It’s the day of the Feather Fest invite for the LT badminton team. Abigail Allen ‘26 is on the bus to New Trier for her favorite day of the season. She sits, singing Disney songs with her teammates—a well-loved tradition–on the long drive, anticipating what the rest of the day will hold. She spends her day cheering on friends and growing bonds with teammates through their love of the sport. 

“The biggest hurdle is always maintaining peak mental stamina,” Head Coach Stephanie Spytek said. “Badminton is a game of split-second decisions. When you’re in the third set of a high-stakes match, it’s easy to let frustration creep in. We’re working hard on ‘short memories,’ forgetting the last point and focusing entirely on the bird in front of us.”

The team has played in a variety of duel meets and quads, Spytek said. As of April 9, their record is four wins, two ties, and seven losses.

“This year’s team culture has been outstanding,” Spytek said. “The athletes have developed a strong rapport, which is evident in their willingness to both offer and receive constructive feedback regarding matches and shot execution.”

One way the athletes come together is with the snack bins, Spytek said. To ensure everyone stays energized, each team member contributes a snack of their choice, and the bin travels with them to all of their competitions.

“This season, a primary goal for several of our athletes is to qualify at the Sectional match and advance to the State meet in DeKalb,” Spytek said. “This year, we are again fortunate to have three outstanding volunteer coaches who are incredibly knowledgeable about badminton: Coach Stephanie Lin (a previous three-time State champion in singles at LT), Coach Sunny Liang, and Coach Alex Ip (an LT Counselor) are huge assets to the program, developing drills that significantly contribute to our athletes’ growth.”

The team practices five days a week if there are no games, games vary throughout the week, and they have invites/tournaments almost every Saturday, Allen said.

“My mom signed me up [for badminton] in eighth grade, and that was where I met my best friend, so I decided to go back to tryouts freshman year, and I am so glad I did,” Allen said. “Since this will be my last year on the team my biggest goal for the season is just to have fun.”