Mid-Atlantic

Summer of Tennis Well Spent for Juniors

September 22, 2020

This summer was anything but normal. Youth tennis players in the Mid-Atlantic embraced the unusual and got active in a new way. They stayed connected to friends, teammates, and tennis, by participating in the #ServeItForward Junior Team Summer Community Challenge. 


The Challenge involved participating in a multitude of activities for a chance to win big. Registered participants were in a points race for a chance to win nearly $3,500 worth of prizes. Players earned points for playing tennis with friends, taking lessons, and giving back to the community in service projects. Not to mention, each player that participated was entered into a random drawing for a brand new Slinger bag, courtesy of our partner Slinger.

This fun, exciting, and engaging two-month adventure was open to all level players in the Mid-Atlantic. There were four divisions: 18U, 14U, 12U, and 10U/8U with four to six players on each team. Even with small teams, each group accomplished more this summer than they imagined. 

 

“We didn’t know what summer tennis was going to look like this year,” said Todd K., a team lead in Blacksburg Va. who helped guide 16 players through this challenge. “But with the Junior Team Community Summer Challenge, it enabled kids from the town to get together and play tennis on their own terms. Plus, throw in a little competition and some prizes and it made it that much more exciting,” he said. 

 

Now that the challenge has wrapped up, it is impressive to see what all the youth players accomplished in this inaugural program in a short period of time.  

We are excited to share some highlights from the 2020 #ServeItForward Junior Team Summer Community Challenge:

  •  There were 13 teams that participated:

    • Two 12U teams, 

    • Three 14U teams, 

    • Eight 18U teams

  • The total number of participants was 36:

    • 12U had 10 players

    • 14U had 6 players

    • 18U had 20 players

  • Players spent 632 hours on the tennis court.

  • Players completed 318 hours of community outreach/service. 

  • Among the 36 participants, there was a total of 256 hours spent taking tennis lessons at local clubs in the Mid-Atlantic to support local tennis infrastructure. 

  • There were 84 hours spent volunteering off the courts.

Read below to find out who the winners of each category are:

Team Community Champion: 18U Althea Gibson's JTCC

Overall Team Points Race Champions:

- 18U Blacksburg Wolverines

- 14U Swapnas Team

- 12U NOVA Stars

Overall Team Points Finalist: 

- 18U Blacksburg Wildcats

Individual Points Race - community: Sophie Harr

Individual Points Race Finalists- community:

- Sreyan Cheemakurthi

- Brandon & David Cho

Above and Beyond Community Engagement:

- Sammy Xiang

- Navia Vohra

- Neal Klemba

Effort off the Court - Community Engagement:

- Simryn Musante

- Raya Freeborn

- Connor Rogers

Individual Tennis Champion: Sammy Xiang

Individual Tennis Champion Runner-up: Meghna Krishnavarapu

Slinger Bag Random Winner: Raya Freeborn

 

Congratulations to all participants of the #ServeItForward Junior Team Summer Community Challenge, and thank you for continuing to spread the love of tennis.


To catch a glimpse of what the Junior Team Summer Community Challenge looked like around the Section, click here. And make sure to follow us on our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to catch up on all things tennis in the Mid-Atlantic.

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