Junior Competition News: August 2022

SAVE THE DATES

JUNIOR TOURNAMENT PARENT WEBINAR SERIES

New to the junior tournament landscape? Have questions about some of the Midwest and National tournament policies? Unsure about how to approach the college recruiting process for your child? Then be sure to save the dates below for our Junior Tournament Webinar Series this fall! We will cover all things USTA junior tournament competition over the course of three webinars. Registration links will be coming soon, so keep an eye out for information in the next newsletter and in your inboxes.

10U Play & Getting Started in Tournaments
September 28, 12-1 pm EST

An In-Depth Look at USTA Midwest Junior Tournaments
October 19, 12-1 pm EST

Junior Tournaments & College Tennis Recruiting
October 26, 12-1 pm EST

GRANTS & SCHOLARSHIPS

APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

You could become the recipient of a Midwest grant or scholarship! Our next wave of funding will be awarded this fall. The USTA Midwest along with its foundation offers a variety of grants and scholarships to help players continue their advancements in tennis. For example, our Diversity Grant offers up to $1,000 to assist those within diverse communities pursue their tennis-related interests. We also have the Anne Krupp Memorial Scholarship for players looking to participate in the Special Olympics and/or adaptive and/or wheelchair tennis. View these opportunities and more at usta.com/midwest/grants. September 15 is the deadline to apply.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDATION

As a parent, there is so much you wish for your child, but none is so important for them as being the “best they can be.” In sports, this may show itself as good sportsmanship, gained leadership or becoming MVP of a team. When we talk about high-performance players, there are hours of work involved through practice, hard work, intensive coaching and talent. What is also involved is money and it never hurts to have some financial assistance.

This is where the USTA/Midwest Tennis & Education Foundation steps in.

Part of USTA/MTEF’s mission is to enhance the lives of youth while making tennis accessible to everyone by providing funding in the form of grants and scholarships. Several past recipients have gone on to achieve National rankings: Lauren Davis, Emina Bektas, Caroline Dolehide, Caty McNally and Rajeev Ram.

If you’re a parent or know a child who could benefit from financial assistance, please visit the USTA/MTEF grants and scholarships page. Similarly, if you would like to make a monetary contribution to the USTA/MTEF to assist in its effort of providing financial support to junior players, please donate here.

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

SHARE YOUR LOVE FOR TENNIS, AND BECOME A VOLUNTEER!

If you’re looking for a fun and rewarding way to give back to junior competition, consider becoming a volunteer! The USTA Midwest is a volunteer-driven organization with various committees and taskforces working closely with staff to provide support and resources to junior programs and initiatives.

Consider applying for our Junior Competition Committee. Committee goals include growing participation in the youth tournament pathway by focusing on education and financial barriers as well as the formation of a working group to address sanctions and scheduling of junior competition events.

Apply for a committee here.

PLAYER NEWS

JUNIOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

This summer, the USTA Junior Level 1 National Championships took place. These are some of the year’s biggest competitions for junior athletes! We had several Midwest players place in the top three at both National Clay Courts and the National Hard Courts. They certainly put on a show with some of them competing in their home state and landing a lot of press; we also had several players make history… Read on for more details.

National Clay Courts

• B18 Doubles Gold Ball: Nikita Filin (Midwest) and Alexander Razeghi (Texas)
• G18 Doubles Silver Ball: Maddy Zampardo (Midwest) and Vivian Miller (Southern)
• B14 Singles Bronze Ball: Jack Secord (Midwest)

National Hard Courts

• G18 Singles Gold Ball: Eleana Yu (Midwest) receives a wildcard into the US Open and a special shoutout from tennis legend, Billie Jean King! Some of her matches also appeared on CBS Sports.
  
  
• B18 Doubles Gold Ball: Nicholas Godsick (Midwest) and Ethan Quinn (Northern California) who defeated Wimbledon boys champions Sebastian Gorzny and Alex Michelsen 6-4, 6-0.
  
  Fun fact: Godsick and Quinn took home their trophy at Kalamazoo on the same day (August 13) that his mother Mary Joe Fernandez won Olympic Gold in Barcelona with Gigi Fernandez 30 years prior. The pair will now compete in the US Open main draw later this month as wild cards.
  
  Nicholas Godsick and Ethan Quinn Make Kalamazoo Splash to Earn US Open Wild Card Tennis.com Interview
  
  
• G18s Doubles Gold Ball: Reese Brantmeier (Midwest) and Clervie Ngounoue (Mid-Atlantic) meaning they both receive wild cards into the US Open!

• G12s Doubles Silver Ball: Vibha Gogineni (Midwest) and Alexandra Grilliot (Midwest)
  
  
• Ozan Baris Finishes Third at USTA Boys’ 18-Under National Championships Michigan State Men’s Tennis News
  
  
• A first in history – wheelchair tennis players Charlie Cooper, Tomas Mejetic, Mathias Krodel and Max Wong participated in the B18 and B16 National Championships!

RAJEEV RAM FOUNDATION INDY CHALLENGER

Last month, pro tennis returned to Central Indiana with the Rajeev Ram Foundation Indy Challenger. On-court Kids Day activities were rained out, but kids still had an awesome opportunity to participate in a Q&A with pros Rajeev Ram and Alex Rybakov, and Midwest juniors Aidan Kim and Nishesh Basavareddy.

BATTLE OF THE SECTIONS

It’s been a bright month for junior competitors! We had several young athletes play for the Midwest team at the brand new Level 1 Battle of the Sections event. Our girls came in 3rd place! Well done to them.

BATTLE OF THE MISSISSIPPI

The Battle of the Mississippi intersectional tournament celebrated its second year running over the weekend with players coming out from the Midwest, Missouri Valley and Northern sections to compete! We're proud to say that for the second year in a row, Midwest was victorious and is taking home the traveling trophy. We have a list of some of our winners who helped us take home first place:

• BG14 Group 1 Winners: Karlie Schock and Colin McPeek
• BG14 Group 2 Winners: Henry Lessard and Helena Klooster
• BG14 Group 3 Winners: Lucia Fuduric and Matthew Sikorski
• BG14 Group 4 Winners: Aarav Nair and Thara Gowda
• BG12 Group 1 Winner: Anshu Matham and Harrison Lessard
• BG12 Group 2 Winners: Hadleigh Mcintyre and Reid Hackney
• BG12 Group 3 Winners: Addyson Filipiak and Julius Rippl

And a reminder that positivity goes a long way! We featured Rishi Verma on our social media channels for his incredible display of sportsmanship while playing at the Battle of the Mississippi tournament last month. View his story on Instagram.

HEALTH & WELLNESS