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| This year's Opening Ceremonies.© |
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| This year's Opening Ceremonies.© |
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| This year's Opening Ceremonies.© |
This weekend, 18 youth athletes representing the sport of tennis, ages 8-13 have converged on the Olympic and Paralympic Games Candidate City of Chicago, Ill., as they vie for the opportunity to be crowned Rapid Rally champion. As the official youth skills competition of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), the U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition focuses on four fundamental sports: basketball, soccer, tennis and track & field.
The USTA Rapid Rally Skills portion of the USOC Jr. Olympic Skills competition lets you compete against yourself and the clock to hit a low compression tennis ball against a wall (above the Net Line) and stand behind the Rally Line (15 feet from wall) as many times as possible in 30 seconds. Once you hit your serve, this begins the clock as you continue to Rally the ball against the wall and above the Net Line.
The Rapid Rally tennis participants are broken down into boys and girls divisions with three different age groups. In the 8-9 year old boys division, Case Tolliver (Bluefield, W.V.), Dylan Young (Huntsville, Ala.) and Saisiddarth Domala (San Ramon, Calif.) will be hitting the court. The 8-9 girls group will see Carissa Pompa (Rochester, N.Y.), Madelyn Anderson (Thompson, N.D.) and Savanna Christensen (Laie, Hawaii).
The second Rapid Rally division will feature students ages 10-11. The boys division will feature Kyle Chisu Edwards (Morristown, N.J.), Vincent Rettke (Madison, Ala.) and Monroe Porter (Parker, Colo.), while the girls will feature Nicole Gabe (Princeton, W.V.), Erin Young (Huntsville, Ala.) and Jasmine Smith (Landers, Calif.).
The final Rapid Rally participants are in the 12-13 year-old division. The boys will include Marco Amendola (Cumberland, R.I.), Ryan Fedewa (Spring Lake, Mich.) and
Zachary Frampton (Laie, Hawaii). The girls will see Abigail Muesse (Winder, Ga.), Katie Stanage (Hot Springs Village, Ark.) and Rachel Christensen (Laie, Hawaii).
Overall Seventy-two athletes ages 8-13 will compete in four fundamental sports -- basketball, soccer, tennis and track & field -- for the opportunity to be crowned champions of their sport. The athletes competing in Chicago qualified to do so by winning their age and gender category at one of 150 regional events stemming from 7,500 local qualifying events across the country. They represent the event's top 72 young athletes across the country out of more than 1.7 million competitors.
"With the assistance of our sponsors and extensive community network, the U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills program is an avenue for youth to follow their dreams, stay physically active, build confidence and character, embrace the Olympic Movement and hopefully evolve into our next Olympians," said USOC Chief Executive Officer Jim Scherr.
Maritza Correia, two-time world champion, 11-time NCAA champion, 2004 Olympian and the first African-American woman to capture an Olympic swimming medal, will serve as athlete ambassador for the event. Correia will appear at the Opening Ceremony on July 24 at Soldier Field to share her story and inspire the competitors.
Now in its third year, the U.S. Jr. Olympic Skills competition, with the help of sponsors Kellogg's Frosted Flakes ®, AT&T, World Sport Chicago, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), McDonald's and Nike, introduces America's youth to the excitement of a multi-sport competition, encouraging participation in Olympic sport, emphasizing fair and friendly play, and promoting an active lifestyle.