Rotary exchange student Rebecca Vestergaard will have many memories of her time in Huntsville but she says winning the GBSSA badminton senior girls championships is definitely one of the bigger ones. She hopes to cap that off with another win at the OFSSA championships at Nipissing University in North Bay May 5 – 7.
She will join Tommy Giblin and Breena Shisko of Huntsville who will be playing in the mixed doubles at the North Bay tournament.
Rebecca is visiting from Hinnerup, Denmark. She is currently living with Will and Carol Gibson in Huntsville and has been attending Huntsville High school. It’s a year that she admits is more fun than serious work. “I’ve met so many great people and it’s cool that I’ve got to do so many school sports. We don’t have competitive sports in school at home, only phys. ed. so it’s been a fun year.”
Tommy Giblin & Brenna Shisko, moving on to provincial championship in mixed doubles
Rebecca has excelled this year in sports. She also qualified for the OFSAA Cross Country championships in Collingwood last fall and is now practicing for the school’s soccer team.
HHS badminton Coach Jennifer Cooper says Rebecca brought a great attitude to the badminton team.
She’s level headed, positive, easy to coach, lots of energy and has the ability to elevate her own game. The other players love having her on the team, especially in relax time when they get to share some of her Danish recorded music.
HHS badminton Coach Jennifer Cooper
Rebecca’s skill and appreciation for the game of badminton comes from her family experience. Her two siblings along with her father are avid players. She says her younger sister, 15-year-old Olivia, is an even better player than she is. “She plays at a higher competitive level at home and is pretty good, and we play from September to April in a badminton-club environment. I coach at the recreational level in our Club and really enjoy that.”
One of the adjustments Rebecca has had to make is the use of plastic shuttlecocks, rather than the feathered ones back home. And she has had to get used to wearing goggles which are used for safety purposes at Huntsville High School and aren’t in Denmark.
Getting to Ontario finals (OFSSA) was not an easy task. At the Muskoka Parry Sound qualifying tournament, Rebecca finished second and was one of only three from Huntsville High School who qualified for the Georgian Bay (GBSSA) tournament. She lost in straight sets to a rival from Bracebridge Muskoka Lakes High School, Kiersten Hillman.
At the GBSSA tournament at Georgian College in Barrie the two met again and this time Rebecca won the match in three sets to move on to OFSSA in North Bay at the beginning of May. Rebecca admits it was a really good feeling to come back and beat Kiersten when it counted.
Rebecca says she is excited and looks forward to the challenge of the provincial tournament and will take it one set at a time. “All the players there will be good and you kind of know what you can do as you go. You have to quickly figure out their strengths and weaknesses.”
Another medal at the rovincial level would mean another souvenir Rebecca can take home to remind her of her year-long adventure in Huntsville.
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