After a successful 2024 season, with four of the team’s players qualifying to play at the prestigious 2024 NorCal Championships and two bringing home the doubles title, the badminton team is opening a new chapter this season under new head coach Brian Liao.
Liao began playing badminton as a child in Taiwan. Later he immigrated to Los Angeles, where he attended Alhambra High and continued playing the sport as a freshman. After high school, Liao attended Pasadena City College for two years before transferring to UC Irvine to major in computer science. Throughout college, Liao played recreational badminton, often watching other skilled players and working on his own skills.
Liao never trained with a private coach, as many local competitive players do; instead, most of his training stems from participating on the high school team, self-studying online and playing alongside stronger players at badminton clubs or in local tournaments.
“I, at one period of time, was working for a badminton club where I spent a lot of time and was playing there during my college years,” Liao said. “This was the time where I experienced hyper-growth in my skills and understanding of badminton. Since I worked at the club, I also had the opportunities to watch professional coaches train their students and I picked those up along the way as well.”
Liao started as an assistant badminton coach at the Silicon Valley Polytechnic Institute in 2002, where he helped coach a team of 25 high school students. He set training schedules to teach badminton techniques and was also responsible for game plans.
Although he found himself more nervous coaching than playing, it was there that he first found his love for coaching students and sharing his athletic experiences.
Outside of badminton, Liao has been working for a cloud platform and digital experiences company named Acquia. He has been its director of cloud operations for the past five years. Although he frequently leaves work later in the day, he still tries to go out to his local court to play badminton once a week.
This habit is how Liao met and played against the school’s past badminton and girls’ volleyball coach, Thomas Ching. Although Ching unexpectedly left to coach Lynbrook’s badminton team, he sent Saratoga High a referral for Liao, who wanted to work with the Falcons despite his busy work schedule.
“I decided to take the job because SHS has a competitive and strong team and students showed immense interest in becoming better,” Liao said.
Since the beginning of the school year, the players have already grown accustomed to Liao’s training style and his personality. Sophomore Anya Taneja appreciates all the time and effort Liao dedicates toward having players focus on drills.
“My experience with Coach Brian this year has been really positive,” Taneja said. “He is always encouraging gametime drills during practice, which really helps prepare us, and he is motivating, encouraging and funny.”
As Liao settles into the season, he is pleased with the players’ commitment and dedication to becoming stronger. With his eye on stellar players, Liao is already setting ambitious goals for the upcoming season.
“We are aiming for league champion this year because we have a really strong badminton team and I’d like to get us there. So far, working with the team, faculty, and parents have all been very pleasant,” Liao said.
