Anya Gore
Staff Writer
Mira Costa’s Booster Club set up a badminton senior night and alumni badminton game on May 23 from 4PM-6PM in the Pavilion Gym for the first time in Mira Costa history.
Many alumni and badminton champions who have graduated over the years returned to campus: Khoa Tran (class of 1998); Dede Tran (‘99); Shawn Whong (‘14); Lynn Wang (‘14); Julia Foster (‘20); Andrew Liu (‘21); Shirleen Chen (‘16); Yoshi Cohn (‘16); Moose Cohn (‘19);Eric Liu (‘15); and Lulu Yu (‘19).
“It was really great to see old faces but also just the continuation of the team,” Wang said.“I feel that now that it’s on campus, it’s nice that Costa badminton is more tied to the school, rather than the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club (MBBC).”
According to coach Mike McAvin, this event wasn’t set up to just reunite alumni, but also to congratulate the seniors and thank them for their devotion to the badminton team. Seniors Xavier Dargon, Kayra Isbara, Johanna Lei, Owen Thomas, and Bailey Tibbets all came into then gym for the last time before completing the season.
“It’s really nice to see the badminton team is getting more and more presence in terms of the school now that we have our own courts,” Thomas said.
Mira Costa did not paint court lines for badminton in the new gym and because of this, all of the practices in past years took place at the Manhattan Beach Badminton Club. According to McAvin, the current lines aren’t permanent at Costa, but it’s a step in the right direction.
“We had a lot of support from the administration,” Booster Club President John Dargon said. “It took many people throughout the district and a lot of explaining the importance of badminton. We finally came to reasonable compromises and were able to tape badminton court lines on the floor. Nothing would’ve happened without our amazing coaches and the Mira Costa and district administrations.”
According to McAvin, taping court lines has not only been a first step for team members, but also for coaches, alumni, and PE classes. Coaches, alumni, and other staff members including Costa principal Dr. Gerger stopped by the event to celebrate the seniors and alumni.
“I think it’s amazing the amount of alumni that came to participate and join the current Mira Costa students today,” Gerger said. “All of the alumni returning is a testament to the passion for the sport.”
Despite the fact that several people flew in from out of town to attend this reunion, some people came purely to have some fun and competition. According to coach Dave Levin, the games were played just for fun; however, some did end up getting very competitive.
“My favorite part was playing doubles,” Foster said.
According to McAvin, coaches Dave and Cindy Levin have contributed to the badminton team a great amount this year, helping set up everything from practices and matches, and training the team members. On top of being a coach, Cindy Levin is also an alumni.
“The main purpose of this is to finally be able to introduce the sport of badminton to Mira Costa,” Cindy Levin said.
According to Dave Levin, him and Cindy Levin hope the senior night and alumni game will become a tradition in coming years for the badminton team here at Mira Costa.
“I hope this will be the first of many,” said Dave Levin.
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