The Edison Eagles aren’t letting their grasp on the provincial badminton team banner slip.
Edison soared to its 14th consecutive School Sport Alberta 1A badminton team championship with 17 athletes contributing to the title earlier this month at Red Deer’s St. Joseph High.
“We’re all very positive towards each other, all very supportive of each other,” said Edison Grade 10 student Vyom Kapur on the school’s badminton culture. “But also it’s pretty strict as we have professional badminton coaches from outside Canada here.
“It’s very unique how they treat our badminton school program just like a club program, they incorporate all of the club aspects and train us like a club.”
Edison’s contingent — Kapur, Theo Ayas, Alexander Ayas, Sophia Bychkova, Kate De Rosa, Elizah Hernadez, Ata Koksal, Jannat Kaler, Max Knudston, Lincon Mannix-Gear, Lexis Mannix-Gear, Mia Obada, Kosisochi Onyebukwa, Shamiksha Sahoo, Matias Santos Ava Watters and Lente Zwanepoel — contributed to its 58 team points.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” said Edison Grade 10 student Theo Ayas. “But I feel like we did underperform a bit and although it’s not the best outcome we wanted, it is a good lesson to us and shows us we need to work harder if we want to win more next year.”
The Eagles finished 44 points ahead of their next closest team competitor, Bawlf, to run away with the 1A banner.
Kapur said the team could have performed even better.
“We definitely didn’t play our best game at this provincials, seeing some early exits,” he said. “But I think it’s a step forward and next year we’re going to come back way stronger and try to win a lot more.”
In terms of individual competition, Kapur posted the best finish with a bronze medal in the junior boys singles event with five wins in six games.
“To be part of the sport is very special to me,” said Kapur, who competes in club badminton as well. “I definitely take it farther than Edison requires you to do and what they want you to do.
“I enjoy competing nationally, across Canada, and I’m going to continue pursuing this sport next year and hopefully winning gold for Edison in the coming years.”
Theo Ayas teamed up with Hernadez in the junior mixed doubles, finishing fifth as a first-year duo.
“I think we did well,” he said. “We just started practising this year together, so I think in the future we have lots of potential to get stronger and place higher.”
Holy Trinity Academy posted a 25-point finish in Red Deer, good for seventh among 4A schools while Strathcona-Tweedsmuir posted 19 points, fourth in the 3A ranks.
MHSAA 2026 INDIVIDUAL BADMINTON INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS
Gold
Silver
Bronze
JV Girls Singles
Zoey Zong, Fort Richmond
Kaite Kie, Dakota
Ray Chen, Fort Richmond
JV Girls Doubles
Susan Tran/Fern Nguyen, Grant Park
Mia Hambleton/Hanjia Li, St Norbert
Alice Zhang/Nikki Wu, Pembina Trails
JV Boys Singles
Parham Raji, Fort Richmond
Max Sun, Dakota
Baljot Kainth, Maples
JV Boys Doubles
Eric Kim/Tae Lee, Sturgeon Heights
Andy Lim/Lucas Wu, St John’s Ravenscourt
Daniel Jiang/Hartin Huang, St Paul’s
JV Mixed Doubles
Gurleen Dhaliwal/Niko Brambilla, Maples
Nora Soufi/Austin Baker, Miles Macdonell
Tiffany Brown/Brody Lane, Birtle
Varsity Girls Singles
Kate LI, Fort Richmond
Yujia Qin, Dakota
Samantha Belches, St John’s
Varsity Girls Doubles
Morgahn Bosko/Sarah Dupuis, Gabrielle-Roy
Chloe Roberts/Danica Patton, Léo-Rémillard
Ash Uppal/Precious Gonzales, Sisler
Varsity Boys Singles
Anson Chen, St Paul’s
Connor Buhler, Collège Béliveau
Preston Fazekas, Linden Christian
Varsity Boys Doubles
Lambert Chan/Gabriel Chan, Pembina Trails
Billy Tanglin/Kyle Zhang, St Paul’s
Dilshan Saggu/Cameron Murray, R D Parker
VarsityMixed Doubles
Dana Linov/Leonides McDaniel, Neelin
Surabhi Kishore/Quinn Lagace, Jeanne-Sauvé
Xialin Liu/Yijia Sun, Fort Richmond
Fort Richmond Collegiate badminton teams shine at provincials
May 8, 2026
Winning a provincial championship is hard. Winning five in a row? That’s elite.
Fort Richmond Collegiate’s (FRC) varsity badminton team did exactly that, capturing its fifth consecutive Manitoba High School Athletics Association (MHSAA) provincial championship from April 30 to May 2. With the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons cancelled due to COVID, FRC has now won every varsity badminton title since 2018–19, setting the standard in Manitoba high school badminton.
