GWSC ‘Senior Badminton’ Teams take out ‘Twin’ STATE TITLES’ !!!!
Congratulations to our GWSC ‘Senior Girls’ and ‘Senior Boys’ Badminton Teams who were both victorious in the 2026 ‘School Sport Victoria’ Senior Badminton State Championships that were contested on Tuesday the 11th of August, 2026 in the Badminton Hall at MSAC Stadiums.
This was indeed a historic day for our #Glenny‘GOOD’minton crew, as we won our first ‘Senior Girls’ Badminton State Title in twelve years and also witnessed four core members of our ‘Senior Boys’ Badminton Team win their fifth straight ‘School Sport Victoria’ State Championship in succession. So, as you can see, it appears that this group of incredible young people are quite adept at not only making history but also re-writing it, with incredible feats such as these.
Our ‘Senior Girls’ Badminton Team have been tirelessly training together since the start of Term 1 this year, as they were determined to break the long-standing title drought experienced by our College in ‘Senior Girls’ Badminton State Championships. Over the past four years this group of talented young women have been so close to the ultimate success at States, but they have collectively fallen one step short on multiple occasions after narrowly losing in three heartbreaking State Finals. Enough was enough and the time was right to make things right, with a huge ‘STATE’ment that would allow us re-write our team’s story at States this time ‘round……
During the qualifying rounds our ‘Senior Girls’ swept past Grace Christian College Wodonga, Suzanne Cory High School and Sale College with convincing straight sets wins. A number of spectators commented that our girls were fearless on court and willing to attempt difficult shots that most others wouldn’t dare. They also impressed many on-lookers with their pure power, precision, placement and passion; demonstrating to all in attendance their sharp skills, superior shot selection, swift speed and shrewd strategies whilst sending the shuttle soaring. This resulted in our ‘Senior Girls’ qualifying for a cross-over Semi-Final against Reservoir High School, who had finished second overall in the opposite pool. Our Glenny Girls were in ‘flow’ and easily won their semi 6 rubbers to nil to move through to the State Grand Final. The victors of eight of the past eleven ‘SSV’ Senior Girls Badminton State Championships, The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School, would be our final opponent for the day…..
Both teams agreed that all four singles encounters would be played simultaneously, with matches to 21 points being contested side-by-side on the cushioned ‘PVC’ courts at MSAC. Some things are just meant to be, with all four of our singles players getting off to strong starts in each of their gripping contests. With the support of their team mates, student coaches and alumni coaches our ‘Senior Girls’ had genuine belief and trust in one another to get the job done. Before you could blink, the results started to filter back to the ‘SSV’ championships convenor, who soon after announced that our GWSC girls had won all four singles matches convincingly. Our ‘Senior Girls’ had done it, they had wrapped up the State Title without even playing a single point in the Doubles……It was so great to see Dorothy, Phuong-Nhi, Didi, Natalie, Saanvi and Esha come together as one and celebrate their break through State Championship victory alongside their student coach Kesar and alumni coaches Ellyce, Sarah and Adam.
Already holding onto an unassailable 4-0 lead, our ‘Senior Girls’ quickly turned their attention to playing the two remaining doubles match-ups, but it was quite difficult for them to focus as they were so excited about having already wrapped up the State Title. Both of our doubles pairings struggled to find their feet throughout the opening stages of both rubbers, but they did eventually get back into the #‘GOOD’minton groove and push their opponents all the way towards 21. Although we eventually went down in both doubles matches, our girls played extremely well and were unlucky not to walk away with at least one of these close contests. After shaking hands with their opponents and their coaches, along with the umpires, our GWSC ‘Senior Girls’ Team were overcome with joy and emotion as their amazing achievement finally dawned on them….they were the 2026 ‘School Sport Victoria’ Senior Girls Badminton STATE CHAMPIONS!!!! Kudos to you all, this is an incredible shared memory that you will all carry forward together for the rest of your lives, well done #Glenny‘GOOD’minton Girls…..
Over on the three rows of courts closest to the Badminton Hall exit, our GWSC ‘Senior Boys’ team were also getting themselves set to make another huge ‘STATE’ment at MSAC……For the qualifying rounds they were drawn in ‘The Pool of Death’, alongside select-entry sports school Maribyrnong Sports Academy and two schools from regional areas in Victoria where strong representative badminton programs exist, Greater Shepparton Secondary College and Warragul Regional College. During our pre-game briefings, many quotes (including random 90’s song lyrics) were used to get the boys up and about, ready set for the challenge at hand…….‘When the going gets tough, the tough get going’ fell fairly flat, as did ‘Winding roads with lots of bumps along the way are the most memorable’…..Eventually, we all agreed that the saying that summed up our situation best was…. ‘When others aspire to not only be like you, but to beat you, it means that you have set the standard. Although, it is only you that truly knows how much higher you can set that standard, therefore you have it within you to ensure others are continually chasing you’.
