The Piedmont High School badminton team is preparing for a strong season, with many new players and strong returners.
Fiona Lai has been head coach since 2019 and before that was assistant coach in 2017. She has high expectations for the 2026 season.
“I think because we have pretty good newcoming players, we’ll get pretty far this year,” Lai said.
This year’s team is younger than previous teams as the Highlanders lost many core seniors.
“Last year, we had a lot of seniors,” Lai said. “A lot of them left. We are lucky to have new players that are able to take over their spots.”
The team is led with strong leadership through the three captains: Mandy Tang, Jonathan Phmah, and Ava Saephan.
Besides Tang, Phmah, and Saephan, the team has multiple returners who are going to be key to Piedmont’s success. Among those are Walden Pan, Michael Swei, and Chase Hench.
Some of the newcomers hold a lot of potential.
“Sophia Li, she’s a freshman, she’ll make a big impact for the team,” Lai said.
During the offseason, a few of the players played club badminton to prepare for this year’s season.
Lai said part of what makes the Highlanders a good team this year is their chemistry.
“Their biggest strength I would say, is that they connect well with each other,” Lai said. “(Something the team needs to work on) is having more confidence.”
Lai said that some of the key returners will be leading the singles and doubles.
“(Pan) will lead the singles,” Lai said. “It’s going to be (Tang) and (Phmah) leading the doubles.”
Lai said she hopes the team works on overall development throughout the season, but most importantly their offensive drive.
“I hope they gain more aggressive styles,” Lai said.
Lai said that Alameda High School and Castro Valley High School are going to be the toughest matchups for the season.
“Alameda and Castro Valley (are our biggest competitors),” Lai said. “They are both Division 1 schools. We only play them once every season. We are in Division 2.”
Despite the amount of newcomers, Lai said she thinks the team will be very competitive this year.
“(I really enjoy) the amount of time and effort they put in,” Lai said.
Lai said success is the team’s biggest goal.
“(Our biggest goal) is to try to get league first,” Lai said. “With all the new players, I just want to win as many games as we can.”