CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Sam Lawther is heading back to the Canada Games but with a different racquet this time around.
The 21-year-old Stratford native is a member of Team P.E.I.’s badminton squad after competing in squash at the 2015 Games in Prince George, B.C.
She played badminton recreationally in high school but transitioned full-time to badminton after starting at the University of King’s College in Halifax three years ago.
“Our team has been training hard. We’ve been playing every night this week and we’re ready to go,” Lawther said Saturday at the Charlottetown Airport.
The team departed for Red Deer, Alta., early Saturday afternoon. Week 2 also includes alpine skiing, archery, cross-country skiing, curling, girls’ hockey, judo, snowboard and squash.
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“It’s really exciting,” Lawther said. “We’ve had quite the build-up in terms of watching the Week 1 athletes go.”
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Lawther was recently named the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) female MVP after winning 41 of her 42 matches this season and helping the Blue Devils to the conference championship last weekend.
She said playing strong competition has helped her prepare for the Canada Games.
“We’re really lucky, I think, in Atlantic Canada to be able to have so many volunteers and people running good Atlantic tournaments because we have such opportunities to play badminton,” she said.
Lawther is concentrating on performing well at the Games in Red Deer but will also be taking in other sports, including squash where Liv Phillips is back from 2015 as are coach John Power and manager Shara Cody.
“The badminton team actually doesn't play tomorrow, but the squash team starts, so I’m going to be right there cheering them on,” Lawther said.
Badminton and squash will both be played at the Gary W. Harris Canada Games Centre.
“It’s ideal. Same week, same facilities. It’s going to be really cool.”
Lawther, who was named the ACAA athlete of the week on Tuesday, will only be home for two days after the Canada Games before she heads to Bible Hill, N.S., to compete in her third Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association championship.