, especially when you’re playing for Raffles Badminton.

Raffles Badminton has been the Champions in both the Girls’ and Boys’ A division competition for 3 years running. Our goal for 2019 is to retain these titles for the 4th consecutive year. Our season is one of the longest amongst the Raffles CCAs, lasting roughly the whole month of May. Thus, our training sessions are extremely important to ensure that we are well prepared for the entirety of the competition season.

We have two highly qualified coaches – Coach Ronald and Coach Aman – who do their best to help us prepare and get in good condition for the competition. We train on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-8pm at the Indoor Sports Hall (ISH) and on Fridays, from 4-7pm, at the Albert Hong Hall (AHH). Our trainings are well-rounded and specially designed to help every player achieve their best, from drills to gameplay as well as physical trainings to keep our bodies in top condition. Even though we end quite late, putting in these hours for training is essential in maintaining our physical levels so that we can perform during the upcoming season.

Here at Raffles Badminton, there is a strong support system. Despite the intense training schedules and competition, we are close friends on and off the court. Our team has lots of fun, not only in training, but outside school as well. Nonetheless, everyone still works incredibly hard to improve ourselves and help the weaker teammates. While academics can become a real headache due to the long and intense trainings, we can turn to each other for support, and also our friendly teachers Mr Wong and Ms Lim who are extremely understanding and will offer you any help you need.

For many of us, badminton has been a constant part of our lives since primary school. It is not just a mere pastime or interest. It takes hard work, dedication, and passion to continuously train and improve ourselves. We are a passionate team and that is what keeps us going. If you love Badminton just like we do, then you’ll definitely love it here and we welcome you to join us!

Be warned, however, that competing to qualify for the team is intense, as we have a very small number of spaces left. So, if you are new to the sport and are looking to pick it up leisurely as a hobby, then you may want to consider joining Recreational Badminton instead.

But if you think you have what it takes, do sign up for our trials!

Hope to see you there!