May 19, 2009
JTT State Championships; ATA's 18's Advanced Team Takes State Title
Junior Team Tennis (JTT) connects kids ages 6-18 in teams to play singles, doubles and mixed doubles against other teams within a league. The program fosters a spirit of collaboration and team support that leads to individual improvement, all in a fun and competitive environment. This past weekend marked the State Championships for the Junior Team Tennis season, held and the John Newcomb Tennis Ranch (Newks). Austin Tennis Academy entered three teams.
The 18's Dream Team went undefeated for the entire weekend to take the state title for the first time for ATA. They earn a return trip to Mobile, Alabama to compete in Nationals in October where they finished 3rd last year. Last year's team also finished 3rd in Texas, but got invited to Nationals because the top 2 finishers in Texas couldn't go. The team members were Charlie Shin, Josh Hagar, Conor O'Rourke, Aaron Chaffee, Claire Cahill, Kate Cahill and Morgan Barnhill. All team members other than Aaron are experienced veterans of state and/or national JTT. Claire won the sportsmanship award for the entire 18's Advanced division. Coach Kendall Brooks organized and coached this team.
"Our team played very well this weekend," Coach Brooks said. "We went with the mission of getting back to Nationals, and the kids made sure this would happen."
The 14's Dream Team (nicknamed the Mini Dream Team) competed extremely well throughout the weekend finishing tied for 1st in their round robin. Unfortunately, the tie breaking procedures left them as the 3rd place team in their group (the other 2 teams that they were tied with ended up 2nd and 5th). ATA finished in 6th place.
“The very young and inexperienced team represented ATA with pride and class,” Coach Notis said. “They will be a force to be reckoned with in years to come.”
Team members: Breck Spencer, Payton Holden, Ben Smith, Conor O'Meara, Matthew Milliken, Meghan O'Malley, Allie Carlisle and Remi Immler. Brian Notis coached this team.
The 18's Intermediate team won 4 dual matches on Saturday to win their group. They then ran into a very strong team in the semi-finals. ATA lost but then rebounded to win the 3rd place match. Leddy, Seward and Howell each went undefeated over the weekend. Team members: Jaxon Immler, James Seward, Daniel Howell, Liam Leddy, Mikaela Pope, Adrienne Zwiener, Briana Fisher. Coach John led this team.
“I was very proud to be the coach of such great competitors,” Coach John said. “They left it all on the court, and that is what makes champions.”
ATA had a total of 9 teams and over 70 players participate in JTT this season in various levels (Quickstart, Rec, Intermediate and Advanced). Fall JTT season will begin in early September. Don't miss out on the fun. Sign up in August!
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