Three seasons in, the Valley Stream District badminton program has already built a championship tradition.
The boys’ team captured its second straight Conference II title this fall, finishing 13-1 in the regular season and edging Long Beach by one game in the standings. The achievement came after the program graduated 13 seniors from last year’s team.
Coach Kerri Guzzardo, who also guided the girls’ team to a conference title last spring, credited the players’ appetite for the sport and their willingness to keep improving. Beyond regular practices, they attended clinics, offseason tournaments, and open recreation sessions.
“They just can't get enough of it,” Guzzardo said. “It's awesome.”
The commitment has helped District develop a close-knit group, she said, with players of different grades encouraging one another and setting goals after practices and matches.
District’s only regular-season loss came Sept. 23, when Long Beach prevailed in the first meeting between the teams 5-2. They met again Oct. 8 in District’s final home regular-season match, with the conference title at stake. District responded with a 6-1 victory, securing the championship outright.
Guzzardo said the first meeting sharpened the team’s focus, as several matches had gone the full three sets and were separated by only a few points.
“Losing that one, I think, really helped light a little fire,” she said. “We needed to keep working hard and keep improving ourselves.”
District’s three singles players of juniors Abdullah Atiq and Muhammad Shayan and senior Abed Dihan all won their matches, with the latter two rallying after dropping the opening games in second and third singles, respectively. District also won the second (Awais Anees and Alexander Mazalkov), third (Karim Ebid and Sahil Singh), and fourth (Yash Jena and Sadid Parvez) doubles matches.
In the Manhasset playoff, Shayan and Dihan again won in straight games, and District’s first (Jonathan Tsui and Neivaan Jena), second and third doubles secured victories.
Neivaan Jena, a freshman, filled in admirably for senior Calvin Lee, who fractured his foot during the second Long Beach match. Lee finished 7-5 in doubles competition.
“Calvin kept supporting him and helping him and coaching him during practice,” Guzzardo said. “He really gave him the confidence that once he was in the playoffs, he started saying, ‘Wait a second, I can do this.’ And he and Jonathan really did a good job supporting each other.”
District carried that momentum into the playoffs as the ninth seed, defeating No. 8 Manhasset, 5-2, on Oct. 16. Dihan again won in third singles to improve to 15-0, and junior co-captains Atiq and Shayan were also victorious to move to 13-2 at first and second singles, respectively.
The second, third, and fourth doubles pairs also won. Juniors Anees and Mazalkov pushed their winning streak to seven games and improved to 9-4 overall, the same mark posted by junior Ebid and freshman Singh. Senior Yash Jena and Parvez pushed their record to 8-5.
Ten players earned All-Conference recognition, while Atiq received All-County honorable mention after winning two matches during Saturday’s All-County tournament.
Regardless of the postseason outcome, the program will move to Conference I next season, bringing tougher competition and a new challenge for a team returning much of its lineup. Only five seniors are expected to graduate this time, leaving District with a strong returning core as it looks to extend its fast start.
