By Stacey Simmons, Junior Challenge Ladder Vice President
The 43rd ALTA Junior Challenge Ladder (JCL) season is here! The season began this year on August 26 with 136 junior players playing competitive matches throughout Atlanta. The goal of the 14-week season is to play tennis in a fun and low-pressure environment. The best part of the JCL is meeting new tennis friends across our great city. During the season, JCL players will compete in more than 1,000 combined matches.
This year’s season started with a kickoff event on August 28 at Sandy Springs Tennis Center. Four more events are planned for this year’s ladder players, including a top-10 player event. One of the best parts about the ladder is the swag. Last season, every JCL player got an ALTA hoodie. Players also earn awards for three-in-a-row wins, sportsmanship, and ladder player of the year.
The ladder is bolstered by parents who schedule and drive their players to their matches. The glue to our ladder season is our incredible volunteers, the ladder managers. Ladder managers are the main ingredient to a successful ladder season. They get the calls, emails, and text messages from the parents and players. Parents put their trust in our capable ladder managers to make sure it’s a smooth, safe, and fun ladder season.
Junior Challenge Ladder Managers
- Depria Jones — Boys Lower Ladder Manager
- Gina Woods — Boys Upper Ladder Manager
- Amish Mody — Girls Lower Ladder Manager
- Stacey Simmons — Girls Upper Ladder Manager
- Anthony Swatski — Manager of the TennisRungs application.
This is my first year as VP of the Junior Challenge Ladder. I’ve been involved with the ladder for five years. Both of my boys have played (Harold and Kellen Simmons), and during the last two years, I have served as a ladder manager. I’m always impressed by the organization of the ladder and the skill level of the players. We have really strong players and incredible ladder managers, and I know this is going to be an unforgettable season. The JCL serves as a big steppingstone for junior tennis and helps support the growth of tennis in Atlanta. The majority of players on the ladder go on to play college tennis. Look for the final standings and a full recap of this year’s season in the 2023 March issue of Net News.
Junior Challenge Ladder Mid-Season Standings
BOYS
1 Stephen Zhu
2 London Vasilescu
3 Kellen Simmons
4 Maanas Junghare
5 Jackson Brady
6 Robert Frierson
7 Bryan Powell
8 Jacob Dorland
9 Aaron Chang
10 Ryals Earnhardt
11 Moulik Jain
12 Maddox Iliescu
13 Grayson Perlman
14 Logan Gilleland
15 Ashrith Vemireddy
16 Lucas Vasilescu
17 Tom Hughes
18 Brandon Kim
19 Parth Mody
20 Micah Screws
21 Ayaan Valiani
22 Mike Hughes
23 Devesh Venkateswaran
24 Nicholas Ivchenko
25 Graham Antin
26 Raymond Gabler
27 Gene Yun
28 Thailesh Muruganandam
29 Adit Bhatia
30 Seokhyun Hong
31 Will Grable
32 Eli Falke
33 Jack Xu
34 Jeffrey Hallett
35 Satyajeeth Sk
36 Karaya Macharia
37 Ethan Brachman
38 Jay Sundar
39 Meet Soni
40 Prayag Kalaria
41 Andrew Godbey
42 Charlie Keable
43 John Lambremont
44 Avril Jain
45 Parth Gupta
46 Noah Chanthaphonh
47 Alexander Paden
48 Sebastian Mayorga
49 Ethan Ouyang
50 Jay Throckmorton
51 Ishaan Sivaramakrishnan
52 Orion Carmona
53 Arjun Desai
54 Donghan Kweon
55 Matteo Maddaleni
56 Jason Eigbedion
57 Tyler Ladge
58 Praneeth Kapalavayi
59 Jack Morrison
60 Bayan Watson
61 Saketh Ravikanti
GIRLS
1 Michelle Jones
2 Jigisha Singh
3 Manasi Bedi
4 Myra Wu
5 Jaala Screws
6 Amanda Tanaka
7 Alyssa Khou
8 Lauryn Swatski
9 Teri Brantley
10 Ryan Griffin
11 Bella Arwood
12 Manavi Bedi
13 Sydney Brantley
14 Madeline Hunt
15 Alyssa Braude
16 Athithi Ayyappan
17 Prisha Mody
18 Eesha Rangaraj
19 Caroline Malcolm
20 Hannah Lee
21 Bella Lotz
22 Sadira Ouyang
23 Juliana Diianni
24 Shresta Gunda
25 Stephanie Malcom
26 Lauren Powell
27 Katie Koenning
28 Grace Hauge
29 Jamaya Williams
30 Virginia Fisher
31 Samantha Ruder
32 Lily Kate Bell
33 Addison Merrill
36 Isabella Luce
37 Wangeshi Macharia
38 Keza Macharia
39 Elizabeth Liu
40 Ahana Singh
41 Isabella Massay
42 Sophia Luce
43 Dylan Merrill
44 Komal Chugh
45 Mckenzie Hensarling
46 Kavya Mistry
47 Mahi Ravi
48 Gabrielle Christie
49 Allison Chitwood
50 Aashini Ayyappam
52 Harshene Ramsankar
53 Harper Mammola
54 Arushi Bussi
55 Hannah Chanthaphonh
56 Bridgette Butler
57 Aria Desai
58 Nethra Ramalingam
59 Avery Gilleland
60 Katie Cummings
61 Sophie Henry
62 Sofia Johnson
63 Amrutha Tatiparthi
64 Ojal Aggarwal
65 Rida Quadri
66 Lydia Sweeney
