Sportsmanship on display at JTT 18U Nationals

Junior Team Tennis instills some of the most valuable traits in young players: respect, collaboration, responsibility and sportsmanship.

With those characteristics in mind, teams and individuals were honored at the conclusion of play at the 2019 18U Junior Team Tennis National Championships at the McFarlin Tennis Center in San Antonio, Texas.

The sportsmanship and team spirit awards were presented to one boy and one girl from each of the intermediate and advanced divisions who received the most votes from his or her peers throughout the tournament.

In the intermediate division, the boys’ sportsmanship award went to Theodor Wolf of Tempe, Ariz., representing the fourth-place Gold Key Racquet Club from the USTA Southwest section.

The girls’ award in the same division was presented to Nia Dabreo from USTA Eastern’s Highland Park Hawks team that finished sixth overall.

In the advanced category, Carley Citron from USTA New England’s Yellow Jackets team won the Sportsmanship Award. The Yellow Jackets team from Groton, Mass., finished in ninth place in the advanced division.

Matthew Rowe, from Baton Rouge, La., earned the boys’ award. Matthew was part of the junior tennis team from Torrance, Calif., and representing the USTA Southern California section that finished runner-up at nationals.

In addition, the Puerto Rico team, representing the USTA Caribbean section, won the team spirit award, given to the squad that displayed the best team spirit and sportsmanship throughout the event. On the court, the team finished in 12th place in the intermediate division.

The team is coached by Juan Rodriguez and includes team members Roberto Agresar, Patricia Calderon Rabell, Christian Echevarria, Kamila Lebron, Angel Matos Melendez, Emma Nunez Colon, Gabriela Perez, Mariangelis Plumey-Pabon, Diego Rodriguez, Jomar Torres, and Milton Vargas Jimenez.