Junior Team Tennis
Ann Wilde ann.w@houstontennis.org
Melinda Hampton melinda.h@houstontennis.org
January 2024 Newsletter
Three Houston Junior Team Tennis teams won their divisions at the Fall Sectionals at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels in December.
The Houstonian Red team won the 14-and-under Intermediate competition; the Red Tornadoes claimed victory for the 12-and-under Intermediate title; and the Green Tornadoes were the 10-and-under champions in the Green Division.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
July 2023 Newsletter
From left: Golfcrest Country Club, Houston Racquet Club,
Houstonian Red, Photos courtesy USTA Texas
JTT Spring Sectional Results
The Junior Team Tennis season concluded with the 2023 JTT Spring Sectionals in Midland in early June.
Three Houston teams won their divisions, and one other was a finalist.
Golfcrest Country Club was champion in the 18U Intermediate division; Houstonian Red was champion in the 14U Intermediate; and the Houston Racquet Club was champion in the 10U Green Ball.
King Daddy Red Tornadoes were finalists in the 12U Intermediate division.
********************************************************************
September 2023 Newsletter
2023 Fall JTT Team Registration Open
Advancement to Texas Sectional—New Braunfels, Texas
No USTA Membership required. League Registration fee just $33.
10U Orange Ball & Green Dot Ball
- 10U Orange Ball (Two Levels—Beginner & Intermediate) (Gender Neutral) (No Sectional)
Beginner Criteria: Serve can be hit in the air or after a bounce from behind the baseline. Can sustain rallies of 4 or more, hit 50% of serves in, keep score and play matches.
Intermediate Criteria: Players can sustain rallies of 10 or more, hit 80% of serves in and are very experienced in match play and play USTA Junior Circuit tournaments.
- Green Dot Ball (Two Levels—Beginner & Intermediate) (Gender Neutral) Only Intermediate will advance to Sectionals; Beginning division is non-advancing.
Beginner Criteria: Serve can be hit in the air or after a bounce from behind the baseline. Can sustain rallies of 6 or more, hit 50% of serves in, keep score and play matches.
Intermediate Criteria: Players can sustain rallies of 10 or more, hit 80% of serves in and are very experienced in match play and play USTA Junior Circuit tournaments.
JTT Ratings (12U Beg Yellow—18U Adv)
JTT will be utilizing World Tennis Number (WTN) for ratings for 12U-18U divisions. All 10U divisions will continue to use Play tracker rules and regulations.
- 12U Beg Yellow Ball 40-29
- 12U Int 40-19
- 12U Adv 40-1
- 14U Novice 40-29
- 14U Int 40-19
- 14U Adv 40-1
- 18U Novice 40-29
- 18U Int 40-19
- 18U Adv 40-1
Please note JTT will be using WTN to determine player eligibility for divisions 12U-18U. Captains are responsible for ensuring your players are properly rated for the division they are registering.
10U players must play in the division they are listed in Net Generation’s Play Tracker System.
World Tennis Numbers may be checked by following this link: https://worldtennisnumber.com/
Information on Net Generation PlayTracker System:
___________
JTT Formats—All Divisions will be Gender Neutral
All divisions 10U-18U Beginner through Advanced will be gender neutral
All divisions will play a 6-game pro set no-ad scoring with a tiebreaker at 5 all.
Match Play
Team Play: Matches will be played on Sunday afternoons from 12-4 p.m., depending on home team court availability. All teams will need to secure courts for their team and are responsible for any applicable court fees.
Age cut off: May 31, 2023—All players must be of age through this date to be eligible to play in registered divisions.
JTT 2023 Sectional Track Fall Dates
- September 3rd – League Team Registration Deadline
- September 10th – Schedules Published
- September 17th – Season Begins
- October 2nd : T-Shirt Order Deadline
- October 24th : Fall Team Registration Deadline (players cannot be added after this date)
- October 31st- Sectional Registration opens on Tennis Link for qualified teams
- November 5th: Suggested time for all fall league end of season party or championship event
- November 8th: All scores most be entered into TennisLink
- November 17th: Fall sectional registration deadline
- December 2nd-3rd: Fall Sectionals at Newk’s Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels, TX
Safe Play
All captains must complete and clear the required free background screening in order to obtain a team ID number. Please be sure your screening is current.
For Information on Safe Play click HERE.
Please email Justin Hensley, justin.h@houstontennis.org to request a new Team ID Number. Team ID numbers will be issued after captain background screenings have been cleared by Safe Play.
****
Texas Fall Sectionals
Congratulations to the JTT Team LLTC-Green, captained by Lei Zhang, that won the Texas Sectional Fall Green Ball Championships held at John Newcombe Tennis Ranch
in New Braunfels in November. They competed against five other teams. Team members were 9-year-old Caleb Zhang, 10-year-ol Ricky Ou and 8-year-olds Jeremy Han and Aubrey Yu.
The 18U Intermediate team, captained by Donald Stein, pictured below left, was a finalist in their division. Team members were Leo Voong, Sebastian Tinoco, Marius Nguyen, Adam Thammavomgsa, Chase Cook, Sebastian Vanegas and Michael Nguyen.
Stein reports that this was the first time qualifying for JTT Sectionals.
“We didn’t know what to expect,” Stein said. “From the first match to the last match of the finals, our team played their hearts out. I couldn’t be happier and prouder of this squad. It was a great experience for the team. We are hungry to return next year and win it all.”
********************************************