There will be a lot of birdies in the air in Sudbury February 3 and 4, and they will all be indoors.
Collège Boréal and Cambrian College are hosting the Ontario College Athletic Association (OCAA) East and West Regional Badminton Championships.
“This year, we are so excited to be co-hosting the regional championships for the first time, along with our friendly rivals, Cambrian College,” said Andréa Boyce, Varsity Sports and Fitness Centre Coordinator at Collège Boréal, in a press release.
“It is going to feature high-level badminton and we’re looking forward to putting on a great tournament and showcasing our city in the process.”
“It has only been three years since we reintroduced badminton as one of our varsity sports, so this is a great honour to co-host the Regionals along with Boréal,” said Tim Yu, Cambrian’s Manager of Athletics and the Athletics Centre.
“Having both campuses so close together will allow all the teams – East and West – to follow each other’s games and it should create a great atmosphere among the players and coaches.”
Ten teams will be competing. Boréal plays in the East Division and will be hosting the East Regional games, while Cambrian plays in the West Division and will be the venue for West Regional matches.
“Imagine if Boréal’s campus had been built on the other side of Notre Dame Avenue, we might be in the same division as Cambrian,” joked Boyce. “It’s great we’ll be able to root for each other in our respective divisions, but it’s also a crossover tournament so we may end up facing each other after all. It could be the Battle of the (Lasalle) Boulevard.”
(Divisions were not determined based solely on location).
Matches include men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.
Play begins Friday, Feb. 3 at 11 a.m. in both the Boréal and Cambrian gyms. Championship games will be held Saturday around 1 p.m.
The public is invited to attend or to follow along via livestream.
