The IHSA has over 40 activities, from football to chess, with state tournaments. Despite its relatively new entrance into Warren sports (2016-2017 being the first recorded season), Badminton was one of the first sanctioned sports for girls in the state. 

Head coach Brett Heimstead runs the Warren program, and has created a competitive team that attracts many girls to tryout every year. 

Tryouts have already begun, and while we don’t know what the rosters will look like, we do know that varsity spots are coveted and must be earned. Badminton has a unique way to fill out rankings: move-up days. “You play a bunch of short games, and then you move courts depending on whether you won or lost.” Junior Lucylar Chen shared. “They’re really stressful.”

But diamonds form under pressure, and so will the Blue Devils as long as they follow Coach Heimstead’s recipe for success: “We want the girls pushing each other in practice and trying to be the best they can become,” He also notes that a good badminton player is determined to get better and makes the most out of every opportunity, win or loss. 

The Warren Lady Blue Devils are a successful team, medaling at almost every tournament they attend. But this year, they have their sights set higher:  “One of my goals this season is to try to make it to state probably in doubles,” “My goal is to qualify for state,” “…Push towards a return to the state tournament,” 

And this should not be a tall task for the Blue Devils. State doubles qualifier, Senior Sarah Oh, is returning this season, as well as Senior Madi Venisnik who was a game away from the state tournament last year. In order to reach this goal, the girls will have to put in the work, using every opportunity to improve and learn from their experiences. 

Junior Pilar Hill is a 3 year varsity athlete for the badminton team. A hard worker and talented athlete, Hill is looking to uphold the legacy her sister, a now freshman in college, left behind.  “She was a really influential team captain, probably one of the best ones we’ve had in the program since the program started. She really took on that leadership role and helped keep the whole team together,” Team togetherness is a staple of badminton, and team bonding is one of the main things that the girls look forward to.

Warren Township’s Lady Blue Devil badminton team competes in one of the most competitive conferences for the sport in the state of Illinois. Stevenson, Lake Forest, and Libertyville all make state appearances regularly.

  Their conference run started on March 20th. This was a tough match-up as they faced the reigning state runner-ups, the Adlai E. Stevenson Patriots. While Stevenson swept the field, the girls still put up a fight and were able to use it as a learning experience. 

The following day, the Blue Devils competed in a Varsity tournament at Buffalo Grove. The girls earned a 3rd place team finish with 8 medals earned. Singles #2, Sarah Oh; and the #4 doubles duo of Disha Dayalan and Francesca Carlos all won first in their division. Madeline Venisnik, singles #1, earned a second place medal. Finally, singles #3, Annalyse Bryant, singles #4 Angelica Walton, and Doubles #3 Hayden Martina Onal and Nena Cagalitan all finished third. 

The Blue devils looked to carry this momentum into the next day where first-year players competed in a tournament at Maine East.

The ladies’ season picked back up on Wednesday, April 2nd where they faced off against Vernon Hills and Rolling Meadows. This included competing against senior Neha Kulkarni of Vernon Hills, who is ranked 7th in the state this year, and was top 8 in 2024; and senior Haasini Vidapalapati of Rolling Meadows, who was ranked top 48 in Illinois in 2024, and is an honorable mention on the 2025 IABC Highschool Badminton Rankings. Varsity beat Rolling Meadows 5 matches to 3, with 3 doubles wins and 2 singles wins. However, varsity lost to Vernon Hills by the score of 3 matches to 5. JV had a dominant win over Rolling Meadows, winning 6-2, including winning all four singles matches in two sets or less.

The following day, April 3rd, the girls traveled to Lake Forest to face off against the scouts. The devils won easily by the score of 13-5 on Varsity, 12-6 on JV, and 12-6 on JV 2.

These girls have a great season ahead of them, so if you’re looking to get in on the action, you can always check the athletic calendar on the D121 website to find out when and where to cheer on the Blue Devils!