Junior Team Tennis Wraps for Summer, Ready for Fall

 

 

The USTA St. Louis Junior Team Tennis (JTT)  summer campaign recently wrapped with local play and USTA Missouri Valley Section Championship action in Tulsa, and one area team made some major noise by capturing the title. 

 

 

Edwardsville’s 18U intermediate team won the USTA Missouri Valley Sectional Championships at the Case Tennis Center in Lafortunte Park. The championships were the final stop on the JTT summer calendar this year, as the USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemics.

 

 

Edwardsville’s Section championship came on the heels of a runner-up finish at USTA St. Louis Junior Team Tennis District Championships, as the Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) 18U squad bested Edwardsville there. The USTA St. Louis JTT Districts occurred July 12- 19 at Dwight Davis Tennis Center, with one day of rain pushing play inside to Creve Coeur Racquet Club. 

 

 

The MAC’s 18U team ended up third in Section Championships, with RH-91 based out of Oklahoma sandwiching the St. Louis-area teams with a second-place finish. 

 

 

At 14U Intermediate, Edwardsville finished in fourth at Section Championships. In District action at Dwight Davis, Edwardsville grabbed a first-place finish while Creve Coeur Racquet Club (CCRC) got second.

 

 

In the 12U Intermediate division, Creve Coeur Racquet Club placed third and Missouri Athletic Club wound up fourth at Section Championships. Locally, CCRC picked up a first-place finish at Districts while MAC was the runner-up.

 

 

“Districts went pretty smooth. It was a lot of very close matches,” said Toni McDonald, JTT and 10U coordinator for the USTA St. Louis district. “In our 18s District we had two semifinals, and three teams wanted to go. One semifinal — after the whole match was done — ended up in a tie. It goes by total games won. A tiebreak decided which of the two teams got to go to Tulsa.”

 

 

Other local USTA St. Louis District JTT action featured non-advancing matchups. At 18U, Woodsmill Tennis Club finished in first while Vetta Concord was second. For 14U, Creve Coeur earned the championship and Vetta Concord was the runner-up. And at the 10U orange ball level, Creve Coeur placed first and MAC was second.

 

 

With the JTT summer session completed, the focus of coaches and players shifts to the fall season. McDonald said the high school boys fall JTT campaign will take place on Sundays at Dwight Davis. That season kicks off September 12. Registration will open soon.

 

 

For the 14s, 12s and 10 & Under, those JTT leagues will begin on September 18. Matches for these league offerings will be played at Creve Coeur Racquet Club as well as Forest Lake Tennis Club.

 

 

Individuals interested in participating in Junior Team Tennis can reach out to these contacts for more information or join a team.

 

 

Creve Coeur Racquet Club

Toni McDonald

toni@ccrctennis.com

 

 

Edwardsville

Emily Cimarolli

ecimarolli@gmail.com

 

 

Missouri Athletic Club

Max Shapiro

maxshapiro@gmail.com

 

 

St. Louis Country Club

Dan Batchelor

dan.batchelor@stlouiscountryclub.org

 

 

Sunset Tennis Center

Taylor Tyre

taylor@sunsettenniscenter.com

 

 

Vetta Sports Concord

Brett Helbig + Sammy Lhotak

bhelbig@vettasports.com

slhotak@vettasports.com

 

 

Vetta Sports West

Josh Patrick + Beth Jameson

jpatrick@vettasports.com

bjameson@vettasports.com

 

To learn more about Junior Team Tennis, click here.