The March 7 badminton conference tournament was a rousing success, featuring teams from Skyline, De Anza, Mission, Fresno and Pasadena colleges.

It was the first game this season for the Skyline women’s badminton team. Jan Fosberg, head women’s badminton coach and professor of kinesiology, described the tournament as a nice transition into the season.

This year, the team has only two returning players and is currently training the new team members for their matches.

“We take an individual sport and we use those as points to win a team match,” assistant coach Jon Lee said. “We just hope the girls get better at the end of the year and do well in the state finals in May.”

At most of their practices when preparing for upcoming matches, their techniques never change. Each team member works on strategies, footwork and conditioning in order to prepare for the impending game.

The team does not have a particular pregame ritual, instead they stretch as a group for at least ten minutes, and do warm ups.

Coach Fosberg emphasizes a healthy diet for the players, which involves lots of simple carbohydrates and staying hydrated during matches.

The conference was a scrimmage tournament, which meant no score was kept. In badminton, everybody plays and typically plays two single and two double matches.

“Our goal is to always qualify as many players as possible to the state championships, which occur in May,” Fosberg said.

This opportunity would be considered a great achievement. If any of the Skyline badminton players qualify, they will be among the top 24 players in the state. Above all, the main goal is to be great in the individual games.

Update: a photo was added to the article. 11:44 a.m. 3/13/2015