The 2015 Fall Junior Team Tennis Section Championships will be split into two weekends this year! The green and yellow ball division will be held on December 5^th & 6^th while the orange ball division is held on January 9^th & 10^th. Both events will be hosted at the prestigious Stanford University!

Teams that qualified in the summer season and qualify this fall season will be invited to participate!

Good luck to all  of the teams competing for a spot. For more information on this event, please contact jrteamtennis@norcal.usta.com. Website updates are coming soon.

See you at Stanford!

Congratulations to the USTA NorCal teams that participated in the 2015 Junior Team Tennis National Championships this past weekend in Cayce, S.C.!

In the Coed 18’s Advanced Division, our NorCal team lost in the semifinals to the eventual National Champion team from Texas. The 18’s Advanced team ultimately took home 3^rd place medals. Pictured above left to right are Kristine Pau, Daria Hoang, Mitch Heckmann, Stevie Gould, Matia Jovanovic, Jackson Gathard, Spencer Dong, Kaelli Thiel and Lise Swain.

In the Coed 18U Intermediate Division, our NorCal team finished in ninth place out of 16 teams. The team won three out of their five team matches overall to come in ninth! Pictured above are: Back Row: Andrew Ng, Jason Wall, Nathan Saragoza, Kiya Jackson, Kyla Jackson; Front Row: Kayla Nguyen, Kathleen Qin, Danielle Paran, Eron Mendoza.

Great effort by all of the players and coaches that participated in the event! We look forward to cheering on our USTA NorCal Coed 14U JTT National Championship teams December 3-6 in Cayce!

Meanwhile, the fall JTT season is going on in NorCal through November 15. For more info, click here!

Go Team NorCal!

2015 was a banner year for juniors in Player Development, with NorCal Juniors on national teams and playing in top tournaments across the nation!

Michaela Gordon at Wimbledon 2015. Photo credit: USTA

January saw some big tournament victories right after the New Year, with Michaela Gordon (Los Altos Hills) sweeping the singles and doubles titles at the Coffee Bowl ITF in Costa Rica. She followed with by reaching the girls’ 18s singles semifinals and the doubles final at the International Spring Championships in April. In April, Gordon qualified for the Junior Fed Cup. Before competing at the Fed Cup, she reached the girls’ singles quarterfinals at Wimbledon! Michaela won her only singles match at the Fed Cup to help Team USA to a second-place finish.

Sam Riffice of Roseville had a stellar summer, as he won singles and doubles championships at the USTA Boys’ 18s National Clay Court championships in July. Earlier in the year, Riffice reached the boys’ 18s singles and doubles finals at the Easter Bowl in April. He qualified for and competed for Team USA in the Junior Davis Cup, where he went 1-0 in singles and 1-1 in doubles before suffering an injury as Team USA finished in seventh place.

NorCal junior CiCi Bellis of Atherton rang in 2015 with a singles title at the USTA Pro Circuit $25,000 event in Rancho Santa Fe in February. In June, Bellis advanced to the girls’ singles semifinals at the junior French Open in Paris, and in August she reached the third round of women’s qualifying at the US Open.

Mackenzie McDonald of Piedmont saw tremendous success in the 2015 USTA Pro Circuit, as he reached the singles semifinals at the $15,000 USTA Pro Circuit Men’s Futures in Calabasas in April. Later in September, McDonald reached the singles final at the $10,000 USTA Futures in Claremont, Calif., won the doubles title at the $10,000 Futures in Costa Mesa, Calif., then reached the semifinals at the $100,000 Challenger in Tiburon, Calif.

Karl Lee (right) with Hunter Heck at the Easter Bowl in April 2015.

Two NorCal juniors took home doubles titles at the Easter Bowl, with Cameron Klinger winning in the boys’ 18s doubles and Karl Lee winning in the boys’ 12s doubles. Lee followed with a great summer as he won the USTA Boys’ 12s National doubles championship in August and was also a finalist in the USTA Boys’ 12s National Clay Court singles in July. Sara Choy of San Francisco won the Easter Bowl girls’ 14s doubles title.

Sean Hill of Berkeley reached the singles final at the ITF Grade 4 Barbados Scotiabank Junior International Event in April, as well as the semifinals at the Grade 4 Open du Conseil General in Guadelupe. Hill also won the doubles title at the ITF Grade 3 Bytom Cup junior event in Poland in June.

Also in June, Lane Leschly of Atherton qualified and reached the singles final at the ITF Grade 5 Bank of Bermuda Foundation junior tournament. Leschly also reached the boys’ singles semifinals at the Grade 5 Luzern Junior Competition tournament in Switzerland in September.

