For those who do not know, the Lady Trojan’s Badminton team recently won the Coast Conference title. After a great season they finished by dominating Fresno last week to secure the title. The team state championship match is on Thurs. May 8, located here at Skyline and the individual championships will be held Fri. May 9, and Sat. May 10. The following team members have qualified for the individual matches: Maggie Ho, Bonnie Chan, Khin Htwe, Keshia Yusman, Casey Spinetti, Erica Lum, Jenny Cheu, Gulsha Akoglu. Women’s Badminton Coach, Jan Fosberg, recently sat down with the Skyline View for an exclusive interview about the successful season. (SV is Skyline View and JF is Jan Fosberg)

SV: First of all congratulations on winning the Coast Conference title for the first time in two years how does it feel?

JF: It feels great to win the Coast Conference title. It was a challenging season; CCSF gave us a run for our money with 3 close matches.

SV: Are their anymore titles/games that you hope to win this year?

JF: Since we are playing for the State Championship, obviously I would love to see us win our first championship in the history of the program. It will be fun to watch our 10 qualifiers who are playing for individual honors as well. I believe Maggie Ho has a chance to finish towards the top again this year (she finished second in singles last year), and Keshia Yusman should go far also.

SV: How are you planning on doing so?

JF: We’ve been putting a lot of time in at practice and in the evening at the local badminton facility (Bay Badminton in Burlingame). Our time now is spent just refining our skills and getting some games in, our experience from competing in conference will prepare us to play against the Southern California teams.

SV: How did the team win the Coast Conference title (what work went into it, describe the struggles and triumphs)?

JF: Everyone on this team, in one way or another, contributed important points in our quest for the championship. In badminton it comes down to scoring that 11th team point, the one that puts the team over the top. We have had a number of individuals who have come through when we most needed it with awesome come from behind wins under high pressure. The triumphs have been those hard fought wins against both Fresno City College and City College of San Francisco when our backs were to the wall. Our struggles have mostly been due to being short-handed in a few matches. We have superior athletes to the teams in our conference but struggled to win a few matches when the players had labs, work, or other commitments they could not miss. Since we always stress putting education first it is difficult for the players, come match time, to make that decision to miss a class or not work on a school project, especially when it comes to this time of the semester.

SV: What has been the biggest turn-around this year?

JF: The biggest turn around this season (from last year) probably goes back to the fall where we were fortunate to successfully recruit 11 high quality players. We’ve never been so fortunate as to have such a deep team, players who were seeded 8, 9, 10, and 11 for us this year in the past could have been at the top of our ladder in past seasons. We’re fortunate to have 2 nationally ranked players (Maggie Ho and Bonnie Chan) to bring us that big match experience, not to mention that they are instrumental by being “on court coaches” to the rest of the team.

SV: What are the strengths/weakness of this team?

JF: The strength of this team is our veteran returning players and our depth from top to bottom.It would be difficult to assess a weakness for this team; I guess I would have to say that it would be having to work around a variety of schedules (not everyone can practice at the same time).

SV: Who are the leaders on this team and how have they impacted the team?

JF: I would say during matches that Maggie Ho is a huge leader; she encourages the team to do their best, and is a sparkplug on the court. The players all look up to Maggie; respect her, her knowledge, experience and abilities on the court. We have definitely given a leadership role to Casey Spinetti during practice. Casey’s the player who is there everyday, working hard on her game and willing to do anything for the team.

SV: If you had to choose an MVP, a most improved player, and the person with the best team spirit on the team, who would they be and why?

JF: Wow, that would be difficult…so many players have contributed to our success this year. I also wouldn’t want to make that distinction before we finish the season and vote on those awards that are presented each year.

SV: Tell me about your most memorable moment this year?

JF: It would probably have to be our win at Fresno with only 6 players. We were missing our #2, 4, 5, 6 and 9 players and managed to hold on for an 11-10 win. I feel like that’s the one that showed us we could overcome adversity as a team. Erica Lum had two huge singles wins and she and Khin Htwe win a key doubles match to put us over the top. Maggie Ho was her usually awesome self and won both singles and both doubles matches she played.SV: What are you striving for next year and how do you plan on achieving it?

JF: Well, the first goal for next year is to replace all of our second year players with incoming freshman. Both Jon and I have been recruiting from the local high schools, getting the word out. Obviously it would be great if we could field another team like this year’s but it is a rare pleasure to have two nationally ranked players and 9 other talented women walk into the gym in January.

SV: If you want this team to be remembered for one thing what would that be?

JF: I would have to say that they should be remembered as a talented group who are exceptional students (and people!) as well as badminton players.