By Brenda Maddaleni, Junior Challenge Ladder Vice President
The 2021 season of the ALTA Junior Challenge Ladder (JCL) is off to a gangbuster start! There are a combined 177 girls and boys participating in the 14-week season. The goal of the ladder is to provide match play opportunities in an environment outside of tournament and school team play. The purpose is to get more practice and meet other players in a low-pressure environment. There will be well over 1,000 matches played during the season! Accomplishing this takes a village.
The ladder is supported by ALTA volunteers who work as coordinators of their portion of the ladder. They work with the players and their families to get matches scheduled and played, and they often provide support, advice, and mentoring to players and parents.
Junior Challenge Ladder Managers
Depria Jones – Boys Lower Ladder Manager
Michelle McKinnon – Boys Upper Ladder Manager
Stacey Simmons – Girls Upper Ladder Manager
Anthony Swatski – Girls Lower Ladder Manager
Community support is a key component of the JCL season. We also gather players for the opening kick-off, several round robins across the city, and an end-of-season banquet. Cindy Pietkiewicz supports this endeavor by working with facility directors to donate the use of their courts for round robins. She sets up the events and coordinates with the JCL volunteer team to run the events. New this year, we have parent volunteers assisting to help make the event run smoothly to allow players to get in as much match play as possible. We could not pull this off without the support of facility directors in the community.
2021 Upcoming ALTA JCL Events
Riverside Club – November 12
Sandy Springs Tennis Center – November 13
Harrison Tennis Center – December 12
Players and parents are the main ingredients to ensure a successful season. We teach the kids to take ownership of their scheduling via Tennis Rungs and their ladder manager. This requires independence and initiative. Many of our players are under 16 and need their parents’ help to transport them to their matches. There is no coaching allowed or provided, which enables players to work on their skills and enforce good sportsmanship on their own with their parents on the sidelines cheering on both players.
The Truist Atlanta Open provides a unique opportunity for JCL players to participate in a clinic with tennis professionals. Players are recognized during the event and receive complimentary tickets to a match during the tournament. This year, the players met Luke Jensen and enjoyed great tennis on the Stadium Court. For a sneak peek at their experience, scan this QR code.
This is my second year as the vice president, and 2021 marks my sixth year volunteering for the Junior Challenge Ladder. It is an amazing experience for the players, volunteers, parents, and community supporters. I am grateful to have the opportunity to volunteer for this league. Thank you, players, parents, JCL volunteers, ALTA, community partners, and the Truist Atlanta Open. It truly does take a village.
BOYS
1 JOHN LASANAJAK
