Get ready and rally!

The gym starts to fill itself with players, dividing the courts with every position.

The battle to outwit their opponent begins.

Everyone’s on their feet — the repeated motion of feet constantly bouncing back and forth. The opponent makes a move. The serve. It could be used to their advantage — a weapon. They hold the birdie and let it drop slightly in front of them. Whoosh.

Sweat drizzles down her face as she prepares herself for a swing back to the birdie. She smashes it with maximum power and it strikes the floor. She scores.

From freshman to senior year, Tosha Monroe has played badminton, and not a day goes by when she does not try her hardest to rank towards the top. Monroe enjoys the position of first double and does her best to make it into sections. Monroe plans to continue to play as she makes her way to college. She says, “One day I plan to come back and play in the alumni tournaments.”

The tradition of alumni tournaments have been apart of badminton for years, where past players come back to the courts to teach the next generation. Monroe would like to be apart of that tradition with her sister.

Kacie Monroe, her sister, has been Tosha’s partner since they began playing.

Monroe says, “she’s not only my sister — she’s like my best friend.”

After playing for years, badminton has changed for Tosha. “We as a team have become one. Usually you don’t say ‘Hi’, you just walk by,” Monroe says, “but because we’ve become a family we say ‘Hi’ and more.”

Although simple gestures like “Hi” are being made to one another, they do more than just that. Both sisters have interacted with the team they now call a second family and hang out together at lunch.

The Monroes not only play badminton, but volleyball as well. They have played volleyball since the sixth grade all the way to their senior year.

But there is more to Monroe than just sports. Her love for animals drives her passion to be a zoologist. This career would allow Monroe to interact with her favorite animals: elephants and tigers.

The youngest of her siblings, she craved the school life that her siblings had, but was not yet old enough to attend.

However, her grandmother held her sister Kacie back, so they could attend school together.

They’ve been together for a long time; not just as sisters, but friends.

“We’re always together,” said Tosha, “and you will always see us together.”