Not all heroes wear capes, but many wear Grizzly badminton jerseys.
A recent wave of discussion surrounding Cal High’s badminton team and its intense conditioning routine has caught the attention of students across campus.
Badminton players deserve recognition for risking their lives every practice just to secure future victories.
Badminton is considered by many to be a casual sport, not played for fierce competition. Even regular players often assume team practices have simple rallies and light footwork.
They are violently surprised.
Freshman junior varsity player Chester Chao, for instance, was clueless about his impending doom after making the team this spring.
“I thought practice was going to be fun, playing around with friends,” Chao said.
He had a rude awakening when he was met with more than just playing around.
Thankfully Chao wasn’t the only one caught off guard as fellow teammates also were.
When asked to describe his practices to someone new to the sport, Chao summed it up in two words: “Grueling torture.”
Chao explained that push-ups, planks, footwork activities, and a quick mile are all common exercises the team performs during practice. Congratulations, you’ve now completed the day’s warm-up.
From there, players move directly into their drills and gameplay for the day, with little to no time to recover between the activities. Conditioning and running aren’t solely the start of practice, but continue throughout the rest of the day.
Players are required to run three miles at least once a week before they get to glance at the net. That distance increases to five miles if the players fail to line up properly.
In a nutshell, preparing for the games in these intense practices makes “Karate Kid” and “Cobra Kai” training montages look like a quick stretch.
The sheer amount of running members of the team do has turned the school’s track into an athletic delirium. Some might say that the transition from the track to the court is less of a warm-up but more of a spiritual experience.
This level of intensity is built into the team’s regular training schedule.
Practices aren’t spaced out, or rather, dreaded almost daily. They’re hosted two to five times a week, with no exceptions in conditioning, meaning players are required to maintain endurance throughout the season.
“I showed up to practice with a fresh headband and a dream of looking graceful,” varsity player junior Jaidon Lin said. “Instead, I’m starting to name the individual pebbles that are on the track.”
There are aspects to the conditioning that can lighten the load, as freshman JV player Nehha Ramesh Rathinam mentions.
“It’s not that bad if you have friends,” she said about the warm-ups. “But if you don’t have friends, you are gonna have to do it with the coach, and he’s not your friend.”
On the other hand, some players’ main struggle is getting out of bed early on a rainy morning the following day.
“Every morning after practice is a high-stakes negotiation with my own calves,” sophomore varsity player Josh Chen said. “I lay down in bed re-thinking my life choices.”
For Chen, the key dilemma is getting to his first-period class, hoping his legs don’t give up on him.
Some students, such as senior varsity player Joseph Jiang, are just accepting the inevitable defeat of hitting the track as he’s adjusted to the high demands of badminton, and the physical agony that the court and track regularly bring.
“I’ve basically developed a personal relationship with the track,” Jiang said. “I’ve spent a lot of quality time on the track, and I’m getting used to it since I was on the team last year.”
Regardless of the intensity, conditioning remains a key part of all sports, and badminton is no exception.
These workouts are designed to build endurance and consistency during matches, with the goal of preparing players for the fast-paced reality of competitive sport. Even if it seems like the workouts are scientific tests to determine the limits of the human body.
For now, official complaints have not been discovered, but the intensity of badminton practice and conditioning must not go unnoticed.
Next time students spot a friend or classmate on the team, make sure to send them a quick salute while they’re on their way practice, thanking them for their service as a Grizzly badminton warrior and congratulating them on their survival.
Hopefully, they can make it to the end of their season.
