We were grateful to have Coach Boris and Coach Toby with us the first weekend where the 2022 Yonex Synergy NorCal ORC was held at Synergy Badminton Academy, CA. The academy had over 20 courts in use, which meant on that first day we coached 57 matches in addition to organizing lunch, dinner, and rides throughout the day! It would not have been possible to do it all without the help of our parents. We are so appreciative of all the parents and their help!

 

 

 Steven attempting to eat his large poop emoji ice cream cone.

Team photo with parents after our buffet dinner.

NorCal ORC was the hardest ORC in terms of level and draw size but by the end of the tournament, as a team, we gained the most success compared to the other ORCs we participated in this season. Mitchell Purnomo placed third in U15 Boy’s Doubles, and second in U15 Boy’s Singles with a draw size of 128! Stephanie Song placed second in U11 Girls Doubles and third in U11 Mixed Doubles.

Stephanie and Mikael. Stephanie placed third in U11 Mixed Doubles and second in U11 Girls Doubles.

Mitchell placed third in the U15 Boys Doubles and second in the U15 Boys Singles.

After saying goodbye to Coach Toby and Coach Boris in San Jose, we headed down to Los Angeles with 19 kids and 2 parents. Arriving in Los Angeles, Coach Derrick had the luck of driving all the boys in a 15 passenger van!

Coach Derrick’s 15 passenger van to transport all the boys for the week.

The first day we drove down to Orange County to visit Coach May’s former club, Orange County Badminton Club. It was nice for the kids to see where Coach May used to train and visit some of her old teammates and coaches.

Coach May standing below her photo in the halls of OCBC.

Inside Orange County Badminton Club.

After OCBC, we went to Arena Badminton Club to start our training with Tony Gunawan. Tony Gunawan is former world #1, two-time World Champion, and the 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist in Men’s Doubles. We trained morning and afternoons with Coach Tony, Coach Raju, and Coach Eric for 4 days and the kids gained a lot of experience and made a lot of new friends.

Coach Tony coaching our BBC students on the importance of the serve, and serve return in doubles.

Dinner after training all day!

Kids interact much better when they aren’t stuck to their phones! See Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1: Spot the kids without phones. See Exhibit 2 for results when we remove the phones.

Exhibit 2: The kids seemed happier without their phones as they could have real interactions with their friends!

Nearing the end of our training at GBA, we had a friendly mixed team competition with the students from GBA and BBC. We had a total of 54 players with coaches from BBC and GBA playing with the students!

Coach Eti explaining the rules and format of our friendly mixed team competition.

Team BBC with the GBA Coaches.

Coach May with the girls!

After training at GBA on Friday, we checked out of our hotel and drove down to San Diego to meet our adult BBC team who flew down that day with Coach Toby. The 2022 Dave Freeman tournament was a combined tournament for juniors, open adults, and seniors.

Coach Derrick and Junior Coach Stephanie coaching Dennis and Stephanie’s mom, Yanyan.

By the end of the 2022 Dave Freeman Tournament, Team BBC was able to bring back a lot of hardware!

Jacob and Esther placed second in the Open A Mixed Doubles. Jacob, William, Coach Derrick, and Coach Toby also placed 3rd in Open A Men’s Doubles.

Jay placed first place in U17 Boys Doubles.

Ethan and Steven placed first place in U15 Boys Doubles.
Ethan and Ella placed third place in U15 Mixed Doubles.
Ryan and Tom placed third place in U19 Boys Doubles.
Stephanie placed first place in U11 Girls Singles.
Stephanie placed first place in U11 Girls Doubles.
Stephanie placed first place in U11 Mixed Doubles.

Not only was it a good day for results, but it was also Ethan’s birthday! As our trip was coming to an end, we celebrated Ethan’s birthday at a fancy seafood buffet!

Ethan celebrating his birthday at the buffet.

Ethan and the ladies! Happy Birthday, Ethan!

On the last day before heading back to our famous Seattle weather, we decided to go to the beach. Although brief, it was such a treat to soak in the sun, feel the soft sand, and touch the ocean.

The kids catching up to Steven walking into the ocean.

Girls jumping for joy!

Seattle greeting us with its lovely wet sunshine.

We had an amazing trip with lots of great results, experiences gained, lessons learned, memories made, our fires lit, and our bonds strengthened.

We look forward to continue training hard in preparation for the tournaments that lay ahead and working together as a team as we will be more successful together.