A new red banner in the front window at Green’s Hardware, in among the “Knife Sharpening” and “Propane” signs, heralds Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel and her coach, Jon Green—as in Green’s Hardware.

It reads:

“Congratulations

Molly Seidel

Bronze Medalist

Tokyo Olympics

Women’s Marathon

2:27:30

Coach Jonathan Green.”

 

 

Store owner Tom Green says he got the sign in the works shortly after Seidel won the bronze in just her third marathon (she’s now going to run the New York Marathon). Seidel was coached by Green’s son Jon, who like Seidel was an excellent college runner who once shared an NCAA cross country running podium with her before they’d met. They wound up meeting through a running club, where they trained together. When they left the club, Green started coaching Seidel.

If you frequent Green’s Hardware it’s quite possible you would have run across Jon, who has worked there in the past. And if you frequent the Wellesley High School track, it’s possible you would have run across Seidel, who served as an assistant cross country coach at WHS a few years back.

While the Green’s Hardware sign touts the accomplishments of both the marathon medalist and coach, Tom Green is quick to point out that Seidel is the one who deserves the credit. “She’s strong willed. She has quite an engine,” he said.

As for his son’s role, he said Jon and Seidel have “good chemistry.”

I messaged Seidel via Instagram about the banner. She quickly gave it a heart, and wrote: “I owe a solid 80% of the fame to the Greens alone!”

Jon Green says Wellesley itself gets “a fair bit” of credit, too. “We love to run in Wellesley,” he wrote. “This just means Wellesley better cheer extra hard when she does [the Boston Marathon] sometime in the future!”

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Special to The Swellesley Report by Jeffrey Li, a rising junior at Wellesley High School and a passionate badminton player.

The conclusion of the 29th Pan American Junior Badminton Championships earlier in July saw Wellesley’s own Maugus Club triumph in the under-seventeen age group.  Robert Shekhtman, a finalist in the men’s singles category, won his match in convincing fashion, besting his opponent 21-12 and 21-15 to bring home a gold medal.  Kai Chong and Annabel Zhang made a valiant effort in the mixed doubles finals, leaving the tournament with a silver.

Facing high-level junior players from across the Americas, their results were a testament to their hard work and talent, as well as the ability of the club’s coaching staff—formerly led by Shekhtman’s coach, Sasha Boyarin, and now top USA Badminton coach Andy Chong—to develop strong competitors.  Under the guidance of Chong, the United States also won the team championship, defeating Brazil 3-0.

 

 

But if the average Wellesleyan heard this local success story, they might be surprised that a badminton club even existed—despite some 200 members and a well-maintained, three-court facility—let alone that two of its players triumphed in such an esteemed competition.  This lack of awareness is indicative of the larger, unfortunate truth that badminton is an undervalued sport in America.

The immense popularity of tennis has sidelined other racket sports for a considerable amount of time, but 70 years ago, America experienced a golden age of badminton.  Between 1949 to 1967, the United States won a total of 23 championships, including the prestigious All-England title earned by David Freeman.  The establishment of clubs in YMCA’s and universities, along with celebrity participation, gained the sport significant popularity during this era.

Badminton nowadays is enjoyed abroad, particularly in Asia and Europe.  The arrival of the Olympics is always a special occasion for fans as they witness seasoned veterans and rising talents alike compete for a chance to bring back the gold.  Although no audiences are present in Tokyo this year, the intensity of competition remains high.

Watching any match, whether it features top contenders such as Japan’s Kento Momota, Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen, and Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu-ying, or athletes from home like Timothy Lam and Beiwen Zhang, is an opportunity to witness the speed and excitement of the game—a far cry from the leisurely backyard hobby that many consider it to be.

The process of renewing badminton’s popularity in America will require patience and the effort of dedicated supporters, and the first step is to raise awareness.  The Maugus Club is a local resource available to anyone with interest in the game, and although there are many strong players among its ranks, accommodation for a wide range of skill levels allows beginners to improve at their own pace.  From there, one might soon see an Olympic champion from Wellesley.

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Missy Segall dreamed of playing professional hockey as a Wellesley kid, but says “it wasn’t until this spring that I ever believed in it happening.”

The recent Hamilton College grad, who honed her skills early on through Wellesley Youth Hockey, was selected #15 in the recent National Women’s Hockey League draft by the Buffalo Beauts.

Segall was one of just 30 players drafted, and is the first from Wellesley to join the 6-year-old NWHL, according to the league, which includes a team in Boston called the Pride.

“Growing up there wasn’t a professional women’s league that I could have even dreamed of playing in, so it’s really cool to have that opportunity now, and to inspire kids that were just like me,” says Segall, who moves to Buffalo at the end of September to get ready for the season.

An experienced time manager as a student-athlete at The Rivers School and then at Hamilton, the math major will be balancing hockey and a day job in Buffalo.

She took skating lessons at Babson College as a kid, and hockey wasn’t far behind.

“I couldn’t wait for my first pair of hockey skates,” Segall says. “I watched my older brothers play hockey, and I couldn’t wait to play, too. I went through the Wellesley Youth Hockey in-house mites program and played in the boys program until peewees.”

Segall gives lots of credit to Julie Perry for creating the girls program in Wellesley, allowing Segall to play on Wellesley’s first U12 girls team. “I was so thankful that Coach Perry created such an amazing program. I have such great memories from games and tournaments. I can still remember running around the hotel at the Waterville Valley tournament and just having an absolute blast,” she says.

Segall has become a strong two-way player, developing skills as a center for the first time in college.

She’s had a chance to return to Wellesley this summer, and has been skating at Babson again to get ready for the upcoming professional season.

“It feels pretty cool to return to the place where it all started…” Segall says.

 

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The word “hero” gets tossed around generously these days, but it’s no overstatement to describe the actions of one fellow pickup basketball player this Sunday morning in Wellesley.

After the past days of rain, prospects of our over “X” basketball group getting in our regular Sunday morning game at the court at Ouellet Field looked shaky. But a break in the precipitation gave us hope, so a good number of players showed. This is not a group that gives up its game easily: I still remember the talk when I first connected with this crew about possibly having everyone chip in for a defibrillator.

After strapping on my ankle brace, I packed up my basketball, first aid supplies, and drinks, and limped over to my car this AM. I then circled back and grabbed a broom from the garage just in case we needed to brush away puddles.

“What’s that for, to show the other team you plan to sweep them?” asked Mrs. Swellesley, knowing me too well.

When I arrived at the court I was greeted not with the bouncing of basketballs, but rather the buzzing of a leaf blower. I thought nothing of it, given that this is one of Wellesley’s signature sounds, regardless of weather conditions or season.

This high-powered landscaping gear wasn’t being used to scatter leaves, however. One of our mates, exhibiting real American ingenuity on this July 4th, was doing his darnedest to dry off the court. It wasn’t lost on me that he paid special attention to those baseline spots from which he insists on hitting fall-away jumpers despite having my hand in his face.

 

I’ll refrain from identifying this upstanding citizen. As a true hero, he’d want no public credit. (Though Wellesley DPW, if you’re looking to recruit him, I can get you a number.)

Meanwhile, I never took my pitiful broom out of the car.

In the end, the combination of the leaf blower, time, and dry air let us get our games in. Pretty much injury free, too.

Happy July 4th!

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