Rams set sights on historic state title

By Aaron Turner
The Guardsman

For the second season in a row, the Northern California Women’s Badminton Finals were a formality for the most dominant program at City College this year.

The undefeated Rams aim to make history in Pasadena by capturing their first ever state championship, a feat that has never been accomplished by any Northern California school.

The Rams, who were the host team for this year’s NorCal Finals, held at the Wellness Center on May 8, were able to secure #1 seeds for both doubles and singles. They will send a total of six players to Pasadena City College, the site of this year’s State Championships.

After the matches were over, Fred Glosser and Coni Staff, the teams co-head coaches, were all smiles inside the Wellness Center.

“I’m very pleased with today’s results,” Staff said. “I feel that we have put ourselves in the best possible position to win at state. I think we consider ourselves the favorite to win it all, and rightfully so.”

It would be hard to argue with Staff’s assessment, as the Rams began the season loaded with experience players. As state runner-up last season, they fell just short to host Irvine Valley College, a team that boasted four Olympic trained badminton players. This year, the playing field will be much more even, Staff said.

The Rams will compete in the State Finals which begin on May 13. The individual player competitions will then take place that weekend, May 15 – 16.

“It’s going to be between us and Pasadena this year for the team championship,” Staff said. “While we haven’t seen their number one player, a coach has told us that we match up with them very well strategically.”

Strategy aside, City College’s best weapons may be their sophomores, five of whom were at Pasadena last year.

“They’ve all been there, they know what to expect,” Glosser said of his team following the NorCal finals, adding that he persuaded sophomore Maggie Choy to return for her second season after a four year hiatus from badminton, with the hopes of winning a state title before he retired.

Choy last played for the Rams in 2006, before leaving City College until this season. Despite that much time away, she stepped in nicely as the Rams’ number one player in both singles and doubles.

“Coach Glosser wanted to form a good women’s team this year, and win a state championship,” Choy said in regards to her returning. For Choy, she couldn’t have made a better decision.

“This year was just so fun,” she said. “We have all known each other for a long time on the team, and we have such great coaches, so I am happy to be back.”

“Maggie sets a great example and a great work ethic for the rest of the team,” Staff said. She also praised the work of sophomore Wendy Zhu, who is seeded #2 for State, and was the number two singles player all season.

“Wendy is always the first to practice and the last to leave,” Staff said. “She is a huge reason why this team is so disciplined and so well conditioned this year.”

Having seen her team come up just short last year, Zhu is yet another battle-tested player the Rams have at their disposal.

“I think we have an even better chance this year,” Zhu said. “We’ve all been through tournaments before, and have been on out there on the court before, so experience definitely helps.”