2023-08-16

Badminton player enjoys NAIG experience

MILTON - Although his results on the badminton court were a bit disappointing to him, Kale Johnson, 17, really enjoyed the experience of competing at the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG) last month.

Johnson, competed in the boy's doubles, mixed doubles and singles events.

"I was kind of nervous to go, but I had a good time," he said. "The cultural side of it, and just being there, playing against many different athletes from across Canada and the United States was a good experience for sure."

Johnson's main event was the boy's doubles event, where he competed with a player from Indian Brook. They won all three of their round-robin games, but were ousted in the quarter-finals.

"I was a little disappointed, I think we were one of the best teams there, but we made some errors against the team from Ontario. I thought we would win a medal at least," he commented.

In the other divisions, mixed doubles and singles, he was unable to capture a victory, losing all six round-robin games.

"In singles, I'm not a singles player by far. In the mixed doubles, I thought we would win at least one," he said.

He said the best part was the cultural side of things and "meeting so many new people and getting to talk to the other players and see how they trained for NAIG. I played high school badminton for four years as well, and I was able to take to some people about their high school programs."

Another highlight was the opening ceremonies, he said. As the host team, they were the last ones to walk in to the arena at Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

"It was super loud and everyone was watching and we were able to look at them and at the crowd. It was a very cool moment," he said.

A 2023 graduate of Liverpool Regional High School, he will be taking a one-year course in precision machining at Kingstec in Kentville, followed by another year in their CNC machining course.