Amanda Tomm didn't need to dance to have the time of her life.
The 17-year-old student at Kelly Road secondary school received tips on how to improve her badminton game from a quartet of high-ranked Canadian players during a training clinic at the UNBC Northern Sport Centre during the week and capped off with a series of exhibition matches Friday at CNC. The new skills paid off for Tomm, as did teaming up with national team member Phyllis Chan, in an exhibition match where the two defeated Chan's teammate Christin Tsai and Kelly Road student Olivia McClair during an intense three-set game.
"It was amazing," said Tomm. "Not so much in the game, but I was able to use the stuff they've been teaching me throughout the week. They taught a lot of technical aspects of different shots I didn't know before."
Chan and Tsai were joined in Prince George by brothers Toby and Derrick Ng teaching the badminton clinics until Sunday. Toby competed for Canada at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. All four British Columbia athletes returned home to the Lower Mainland after the clinics where they'll compete this week at the 2013 Yonex Canada Open in Richmond.
The now 21-year-old Chan and 18-year-old Tsai teamed up to help Team B.C. to the silver medal in the team event at the 2011 Canada Winter Games in Halifax, defeating the women's doubles team who went on to represent Canada last summer in London.
Both women are eyeing adding another edition of the Canada Winter Games to their resumes when Prince George plays host in 2015. Chan would like to be a part of the coaching team, while Tsai is aiming for another shot at gold. In Halifax, Tsai won gold in mixed doubles and earned bronze in singles.
"It would be 100 times better [competing in B.C.]," said the Surrey native. "Halifax is so far away and there weren't a lot of people [watching], so I'm hoping there will be more people to support us."
If all goes according to the plan Tsai has laid out for herself returning to Prince George in 2015 will only be the first of three chances she'll have to wear the red and white in an 18-month span. The 2015 the Pan Am Games are in Toronto and a year later is the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
"I hope to play in the Olympics in 2016, but for me right now I just want to become a better player and if I can play Olympics that's good and if not, that's OK, there's other tournaments like world championships and the Pan Am Games.
"Right now I'm at a pretty good spot," she added. "I just have to make sure I don't get injured and continue to consistently improve. I just have to slowly go up; I'm not in any rush where I have to get really good in a very short time."
The window of opportunity for Tomm and McClair is a lot murkier when it comes to representing B.C. in their hometown at the Canada Winter Games. Both Kelly Road students dream of earning one of the five positions on the under-21 women's team in 2015 (the under-23 men's division also has five provincial spots), but there's a steep learning curve between where they are now and where the top contenders, like Tsai, are in B.C.
Lisa Davison, badminton sport leader for 2015, said it's good for them to have dreams but the 2019 Canada Winter Games may be a more realistic goal.
"Most of them are fairly young to be participating in it and there's quite a large gap in where they are compared to the players that are vying for those positions," said Davison. "They have to do a lot of practice, but it's also finding a coach that's willing to spend all that time with them on the court doing what they need to do. It's not just the on court things that need to be worked on it's your tactical and physical and mental training and all those other things that are necessary."
Despite the odds, Tomm said she won't give up on the dream of representing B.C. in her hometown.
"I only have a couple more years left but I've been training hard," said Tomm. "It's a lot of work, but... It's possible."
