On Jan. 28, 2025, the two badminton clubs from Troy High School and Troy Athens High School came together, competing between themselves in a friendly competition.

Toro Giang, a junior and the secretary of the badminton club at Troy High school, mentioned how the “appreciation for badminton between the board members” in both of the clubs was what led to the two clubs to work together to coordinate the first ever badminton competition between the schools.

Months prior to the event taking place, board members from both clubs came together in order to discuss and work to learn the rules of how regular badminton tournaments worked as well as how to advertise the event to students at both of the high schools. Toro Giang recalled how the board members working on the project from both the schools were stressed, as it was the group’s first time organizing and running such a large event.

For the event there were two different tournament games that participants could enter themselves in. They could enter to play in the singles tournament, or pair up with another student from either school and play in the doubles tournament. Participants were not restricted to only being able to sign up for one of the tournaments.

 Phuong Giang, a senior and the president of the Troy Athens High School badminton club, explained the rounds for each match were pretty simple. Participants had to get the shuttlecock on the other side without letting it go out of bounds, each match lasting until 21 points were scored on either side.

The tournaments also had cash prizes for the first, second and third place winners as a way to encourage more participation from both schools. The clubs were able to set the prize money at 40 dollars for first place, 30 dollars for second place and 20 dollars for third place. Phuong Giang commented that the amount for each place was “decided based on the number of participants” they had.

Phuong Giang mentioned that unlike an actual badminton tournament, the club’s version would be “only one set instead of three” and also set each game to play by doubles boundaries regardless if it was a singles or doubles match being played.

The two clubs were able to come together and hold this event in display of their love and passion for badminton. Toro Giang remarked that overall “It had been quite enjoyable working with another club to execute this event.”

After months of planning and figuring out details for the event, the day of the tournament came and went by without a hitch.

The clubs saw a total of 30 participants join and show up on the day of the event at the Troy Athens High School gym.

Eric Li, a senior at Troy High School and the first place winner of the singles tournament, commented that the event went pretty well as the board members from both clubs tried their best in hosting the tournament.

Both board members and participants shared the feeling of excitement during the event as they watched students from the competing schools come together over their shared passion for badminton.