2 ANDREW PIETKIEWICZ
3 REESE PHILIP HILSEN
4 DEAN KINGSLEY
5 STEPHEN ZHU
6 ROBERT BAUER
7 LONDON VASILESCU
8 REILLY MCNAMARA
9 PARTH MODY
10 MATTEO MADDALENI
11 JASON EIGBEDION
12 ETHAN SWATSKI
13 KELLEN SIMMONS
14 ROBERT FRIERSON
15 MADDOX ILIESCU
16 JACK MILLER
17 JACKSON BRADY
18 BRANDON KIM
19 JUSTIN WILSON
20 COOPER DAVIS
21 KEVIN SCREWS
22 ANDREW MUNN
23 AYDEN MAMAGHANI
24 TYLER AUSTIN
25 CHINGIZ NADYRSHIN
26 TOM HUGHES
27 BRYAN POWELL
28 ASHER NEGANDHI
29 SHIV SIJU
30 VIVAAN SETHI
31 GRAYSON PERLMAN
32 ALEXANDER SLOAN
33 DEVESH VENKATESWARAN
34 MIKE HUGHES
35 RYALS EARNHARDT
36 JACOB DORLAND
37 BENJAMIN KREBS
38 CONNOR MOWREY
39 MOULIK JAIN
40 AYAAN VALIANI (GACS)
41 RYLAND HOOVER
42 NICHOLAS IVCHENKO
43 GENE YUN
44 HARRISON ODOM
45 GRAHAM ANTIN
46 ASHRITH VEMIREDDY
47 WILLIAM HACKNEY
48 DHRUVSAI DHULIPUDI
49 RAYMOND GABLER
50 ANDREW GODBEY
51 LOGAN GILLELAND
52 ADITYA BHOTI
53 WILL GRABLE
54 JEFFREY HALLETT
55 RYAN THOMPSON
56 WILLIAM MILLER
57 MATTHEW MUI
58 AARYAN RALKAR
59 LANDON MARCUS
60 ALEX BARBER
61 LUCAS VASILESCU
62 NICHOLAS PATE
63 MACSEN HIGGINS
64 EVERETT WENZEL
65 JACK XU
66 NISHIT KADIYALA
67 RYAN HALLIGAN
68 BRENNAN DAVENPORT
69 GAVIN KOCH-YIP
70 DALE HUERTAS
71 KARAYA MACHARIA
72 ANDREW HALLIGAN
73 ETHAN SANDERS
74 TRACE WOOD
75 MARC MALDONADO
76 JACK COLE REARDON
77 ISSAC OLGUIN
78 BUDDY CASON
79 JORDAN LEON*
80 LEVI HOWARD
81 GARRATT BUILDER
82 EZRA BROOKS
83 MICHAEL MULDOON
84 JACKSON BENNETT
85 NIKESH PATEL
86 SUMANT BAISHYA
87 VIHAAN BODDULA
88 ORION CARMONA
89 GRAYSON RADI
90 SYMON SEDIKI
91 NICHOLAS HALLIGAN
GIRLS
1 LEEZA KURTZ
2 MICHELLE JONES
3 JENSEN DIIANNI
4 LAUREN KHOU
5 FRANCHESCA BROWN**
6 MADISON ANDREWS
7 JAALA SCREWS
8 SYDNEY BRANTLEY
9 MCKENZIE SHELTON
10 SASHA DIMITROV
11 AMA WHITE
12 MANA FAWCETT
13 SAMANTHA SLATON
14 FATIMAH BUTT
15 MYRA WU
16 AMANDA TANAKA
17 PRISHA MODY
18 ALYSSA KHOU
19 LAURYN SWATSKI
20 MARY JACOPPO
21 TRINITY PORTER
22 KYLIE JOHNSON
23 BERNADETTE KOTSCHER
24 JIGISHA SINGH
25 KIMAYA PARANJPE
25 SYDNEY WSZOLEK
26 KENNEDY TALBERT
27 TERI BRANTLEY
28 ISABELLE COURSEY
30 MANAVI BEDI
31 MANASI BEDI
32 TANIKA SARAVANAN
33 ALYSSA BRAUDE
34 MEGAN MCKINNON
36 JULIANA DIIANNI
37 MOLLY MCWETHY
38 STEPHANIE MALCOM
39 ATHITHI AYYAPPAN
40 ISHITA RAVI
41 LAUREN POWELL
42 DEEKSHU DEVARASETTY
43 CHRISTINA SLATON
44 M’KENZI PATE
45 SAMANTHA RUDER
46 JOIYA MIDDLEBROOKS
47 VALERIA BAZAN
48 ISABELLA LUCE
49 WANGESHI MACHARIA
50 MEGHNA BAISHYA
51 CAROLINE MALCOM
52 VIRGINIA FISHER
53 CALI CROUCH
54 ANSLEY KING
55 KATIE KOENNING
56 JAMAYA WILLIAMS
57 LILLIAN LEE
58 LILY KATE BELL
59 GRACE HAUGE
60 LILIANNA LAVELLE
61 LILY MEYERS
62 JAIDEN PALMER
63 CLAIRE MORRIS
64 DIYA KHURANA
65 KAIYA SHARP
66 NYAH RALKAR
67 SHRESTA GUNDA
68 KEZA MACHARIA
69 BELLA LOTZ
70 KENDALL COLEMAN
71 CAITLIN JOHNSON
72 ASHLEIGH GRABLE
73 ALEXIS TAYLOR
74 ISABELLA MASSAY
75 AUDREY PAK
76 AVA MCKAY
77 BROOKE MARSDEN
78 SCARLETT HILL
79 ELLIANA CRISTADORO
80 LILY MCLAUGHLIN
81 MARYSA MANSFIELD
82 MAHI RAVI
83 KAVYA MISTRY
84 GABRIELLE CHRISTIE
85 NATASHA VARAS
86 VERA KOCH-YIP
*Sugar Hill
**Snellville
