By: Ginnie Lo
Competing in the 2024 Olympic Games for badminton has always been a dream for Junior Katelin Ngo. She hopes to pursue a future playing badminton competitively, Ngo added.
She trains six days a week and at least two hours a day, Ngo said. She practices at Bay Badminton Center in Milpitas and goes to their other location in South San Francisco for more training every weekend, Ngo continued.
“[I practice in South San Francisco] every Friday evening, and then I stay there until Sunday,” Ngo stated. “I stay over at my friend’s place who trains [there] too. Then, I train at Milpitas for the rest of the weekdays and play at a special class from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.. The special class is all games and matches.”
Her mother introduced her to badminton when she was eight years old, Ngo said. It has been six years since she first played in junior tournaments, she added.
“I think [badminton’s] the thing that truly makes me happy,” Ngo stated. “There are times where I feel really disappointed because when you’re so passionate about it, you’re going to have low points. But when I continue to play, I still feel like I love [badminton] a lot.”
Ngo sometimes skips school to attend tournaments that are out of state. Her competitions take place all over the country, she continued.
“[I skip school] only for tournaments because my parents are really picky about that,” Ngo said. “Even then, they want me to limit how many [games] I play out of state that I need to skip school. [My parents] mostly support [my games] as long as I go to college.”
Currently, she is training for the World Junior Championships that will take place in November, in Canada, Ngo stated. Junior tournaments are held for players under 19 years old and are divided into six different age groups, Ngo continued.
“[Badminton’s] basically my life,” Ngo said. “It controls everything I do. It made me who I am.”
