PCHS Girls Win Provincial Gold

Dwayne Shepherd, coach and teacher, at Parkland Composite High School in Edson, has proudly coached Madi Kazakoff and Hailee Johnston in girls’ senior badminton for the last few years.

In 2023, despite worries over wildfire evacuations back home in Edson, the girls bravely focused and won bronze at provincials in Lloydminister. The girls continued on to semi-finals the next year but were unable to push through to provincials. It was a different story in 2025.

Shepherd commented, “I saw a level of play from them that I had not seen before. It was accompanied by a conviction that this was their year. They were very dedicated at practice and while they still had fun, I could see a calculated approach - a higher level of willingness to perfect their skills  - and more, a resolve to leave it all on the court.”

The girls’ commitment paid off as they won the Conference  Tournament and advanced to Zones in Edmonton. They won zones, and were off to Provincials in Red Deer on May 2nd and 3rd. After a lot of hard work and perseverance, they advanced to the gold medal match and became this year’s Senior Girls Doubles Provincial Champions!

Coach Shepherd is proud to brag that the girls not only brought home the gold this year, but they had won the first ever gold medal in senior badminton in Parkland’s history - now that is something ‘doubly’ awesome to brag about!