Mandy Ng

The People Across the Net

Friendship brought her into badminton. Competition gave her another reason to stay.

Mandy Ng started playing badminton because her friends were playing. Then she watched those same friends enter provincial tournaments and thought she’d like to try that, too.

It’s a familiar progression: first you want to be part of something. Then you discover how badly you want to get good at it.

There is a useful kind of competition in watching a friend succeed. You can be genuinely happy for them and still think, I would like to find out whether I could do that. Mandy’s friendships gave her both encouragement and a standard to chase. The people who made the sport enjoyable also helped make it serious.

She began with school tournaments, then followed that curiosity toward provincial competition. The commitment grew from something she was already enjoying, rather than from an obligation to turn every afternoon into a career plan.

Her badminton story began in 2015, training alongside childhood friends and initially competing in school tournaments. The friendships grew. So did the competitive appetite. Seeing people she cared about succeed made her want to work harder herself.

In 2018, during her final year of U19 junior competition, Mandy was selected to represent Alberta at Westerns. She made the province’s B team, and the group earned bronze. Being chosen meant something. Bringing home a medal together made it a memory worth keeping.

The timing added to its significance. It was her last junior season, and she had earned a chance to represent her province before that chapter closed. Selection to the B team did not diminish the pride. She had been picked, she could contribute, and the group finished with bronze.

Now a university team gives that competitive story somewhere new to continue. Qualifying for nationals is an ambitious target, but Mandy has already seen how a sport entered through friendship can carry her beyond the level where she started. She wants to keep finding out what is possible when she takes the next opportunity seriously.

Now the Calgary athlete enters her first year of collegiate eligibility with St. Mary’s, carrying a clear goal into the Lightning’s inaugural badminton season: qualify for nationals.

Friends and family remain the foundation. They cheer regardless of the result, giving her a steady place to return to when competition gets demanding.

That support gives her room to want a result without making the result carry everything. She can be competitive because she cares, and recover from disappointment because the people in her corner are still there. The next tournament remains an opportunity rather than a referendum on who she is.

Away from badminton, Mandy reads, does nails, and goes running. A marathon sits on her bucket list—a fairly ambitious definition of taking a break from one sport to try another.

Before matches, she listens to “gettin hot” by Knock2 and squeezes her squishies to work out the nerves. The preparation includes room for both energy and calm.

She began with friends on a school court. This year brings another team, another level, and another chance to discover how far that first decision can take her.