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League News: It Takes A Village

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ALTA Junior Challenge Ladder

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