Tidey and Smith’s love for game rewarded
By Darren Lum
The Red Hawks senior girls’ doubles badminton team of Ava Smith and Emma Tidey played among the best, savouring the dream at the all-provincials last week from May 5 to 7 in Pain Court.
Also known as the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) championship, the team earned their berth a week before with a second place finish at the Central Ontario Secondary School Associations’ championships just a week before.
During a break in the action, Smith emailed the Echo about their experience and what getting to OFSAA meant.
“It is so exciting to be here at OFSAA. This has been our dream since we played badminton in gym class in Grade 6 at Archie Stouffer Elementary School, and we found a love for this sport! We’ve worked really hard to make it here. We thank Mr. Schmidt for putting in so much time to practice with us,” Smith said, referring to their coach Bob Schmidt.
Schmidt said the duo came through in the clutch during COSSA to punch their ticket to the all-provincials. After Tidey and Smith won two consecutive match wins, the team played for the top spot and lost. So, when the team was in the battle for the last berth for the all-provincials they beat their opponents 2-0, taking the match and second place with scores of 21-13 and 21-16.
Schmidt said during OFSAA that the team was playing well before the conclusion of the tournament – result to follow in a follow-up article in this coming Echo.
He said they were in the B flight of competition, with a record of 2-1 before the elimination rounds.