On the path toward his respectable showing in the School Sport Alberta badminton provincials, Gavin Pratt of Kitscoty gained an even greater appreciation of the calibre of the best high school players in the province.
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Best known locally as an up-and-coming hockey player with the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers, the 16-year-old Pratt showed his multi-sport abilities again this spring. He not only qualified for badminton provincials, last weekend in Red Deer, but earned a silver medal in the intermediate boys’ B pool.
“It was very good,” said Pratt, a Grade 11 student at Kitscoty High School. “It was kind of crazy, the amount of competition. Just from comparing the A side to the
B side, it was very impressive.
“You can tell who plays badminton all year round and who doesn’t. Like, the A side (finalists), every single one of them, I’d say their main sport is badminton and it’s kind of all they focus on.”
Pratt recognized that reality first-hand in losing to the overall provincial gold-medallist — Owen Wang of Calgary’s Sir Winston Churchill High School — in their opening-day match.
Pratt posted a 3-3 record in the two-day tournament. He found his groove and won three of his final four matches to finish strongly and bring a medal back home to the Northeast zone.
Busy with his hockey training and spring camps with U18 AAA and junior A hockey teams, Pratt still managed to keep badminton on his school calendar and punch his ticket to provincials for a second straight year.
“Yeah, I’m just trying to represent and trying to catch up to dad (Scott),” Pratt said with a chuckle. “He got third overall (provincially) when he was young.”
Even at the zone championships in Lac La Biche two weeks ago, Gavin Pratt faced formidable competition, setting him up well for provincials.
“I had a very tight game in semifinals,” he said. “I think it was 26-24, 15-21, and then 22-20, was my (zone) semifinal game that I ended up winning. (My opponent) was from Fort McMurray. He was also very impressive.”
FLEWELL MAN FOR ALL SEASONS
Pratt and one of his hockey buddies, Lancers’ teammate Logan Flewell of E.H. Walter School in Paradise Valley, have become mainstays on the badminton court at the district, zone and provincial levels.
Flewell, graduating this year, had an 0-4 record at last weekend’s provincials, but he was competing in the ultra-competitive senior boys’ category.
“He was up against some good competition, too,” Pratt said about his friend Flewell. “They didn’t make it easy on him, that’s for sure.”
The sporting buddies were able to watch some of each other’s action during the weekend and represent their respective communities proudly.
“It’s awesome that we’re able to represent the small towns and the Lancers, too,” Pratt said. “It’s pretty special.”
Despite eventually losing, Pratt and Flewell each extended their final matches to a third set.
Between his hockey playoffs and school badminton provincials, Flewell also represented E.H. Walter as part of the Trojans’ basketball team, which again reached provincials this year.
Flewell just turned 18 this week.
A few weeks ago, Flewell and Pratt participated in the prospects camp for the Lloydminster Bobcats of the Alberta Junior Hockey League. Pratt also attended a spring camp for another AJHL team, the Fort McMurray Oil Barons, with whom he was affiliated during the 2025-26 season.
Pratt would welcome the opportunity to make his mark with his hometown Bobcats, who have invited him back to their spring camp in June.
“Wherever I go, I hope to crack a (junior A) roster somewhere,” said Pratt, an almost five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward who scored 15 goals and 27 points in 38 games with the Lancers this past season.
“If not, I’ll just come back and play U18 again and do well there, once more. I guess it all depends on what happens this summer and how much time I spend in the gym. I’m trying to put on some pounds and get the strength up right now.”
In a 20-week program, Pratt trains with like-minded hockey players at The Shop in Lloydminster under personal trainer Colin Nazarchuk.
“We have a good group in there,” said Pratt, whose training partners include Bobcats defenceman Brady Gamble.
VERMILION DUO ON THE PODIUM
Among the provincial badminton medallists from the Northeast zone were the junior boys’ doubles duo of Thad Molsberry and Jett Wight of St. Jerome in Vermilion. The pair fashioned a 3-3 record and earned third place in that division.
Molsberry and his older brother, Callum, play 18U AA baseball with the Lloydminster Prairie Pirates, set to begin a new season.
Elsewhere on the provincial badminton front, the Bonnyville Centralized duo of Maddi-Jo Irvine and Kurtney Tupper captured gold in intermediate girls’ doubles.
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