518Tennis

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There was a lot of talent in this past weekend's Boys 12 and Under tennis tournament at SPORTIME Schenectady.  The event was won by Viraag Narang - a 6.29 UTR player.  Viraag teamed up with his brother Gurbaaz to win the doubles.  Gurbaaz is a 7.52 UTR player.  Guilderland High School's Rajeev Rai was the Boys 12 Singles runner-up.  There are over 6000 players ranked Nationally in the Boys 12's.  Gurbaaz is ranked 59th in the country, Rajeev is 171st and Viraag is 401st.  Evaan Mohan also played in the tournament.  Evaan is ranked 334th in the country. This past weekend was also Easter Bowl Weekend at Indian Wells.  Almost every great American tennis player has played in the Easter Bowl, including Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Tracy Austin, Andy Roddick, Robby Ginepri, and Sam Querrey, and current top American players: Coco Gauff, Taylor Fritz, Frances Tiafoe, John Isner, Ryan Harrison, Christina McHale, and S

 Dick Hoult passed away last week at the age of 84.  Many people remember Dick as the long-time tennis coach at Columbia High School.  He was the Coach during the Travis Boyd era. Travis is one of the few local high school tennis players to be crowned High School State Champion.  For a complete obituary - CLICK HERE

There are not a lot of highly competitive opportunities for our region's top Green Ball tournament players.  We host about 10 Green Ball tournaments a year and an Early Development Camp.  We do have an active Junior Team Tennis program, but if you look closely, you see that many of the matches are not competitive.  Players looking to compete in higher-level tournaments in the 12s and 14s did not have a match play program to prepare them for higher-level tournaments until now.  This weekend we played the first matches in the new Sportime Green Ball League.  The players get to play competitive matches – first to 2 sets, six games with ADS, and a tiebreaker for the third set.  Kennedy and Brooklyn Kelling both said, "It was challenging, and it was fun."   A competitive Green Ball Tournament program is the next step in building up tennis in the Northern Region.  Our current group of 12 and under players may be the most successful age group we have seen in the area.  The goal

 The Saratoga YMCA put together strong 12 and Under / 14 and Under Teams for the local Junior Team tennis league.  Both the Thunder (12's) and the Devils (14's) are undefeated.  Several kids play on both teams.  In addition to teams from the Saratoga YMCA, there are teams from Bethlehem Central Schools; Burnt Hills/Ballston Lake Schools, and Sportime Schenectady.  Junior Team Tennis is a great way to give kids the opportunity to play competitive tennis.  " I think this is a great way for the children to play tennis through winter. Some of them are playing for the first time and they are learning as they go. Some have taken lessons and the matches are helping them hone their skills through competitive play. I enjoyed watching them compete individually and as a team." (Amy Anderson - Captain of the Bethlehem Rally Cats)                    VIEW STANDINGS HERE                                       VIEW STANDINGS HERE

 I have been involved with junior tennis in the Northern Region for many years now.  I can only remember one time before when there were three Northern Region players in the top 100 nationally in their age group. There are currently three players in the top 100 in a single age group, and there are four players in the top 200. I don’t remember when four Northern Regional players were in the top 200, let alone four from the same age group – five if you include Ilaria Bitunova.  I doubt it has ever happened before.  We have a very talented group of players in the 12 and Unders, and the future of tennis looks bright for Northern Region tennis. For this article, I am including Ilaria Bitunova.  Although she lives in the New England Section, she trains, practices, and plays tournaments in this area. So why are there so many highly ranked players from this area in the 12’s?  They all enjoy competing! “I like competing a lot because you get to play against different levels of players

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 Dylan Davis is everywhere there is tennis.  He is on the Board of All Points Tennis (a local Community Tennis Association).  He captains several adult teams – both USTA and WTT.  He has also captained many Junior Team Tennis teams.  He has been Summer Junior Team Tennis Coordinator for several years.  He is Assistant Boys and Girls Tennis Coach at Bethlehem.  He is a Volunteer Assistant Coach for Union College.  He helps out every time the USTA has a Sectional event at Schenectady’s Central Park.  Dylan is also on the committee that reestablished the Capital District Pro League.  “I have just always loved tennis, and it’s been a huge part of who I am.  I first started volunteering by teaching tennis to my kid’s friends.  We’d go to the park, and I’d feed balls and play ten and under type games before ten and under was a structured USTA program.”  Dylan is also the USTA Eastern – Northern Region Volunteer of the Year. “I first knew Dylan as a captain. As a captain, his first interest