With that in the back of their minds, our ‘Senior Boys’ set about getting to work…..They respectfully taught the team from Greater Shepparton Secondary College why this GWSC side had won the past four ‘SSV’ State Titles with a clinical display of badminton. They then had a hard-fought match against their long-time rival Maribyrnong Sports Academy who pushed our boys in all four singles encounters and both doubles matches, securing a 4-2 victory. We then bounced back against Warragul Regional College with another straight sets win to progress through to a cross-over Semi-Final against Melbourne High School. Throughout the day it was evident that the Melbourne High School team felt quite fortunate to be on the opposite side of the draw to ‘The Pool of Death’, fully believing that their comfortable passage through to the Semi’s would leave them in good stead against a GWSC team who had three more challenging pool matches in comparison.
This reminded me of another inspirational quote that I shared with the team in the lead up to the Semi….. ‘The strongest steel is forged in the fiercest of fires’…..It seemed to resonate with the group, as a ‘steely’ resolve appeared to sweep through our players with the ferocity of a forest fire. As Paul Kelly suggested, quite simply the Melbourne High School team stood as much chance in this match ‘as a cinder in snow’! All four singles rubbers were won and done in quick succession, whilst another victory in the top ranked doubles secured our ‘Senior Boys’ a 5-1 win and another ‘SSV’ State Badminton Grand Final berth against Maribyrnong Sports Academy.
As the Grand Final was about to get underway, the Fire Alarm Management System at MSAC kicked into gear as one of the emergency fire doors had been activated. Whilst awaiting further instructions through the PA system, I asked our team to reflect on their outstanding accomplishments over the past four years at States. I suggested the title of Paul Kelly’s famous song, ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’, essentially captured this team’s journey since they first represented our college at State Badminton in Year 7. One of our Alumni Coaches, Ellyce, had a photo on her mobile of the boys receiving their first State Gold Medals way back in 2022. We urged them to draw upon their shared experiences from that moment in time onwards, recalling each and every occasion they had taken to the court side by side and got the job done, whilst remembering the many obstacles that they had overcome together on this incredible journey…..which is still a long way from being over might I add. You could see in the boys’ eyes how much this really meant to them, but more importantly how much they meant to one another. It was time to take to the courts and do what this GWSC ‘Senior Boys Badminton’ Team does best…..win another State Championship!
At the request of the opposing coach, we played the State Final on two courts which had been used by MSA for the majority of the day. As I said to our team right before the final, ‘Any team, any court, any time’…..Before you knew it, there were goose feathers all over the courts, as the shuttles had to be changed on so many occasions due to the power and speed at which they were being hit from both sides of the net. Points were played at a progressively slower pace throughout each of the four singles encounters, as combatants from both teams pushed each other to their absolute limits. At times it was difficult to follow the flight of the shuttles, as they were zipping through the air at such a rate that if you blinked you would miss tracking their trajectory over the net. Our GWSC ‘Senior Boys’ managed to snare three of the singles rubbers, only just going down in the other singles match. The situation was crystal clear, win one of the doubles rubbers and we would win our fifth State Title in a row!
After a small break following the singles, both sets of doubles combinations took to the courts for the final two rubbers of the 2026 ‘SSV’ Senior Boys Badminton State Championship. Both of our pairs started strongly, establishing early leads over their cross-court counterparts. Our top ranked doubles team then turned up the heat on the number one pair from Maribyrnong Sports Academy, playing some inspired badminton and attacking the net at all times to pressure their opponents into a number of errors. Before we knew it, they had multiple match and championship points….not that they needed them, as they secured the rubber at the first available opportunity. Our second doubles pairing then narrowly went down in their rubber, but they quickly rejoiced with their team mates when informed that they had already secured the required doubles rubber, locking in a 4-2 victory and a fifth successive ‘School Sport Victoria’ Badminton State Championship for this all-conquering team!
As per previous encounters, it was fantastic to see Yuhao, Jamie, Nicholas, Ashton, Jivi and Shresht, along with their student coach Ivan and alumni coaches Adam, Sarah and Ellyce; congratulate the MSA team on their performance in the State Final, whilst also thanking their coach and the umpires. Kudos to our GWSC ‘Senior Boys’ Badminton Team who are the 2026 ‘School Sport Victoria’ Senior Badminton State Champions, which is their fifth State Title in a row! What an amazing achievement from a dedicated and determined group of incredible young people.
Massive shout-out and thanks to our incredible student coaches, Kesar & Ivan, you both supported our dual State Championship winning sides so very well throughout the entire day of competition, as well as during our selection trials and training sessions throughout three terms.
A huge THANK-YOU to Ellyce, Adam & Sarah, our awesome Glenny Alumni Coaches, along with our Glenny ‘GOOD’minton team mascot, Pinkachu! Our badminton program at GWSC would not be where it is today without the ongoing encouragement, positivity and care that you all continue to provide and share with members of our terrific badminton teams!
Thanks also to Didi and Tara for kindly baking and sharing their delicious ‘Vanilla Victory Cake’ and ‘Badminton Brownies’ too, they were delicious as always and kept our energy levels up all day at MSAC!
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to thank our staff supervisors, Mrs Carla Gagliardi and Mr Mark Robinson, for once again guiding and supporting our ‘Senior Badminton’ players and student coaches during another successful season of ‘School Sport Victoria’ Badminton.
We look forward to following this incredible crop of representative badminton players into the future and wish them all continued enjoyment and success on their sporting journeys.
#Glenny‘GOOD’minton!