Keenan Mayo of Roseville reached the singles final at the Grade 5 Canadian Saville junior tournament in Edmonton in July. Vignesh Subramanyan of Fremont reached the singles semifinals at the Grade 4 ITF Jamaica Junior International, also in July.

In August, Collin Altamirano of Yuba City reached the singles semifinals at the $15,000 Futures event in Bolzano, Italy. He followed by reaching the singles semifinals at the $10,000 Futures event in Claremont, Calif., in September. Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek was crowned the USTA Girls’ 14s National singles champion in August.

We’re so incredibly proud of our NorCal Juniors and their success on the national and international scenes! Keep making us proud on the Player Development circuit!

We will be honoring these and many more NorCal Juniors at our Juniors Awards Party on Dec. 19. Stay tuned to our blog and our Facebook page for more info!

The 2015 season of Junior Team Tennis brought together 749 teams with more than 4,600 players throughout the Northern California region for some of the top team competition in the nation!

The year started off with our spring R.O.G. season, which was the biggest spring season yet with upwards of 1,000 players competing all over Northern California. Section Championships were at Diamond Hills Sports Club on May 30 & 31. For full results and pictures, click here!

NorCal’s 18U Advanced JTT team that finished third at nationals.

The busy JTT Summer Season saw more than 2,500 players on nearly 300 teams, with four coed teams and 11 same-gender teams ultimately being crowned Section Champs. The coed teams qualified for the USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships in Cayce, while the same-gender teams repped NorCal in the Gar Glenney Cup, which Team NorCal won, 48-24! For a full recap of our summer season, click here. We also had an AWESOME Players Party this year at Boomers!

The fun’s not over yet, as our Fall JTT season wraps up later this year. The green and yellow divisions will have Section Championships on December 5 & 6, while the orange ball division Section Championships will be held on January 9 & 10. Both events will be hosted at Stanford!

The Coed 14U Advanced and Intermediate Section Champs also aren’t finished with 2015 as they’ll play at the National Championships December 3-6!

In the mean time, the 2015 Junior Awards – Player Party is being held on December 19! If you are an awardee, RSVP here. You can also purchase general tickets here and see a list of honorees here.

Along with all of our players of the year, we will be honoring our NorCal Teams at the 2015 Junior Awards Party!

BG16 Zonals Team

The Team NorCal events include Zonals, Intersectionals, BG18 National Teams, the Maze Cup and the Pacific Cup. Our Zonals teams competed regionally against three other sections, with 16’s heading to Salt Lake City, 14’s in Colorado Springs, Colo., and 12’s playing in Tucson, Ariz. Our 14’s A team, the Predators, took home the Sportsmanship Team Award!

BG14s Intersectionals Team

NorCal’s Intersectional Teams fared well, with the 14’s placing sixth at the championships in Auburn, Ala., and the 16’s also placing sixth at their championships in Shreveport, La.

In the 42nd-annual Maze Cup, NorCal fell 7-13 to SoCal in Bakersfield. Top juniors in the 16s and 18s competed, posting three singles victories and earning a doubles win at the boys’ 16s level. For a full list of players who competed for NorCal, click here!

We’ll be celebrating all of our teams as well as many other juniors at our 2015 Junior Awards Party! To learn more and RSVP, visit our Junior Awards Party page.

Congratulations to all of our champions from the Fall Junior Team Tennis Section Championships!

We split the event into two weekends, with 12U Green and Yellow Ball on December 5th & 6th and 10U Orange Ball on January 9th & 10th, down at Stanford. Overall, 36 teams hit the courts to wrap up the 2015 JTT Section Championship season.

A huge THANK YOU to Stanford University and our NorCal staff who helped put on this tournament! And thanks to all of the coaches, players and parents who made the event so great!

Check out photos of our division winners and sportsmanship winners below. For more photos of the action as well as team photos, visit our Facebook page, USTA NorCal Juniors!

Division Winners

10U Orange Ball Sportsmanship Winners

Arjun Vaidun (NorCal Tennis Academy – Blue Team)

Arnav Jain (Harker)

Brandon Lee (Bay Club Santa Clara – Crushers)

Erika Bussey (SCRA)

Ethan Roberts (AVAC Bouncers)

Max Seipke (AVAC Avengers)

12U Green/Yellow Ball Sportsmanship Winners

William Prigge (NorCal Tennis Academy Volt Team)

Maddox Thompson (Rafael Racquet Club)

Tejasvin Ravishankar (NorCal Tennis Academy Team Blue), Isabella Cox (LGSRC), Maxwell Tran (Kona Kai – Niru’s Tennis)

Oliver Goldman (Morson Performance Tennis), Miles Olsen (Bay Club Santa Clara Gripspinners)

Roshan Cranford Luitel (McLaren Park),  (Not Pictured – Ian Detoc from Tenacious Tennis Academy)

Are you a coach, organizer, or parent looking to participate in Junior Team Tennis and captain a team? Good news, spring season registrations are now open! Timed match formats on just 2 courts with a minimum of 4 players makes captaining a team easy and accessible!