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We have a lot of good players in the Northern Region.  I will be highlighting all age groups.  Today I am focusing on the 16 and Unders.  A quick look at the Girl's rankings shows why the Northern Region is as strong or stronger than it has ever been.  Of the top 5 ranked girls in the 16s, three are ranked even higher in younger age groups.  Olivia Dartawan and Maggie Sohns have rankings in the 12 and Under Division and the 14 and Under Division, while Hope Brown is ranked in the 14 and Under Division.  They will be featured in future articles when I focus on those age groups.   The two other players on the list owe some of their success to each other.  First of all, they have trained together so many times in the past.  Secondly, they got some of their points playing together as a doubles team.  Juliette focused on her USTA ranking this year.  She opted to play tournaments instead of high school tennis.  Top-level tournaments are played Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday.  These

Several local teams went down to the USTA National Campus this weekend to play in the WTT National Qualifiers.  The National Campus is a great facility.  "Makes me proud to be a part of the USTA." (David Clay).  They also got to watch some high-level NCAA matches. The local highlight was the Senior 4.5 Division which was won by team Daxford.   Elly Barhydt's team - Gravity - lost only one match but finished 2nd to an undefeated team.   The other local teams that participated were: Supermann (Bill Mann - 3.0); Tri-City Racqueteers - (George Schlottner - 3.5); Saturday Night Sets (David Clay - 4.5); Mature Swingers (Wendy Goffin - Senior 3.5) and  Arnold (Rich Arnold - Super Senior 3.5)

  The 15-LOVE Tennis-A-Thon is being held at SPORTIME Schenectady: Saturday, April 2nd  (4:00 pm - 6:00 pm) Wednesday, April 6th  (4:00 pm-6:00 pm) Saturday, April 9th  (4:00 pm-6:00 pm) (Back-up Date for inclement weather) The Tennis-A-Thon is a fundraiser. Players get 50 serves, and people pledge money for every serve they hit in. I hope everyone will support their favorite 15-LOVE player.  You can pledge to a 15-LOVE player or you can have one of your team players serve and pledge to them.   Most people see 15-LOVE as a Tennis Program. What most people don't see is that 15-LOVE is so much more.   15-LOVE is also a Literacy Program. They have one-on-one literature activities, hands-on reading, writing activities, and reading aloud activities. They also have a Book Power Club, an after-school reading program for inner-city school students, and a Book Distribution program. 15-LOVE also does a two-day Book Giveaway - a Free book givea

 Almost all USTA tournaments – junior and adult – have entry limits.  Most of our local tournaments never approach the limits.  The exception is the higher-level junior tournaments where kids will travel for the points.  Despite that, many of our players run into entry limits when they travel to tournaments.  There are a few things you should know about the entry limits. The tournament director selects players into the tournaments.  You will not be charged at this time if you are not selected.  Do not withdraw because you were not selected unless you are no longer interested in playing the tournament due to injury, illness, or personal circumstances.  If you are on the alternate list and get selected, the card will automatically be charged.   THE SELECTION PROCESS  Most tournaments that have a selection process use top-down selection.  Level 7's – the lowest tournament level where the results count towards rankings – use a bottom-up selection process.  So what is the difference?  

 

 This year, for the first time, the Northern Region Junior Team Tennis League has an Orange Ball League AND a Green Ball League.  Now, we truly have a junior team tennis program for all levels of players.  Tennis needs programs for players at these levels.  It is important to introduce juniors to tennis at a young enough age – before they get involved with other sports. As we have expanded the opportunities for 10 & under players, we have seen more and more of our young players staying with the sport.  We have also seen more and more of our juniors qualifying for higher-level tournaments and rising higher and higher in the National Rankings.  Since we started the 10 & Under Tournament program, I have seen so many young tournament players continue playing junior tournaments after they age out of the 10s.  I have also seen the number of Northern Region players in the top 50 and top 100 of the Eastern Section grow every year since the program started.  With the expansion of th