Alberton High School proudly announced learners who qualified for the All Africa Schools Badminton 2024 Championships in Senegal.
Alberton Badminton Club’s coach, Roger Howson, said this was an incredible accomplishment, given that all the nation’s top badminton schools battled for a seat in the competition.
Alberton High secured its position at the coveted South African Schools Championship earlier this year by taking home the gold.
And recently, Kiara and Melinda Jaskolka, Kirsty Correia and Jade Henning landed on home soil from Senegal, with more medals.
For the team event, the ladies bagged gold. In singles, Kirsty scooped a silver medal while in girls’ doubles, Kirsty and Jade took bronze while Melinda and Kiara bagged silver medals. In mixed doubles, Kirsty received a bronze medal.
For girls’ triples, Kirsty, Melinda and Kiara also received silver medals. For girls’ triples, Jade played for another school and took bronze.
In the relay team event, Kirsty, Kiara, Melinda, Lincoln and two Senegalese boys, who played for Alberton High, bagged bronze medals while Jade played for another school and took silver.
Jade said: “The highlights from Senegal were being able to meet new people with different cultures and share the love of badminton.
“It was a privilege to showcase our hard work. It was a privilege to represent not only our school but South African schools too.”
According to Kirsty, being able to compete with the people she loves, as well as their caring coaches, was the highlight of the trip for her.
She said competing nationally gives one a sense of confidence that you can take back home and use for local tournaments.
For Kiara, one of her favourite parts of the journey was getting stuck in Kenya because of the delayed flight. This allowed them to experience the beauty of the place.
Melinda also echoed Kiara’s sentiments and experiencing support from people from all over, even though they had just met them, was a massive highlight for the player.
She said it was an honour to play internationally, “Something that would never have been possible without their sponsors, friends and families’ support.”
Former player Natasha le Grange is their mentor and coach at Alberton High School.
The Alberton Badminton Club always seeks new members. Anyone wanting to try the sport may call Roger on 082 873 3639.
ALSO READ: Learners to represent Alberton High in Senegal