To find out how to register a team, CLICK HERE or email jrteamtennis@norcal.usta.com .

For more information on Junior Team Tennis visit www.norcalteamtennis.com.

Welcome to USTA NorCal’s Player Development Honor Roll for January 2016! Each month, we are going to be highlighting the successes of our #NorCalJuniors! Here’s a look at some of the great performances from Team NorCal in January:

Austen Huang of Elk Grove winning the Boys’ 18s title at USTA National Winter Championships

NorCal juniors kicked off 2016 with some awesome performances at the USTA National Winter Championships as four players took home top place in their age divisions while two more won runner-up honors. Austen Huang of Elk Grove won the Boys’ 18s singles title, and Sara Choy of Palo Alto won the Girls’ 16s singles title. Andrew Ton of Milpitas took home the Boys’ 16s doubles title as well. It was a 1-2 finish in the Boys’ 14s singles with Ryder Jackson of Nicasio besting Stefan Leustian of Mather in the championship match. Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek placed second in the Girls’ 14s doubles draw. For a full recap, click here!

Stefan Leustian of Mather at the Les Petits As 14 & Under event

Stefan Leustian then went on to compete in two premier 14s events in Europe, beginning with the Nike Junior International Teen Tennis Championships where he reached the quarterfinals in both singles and doubles. He then won the singles title at the Les Petits As in Tarbes, France, reaching the semifinals in the doubles draw of the tournament. Les Petits As saw the best players from 45 different nations and is considered the strongest 14s event in the world.

_{If you have a juniors player from NorCal that you would like to recognize, please contact geithman@norcal.usta.com.}

USTA Northern California is looking for coaches to work with our junior players at our USTA National Junior Competition Team Events. We have many different coaching opportunities to offer and will be accepting applications for NorCal Team Events at the beginning of each year, so be sure to apply early – THE DEADLINE IS MARCH 18, 2016.

Our goal is to partner with top coaches in Northern California and provide opportunities to help these coaches in their efforts to develop the next generation of great American players within the section. Selection criteria, compensation, and time commitment will vary for each coaching opportunity.

The criteria for selection for any USTA coaching position is:

• Actively supporting USTA programming and serving the mission of our section; “To promote and develop the growth of tennis as an inclusive and inviting lifetime activity in Northern California.”
• Creating a positive environment by focusing on team building and promoting excellent sportsmanship
• Passing the USTA background check Coaches are responsible for coaching on-court, as well as the overall supervision of players during the entire duration of an event.
• Duties and responsibilities are different depending on the event, please check with USTA NorCal staff for a breakdown of responsibilities for a specific event. Some out-of-state events will require an extra day or two of travel. All of our NorCal coaches are required to go through the full background check prior to events.

For more information on coaching a team event, please go to the USTA NorCal website or contact Jon Fierabend at fierabend@norcal.usta.com.

Best wishes and Go NorCal!

The latest junior combined rankings are out, and NorCal players received top marks in the Boys’ 18s, 16s, 14s and 12s divisions as well as the Girls’ 14s division!

In the Boys’ 18s division, Sam Riffice of Granite Bay is ranked first. Riffice has been ranked No. 1 in the division since January after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Orange Bowl. He also represented NorCal in the consolation final of the USTA National Championships back in August.

Austen Huang

Austen Huang of Elk Grove is ranked first in the Boys’ 16s division. With more than 1,000 points over the No. 2 player, Huang leapt into first after winning the USTA National Winter Championships in December.

In the Boys’ 14s, Stefan Leustian took the No. 1 spot. A native of Mather, Leustian won the Les Petits As 14 & under event in Tarbes, France, and competed for Team USA in the Nike Junior International Team Championships in Bolton, England.

Hugo Hashimoto is ranked first in the Boys’ 12s nationally. A native of San Jose, Hashimoto picked up two wins at the Stockton Junior Excellence tournament this past January after winning the consolation draw of the USTA National Winter Championships spanning from the end of December into January.

