The JTCC team of seven girls and boys ages 8-12 earned the title of “Champions” at the fourth annual National Junior Tennis and Learning (NJTL) Excellence Teams Cup competition held at JTCC July 26-29.
The four-day USTA Foundation event brought together 12 teams from NJTL chapters across the country.
JTCC secured the crown by excelling in six areas of the team competition, including a “1 Point Tournament” featuring coaches competing against each other. Points were awarded for team match play, classroom activities, sportsmanship on and off court, a team relay race, the coaches’ tournament , and essays submitted for the national Arthur Ashe contest.
Amir Carter, Stoney Crooks, Cody Gray, Mimi Kouam, Adla Lopez, Kyndall Lucas and Nico Pedraza remained undefeated in match play throughout the weekend — a streak that included wins over Team Legacy from Philadelphia, Team Oudin from Atlanta, and Team Bryan from Las Vegas. Team JTCC also raced to victory in the relay setting a new course record of 10:45 minutes as the squads sprinted around three laps of the facility in College Park.
JTCC – 2018 NJTL Excellence Teams Cup Champions (Credit – Michael Bonfigli)
The weekend highlights for the 72 participants, plus interested coaches and parents, also included a Washington, DC “Monuments” tour with stops at the Martin Luther King, Lincoln, World War II, and Jefferson monuments on Friday morning. On Saturday evening, the representatives from each team were introduced on court at the Washington Kastles World Team Tennis match against the Philadelphia Freedoms.
“The JTCC players were excellent ambassadors throughout the weekend,” commented JTCC Senior Coach Mira Vlcek, who led the team to victory. “They competed hard on the court, but were gracious in their role as hosts and made new friendships with players from all the other programs.”
Click here to view a photo album of the event (Credit – Michael Bonfigli)
