Going Green - Green Ball that is



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 is to help the next group of kids be even more successful.  A big step is giving them more opportunities to compete in full 2 set matches, which are very competitive.

I look forward to seeing how well these players do in the years.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Our trip to the U.S. Open Qualifiers

Image
Rhea Agrawal, Mia Corso, Mia Viasman      This past Thursday, we went on our annual team bus trip to the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to see some of the best tennis players in the world try to qualify for the U.S. Open.  It was round 2 of the Qualifiers.  We also got to see the top players in the world practicing – players like Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Janik Sinner, Coco Gauff, and Aryna Sabalenka, to name a few.      After every match and every practice, there were hordes of young kids with oversized tennis balls waiting for autographs.  It was exciting.  We bought U.S. Open Hoodies, U.S. Open T-shirts, U.S. Open Caps, U.S. Open Towels, and even U.S. Open Candles.        Every time we go down to the National Tennis Center, it gets bigger, and every time, it gets better.  We will miss the experience and the camaraderie. Rhea, Mia, and Mia are Senior tennis players at the Albany Academy.
Read more

Local Juniors go on the Road

Image
      This weekend many of our talented local junior tennis players went on the road to play in tournaments outside our area. Many traveled to Cornell to play the Level 5 Tournament there. Northern Region players filled the Boys 12 and Under draw. Aksel Kelling led the way. He got a bye in the first round and followed it up with a win over 6th seeded Devon Brougher and a win over Roger Sheng before losing to the top-seeded Prayush Malliah. "I love playing my friend Roger and the sportsmanship and respect we have for each other." (Aksel) Roger got there by winning his first round match 6-0, 6-0, and then beating another local player Roshan Pandya. Roshan went on to win his consolation round match with Braydon Yu. Then he got a walkover win due to personal circumstances. Antonio Banchs got a first-round bye and beat his second-round opponent - Braiden Powell, before losing to the 4th seed - Sawyer Goudreau. Aneesh Jakkamsetti started with a win over Ryan Liman but ran into seco
Read more

August Ten and Unders

Image
 Another day, another junior tournament.  This time it was the 10 & Unders, and there was a lot of great Orange Ball, and Green Ball tennis played. Antonio Boncordo showed that he is ready to step up from Orange Ball to Green Ball.  Antonio powered through the Orange Ball draw, barely losing a game.  He will also be playing the Yellow Ball WTN Banded Event.  Aiden Paul added to his trophy collection, too – he finished second. The Kelling twins kept up the winning family tradition in the Girl’s Green Ball Division.  Brooklyn came in first, and Kennedy came in second. A lot of exciting tennis was played in the Boy’s Green Ball Division.  Nathaniel Russaliah  beat out Shawn Mendonca in Group 1, and Ronith Arvind beat Andrew Liu in Group 2.  Ronith went on to win the Group 1/Group 2 playoff 4-1, 4-1.  The next Ten and Under tournament will be held on September 11th. editor@518tennis.com
Read more