On the girls’ side, Katie Volynets of Walnut Creek is ranked first in the Girls’ 14s division. Also ranked No. 1 in California by Babolat Recruiting, she reached the semifinals of the USTA National Winter Championships ending on Jan. 2.

Sara Choy is the next-highest ranked girls’ player, sitting at No. 2 in the Girls’ 16s division. Also ranked in the top 10 of any division is Yuu Ishikawa of Mountain View, ranked ninth in the Girls’ 12s.

Congrats to our top-ranked juniors!!

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Here’s a look at some of the great accomplishments by #TeamNorCalJuniors in the month of February!

CiCi Bellis (left) and Ingrid Neel won the doubles title at the Dow Corning Tennis Classic.

CiCi Bellis of Atherton kicked off the month by winning the doubles title in the Dow Corning Tennis Classic. She teamed up with Ingrid Neel and earned a wild card entry before knocking off the top three seeds in the draw to win the doubles title. CiCi also won the Larry Reed “Most Promising Newcomer” Award, awarded annually to the a player in the DCTC who has shown outstanding promise early in their professional career!

CiCi advanced to the second round in the singles draw. Michaela Gordon of Los Altos also competed in the singles draw, falling to eventual runner-up Robin Anderson in the opening round.

The USTA National Selection Tournaments took place in mid-February, and a slew of NorCal players had major successes in Palm Desert and Claremont!

On the boys’ side, Keenan Mayo of Roseville won the Boys’ 18s singles title, entering the draw unseeded and winning the final match over Aleks Huryn 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.

Keenan Mayo won the Boys’ 18s singles title in the USTA National Selection Tournament.

Alexander Chang of Berkeley, seeded third, won the Boys’ 12s singles title. In the semifinal, Chang beat Max Fardanesh of Albany, another strong NorCal player who was seeded second.

Sima Pesic of Del Rey Oaks and Alex Lin of Gold River both reached the semifinals of the Boys’ 14s singles. Lin was seeded sixth and fell to No. 1 seed Siem Woldeab. Pesic fell to No. 2 seed JC Roddick.

For the girls, Vivian Ovrootsky of San Jose was the runner-up in the Girls’ 12s singles draw. Ovrootsky, the third-seeded player in the draw, fell in the final match to top-seeded Winta Woldeab.

Niluka Madurawe of Sunnyvale was the third seed and made it to the semifinal of the Girls’ 16s tournament. She fell to No. 2-seeded and eventual runner-up Sedona Gallagher.

The 2016 Junior Team Tennis – Advanced Player list is now available to be viewed. Team captains, make sure you look at the list before creating 14/18 & Under Coed teams this year! Players, take a look at the list to confirm your eligibility for an Intermediate team.

Click here to see the Official 2016 USTA NorCal Advanced/Intermediate Player Benchmark Rules.

Click here to see the 2016 Junior Team Tennis – Advanced Player List.

If your name appears on the list above, you must play in the Advanced level going forward.

Have questions? Contact the Junior Team Tennis department at jrteamtennis@norcal.usta.com .

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USTA NorCal is launching a new Superstar Sports campaign to create more awareness for good sportsmanship among our Orange and Green level players.  Tournament Directors for Orange & Green level tournaments will be receiving the following items to display and award to players at their tournaments:

• One Superstar Sports banner to display at their tournaments for players and parents.

• Six Superstar Sports pins prior to each sanctioned tournament to award to players at Orange and Green tournaments.

Each of the six pins represents a character quality of Superstar Sports:

– Fairness                         – Respectful                  –Compassionate          

– Sportsmanship              – Honorable                   – Considerate

Each quarter, the players with the most sportsmanship nominations in these 6 qualities will be recognized for their achievements. For more information or questions regarding the Superstar Sports campaign, please email Sofia Donlevy at donlevy@norcal.usta.com

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USTA Northern California would like to announce that its 2016 Maze Cup team has been selected! This year will mark the 42nd year for the Annual Maze Cup. Top juniors in the 16s and 18s from Northern California and Southern California will arrive in Portola Valley from April 15-17 for the annual weekend of intense intrastate rivalry.

Representing the 2016 Team NorCal will be…

*The 3rd boy and 3rd girl in the 16s divisions compete in exhibition singles and mixed doubles matches.

The Maze Cup is a prestigious annual team competition featuring the top juniors from Northern California and Southern California. It includes both boys’ and girls’ 18 and 16 divisions. The event is played using a 5-match Davis Cup/Federation Cup format, singles and doubles (four singles and one doubles). On court coaching is allowed.