The team’s dominance was matched by standout individual performances. FRC athletes claimed the girls singles provincial title and added a bronze medal in mixed doubles, further underscoring the program’s depth and talent.
And the winning didn’t stop there.
Fort Richmond’s junior varsity team also captured the provincial championship, highlighted by gold medals in boys singles, plus gold and bronze in girls singles.
For coaches Kevin Mason and Nicola Dirks, the titles reflect countless hours of preparation and perseverance.
“Each of our singles champions took a different path to success,” said Mason. “One beat an opponent she’d never defeated before, one continued his dominance by not dropping a single game and repeating as provincial champion, and another earned redemption by overcoming a familiar rival for the first time at provincials.”
While individual medals shine, Mason says the real victory is shared.
“These experiences give them a sense of team pride in competing for a team banner when normally badminton is more of an individual sport.”
SSNB Excellence Awards/Prix d’excellence de SSNB 2026
Raymond Légère Excellence Award Recipients
Twenty-four student athletes (listed below) from SSNBs four conferences received the Raymond Légère Excellence Award. These students have shown outstanding qualities throughout the school year while participating in SSNB sports
Northern Conference Winners / Prix de la conférence du nord A Girls / Filles Danica Mullin Blackville School A Boys / Garçons Jus�n Sonier École Carrefour Beausoleil AA Girls / Filles Abigail Cormier Bathurst High School AA Boys / Garçons Alexis Roussel École Marie-Esther AAA Girls / Filles Britany Lavigne École Secondaire Népisiguit AAA Boys / Garçons Vincent Lebreton École Secondaire Népisiguit
Eastern Conference Winners / Prix de la conférence de l’est A Girls / Filles Maxim Leblanc Ecole Mgr.-M-F-Richard A Boys / Garçons Jérémi Mazerolle Ecole Mgr.-M-F-Richard AA Girls / Filles Lexie Richard École Clément Cormier AA Boys / Garçons No nominations received / Aucune nomination reçue AAA Girls / Filles Allison Wasson Bernice McNaughton High School AAA Boys / Garçons Adam Thompson Riverview High School
Southern Conference Winners / Prix de la conférence du sud A Girls / Filles Elisa Gaudete Sir James Dunn Academy A Boys / Garçons Owen Hamilton Sir James Dunn Academy AA Girls / Filles Claire Rideout St. Stephen High School AA Boys / Garçons Jack Huys St. Stephen High School AAA Girls / Filles Gabrielle Léger Sussex Regional High School AAA Boys / Garçons Gavin Steeves Harbour View High School
Western Conference Winners / Prix de la conférence du nord A Girls / Filles Lauren Beers Hartland Community School A Boys / Garçons Adam Chris�e Nackawic High School AA Girls / Filles Nathalie Leroux École Sainte-Anne AA Boys / Garçons Caleb Boudreau École Sainte-Anne AAA Girls / Filles Emma Walker Leo Hayes High School AAA Boys / Garçons Quinn Jones Leo Hayes High School
Raymond Légère Excellence Award Recipients
The William S. Ritchie Excellence Award
The top two, one male and one female, in each school classification, will receive the William S. Ritchie Excellence Award. The William S. Ritchie Excellence Award recipients are:
Lauren Beers – Hartland Community School Jérémi Mzerolle – École M.-F.-Richard Abigail Cormier – Bathurst High School Jack Huys – St. Stephen High SChool Gabrielle Léger – Sussex Regional High School Gavin Steeves – Harbour View High School
Emery Johnson Memorial Award
This award goes to the Most Sportsmanlike Coach of the Year and recognizes their outstanding lifetime achievements towards students and SSNB school sports programs. This award is named after Emery Johnson, the former athletic director of Dalhousie Regional High School and the NBIAA Executive Committee, who passed away in November 2003.
The Emery Johnson Memorial Award will be presented to JOHN BRYDEN – Bernice MacNaughton High School
Team Sportsmanship of the Year Awards
In 2014, School Sport New Brunswick introduced an annual School Sportsmnship of the Year Awards. In 2017, the ‘School Award’ was modified to a ‘Team Award’, which aims to recognize a team, whose athletes, coaches and fans promote what sportsmanship is all about in every aspect of high school athletics.
The following teams were honored for their accomplishments at the SSNB Sportsmanship Banquet:
Northern Conference Miramichi High School – Boys Hockey
Eastern Conference École Clément Cormier – Girls Hockey
Southern Conference St. Stephen High School – Girls Hockey
Western Conference École Sainte Anne – Girls Rugby