The site of the competition rotates between Northern and Southern California. Northern California will host the Maze Cup at Alpine Hills Tennis & Swimming Club in Portola Valley, CA in 2016. Come on out and support Team NorCal in your favorite NorCal gear!

The Maze Cup is named after George Maze, Sr. He was a tireless volunteer for both the Southern California Tennis Association and Northern California Tennis Association. He originated the idea of bringing the top juniors from both sections for practice and competition against each other before the players headed East for all the summer USTA National Junior Championships. The Maze Cup, while strictly a California event, has had participants that have gone on to enjoy storied professional tennis careers. Pete Sampras, Lindsay Davenport, Michael Chang, Brad Gilbert, Robert Kendrick and Bob Bryan have participated in this rivalry.

For more history on the event, click on: Maze Cup History, Results and Past Participants

The post The 2016 Maze Cup Team has been SELECTED! appeared first on USTA NorCal Junior Tennis.

The 2016 Spring Junior Team Tennis season is officially underway! With leagues in multiple areas, don’t miss the chance to play on a team with your friends.

To find leagues in your area, go to the 2016 Junior Team Tennis – Spring Season listing. Some teams may or may not be open to the general public. Contact the captains to check on availability.

If you have any questions on how to find out more information on the leagues, contact the Junior Team Tennis department at jrteamtennis@norcal.usta.com .

The post The Spring 2016 JTT Season is Underway! appeared first on USTA NorCal Junior Tennis.

Kirk Anderson, USTA National Director of Coaching Education will be facilitating Orange ball trainings to develop a core group of coaches within NorCal that have the ability to help execute and staff Early Development Camps at the local level.

USPTA and USPTR credit will be issued.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES:

• Review the Five (5) Principles of the USTA Teaching & Coaching Philosophy
• How Athletic Skills Link to the Development of Strong Technical Competencies
• On-court Athletic Skill Development Progressions that link to Technical Development
• Create an Awareness of Standards – What is possible on the 60′ Orange Court based on the age and stage of development of the player?

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016, 9:00 am-3:30 pm
Cuesta Park Tennis Courts
615 Cuesta Drive Mountain View, CA 94040
Register Now

FRIDAY, MAY 6, 2016, 9:00 am-3:30 pm
Broadstone Racquet Club
820 Halidon Way, Folsom, CA 95630
Register Now

For more information contact: Sofia Donlevy at donlevy@norcal.usta.com or (510) 748-7327

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USTA Team Championships give junior players the fun experience of representing their USTA Section and playing on a team.  USTA NorCal selects its strongest players to compete against top juniors from other USTA Sections and potentially be seen by college coaches.

It’s a great opportunity for players to develop and improve physical, mental, and emotional skills.  Players receive on-court coaching from some of the top NorCal coaches and will experience the camaraderie of a competitive team atmosphere, just like college tennis!

REGISTER BELOW:

GO TEAM NORCAL!

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The topic for this Team USA Online Forum will be on Technique with a number of experts in the field being a part of the forum.
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USTA NorCal is excited to announce some important changes coming up this fall in regards to the Junior Development Pathway! As of September 1^st, 2016 USTA NorCal will be transitioning to the new USTA National Youth Progression tracking system for 10 and under players. The national system will be housed on Tennislink.

After September 1^st, 2016, players “My Tennis Page” (formerly referred to as “Junior Profiles”) will be housed on Tennislink (www.usta.com). There, players can see how many more virtual stars and trophies they need to acquire to reach the next level. Each player’s page will track their progress and accumulation of stars and trophies as opposed to Pathway Points. To clear each level, players will need to collect a combination of 20 stars and/or trophies.
Please see the graphic on the right for information on how to collect stars/trophies:

Although the new Youth Progression System is very similar to the Junior Development Pathway, there are some differences between the two. Please see the graphic on the below for information on these changes.

Players who are currently in the Junior Development Pathway will be transitioned based on the amount of Pathway Points they have earned by August 15^th, 2016.

Also, in order to be transitioned to the new system, your child must be an active USTA member when the transition takes place.

For instance, if your child’s membership expires between the dates of August 15^th and August 31^st, they would not be moved into the Youth Progression based on their current Pathway Points. Instead, they would have to start at the beginning of the Youth Progression.

Please see the graph on the right for how current players Pathway Points will be converted to the new system.

If you have any questions about the new Youth Progression System, please don’t hesitate to reach out to USTA NorCal’s Red, Orange, Green, Yellow (R.O.G.Y.) Development Coordinator.

More information about the Youth Progression can be found on our website at www.norcal.usta.com/juniors/progression.

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