Fort Worth's Chase Welch, who plays at Cotton Creek Club Academy, won the Sportsmanship Award in the 12-Under Intermediate division at the JTT Spring Championships, held May 18-20 at the John Newcombe Tennis Ranch in New Braunfels. Welch was among the many local players who competed this season in Junior Team Tennis, which is for players 6 to 18 years old.

You can find results and photos from the big event on the USTA Texas Section website. JTT is popular in Fort Worth, and I hear a lot about the teams in North East Tarrant Tennis (NETT).


TNT (Technique & Tactics) Tennis pro Austin Wynne reports that TNT Tennis had two teams qualify from the NETT JTT league in the 14-Under Beginner flight:  The Colleyville Red Squirrels, who finished fourth, and the Colleyville Blue Squirrels, who were fifth.

The scoring system rewards teams for the percentage of total games won, rather than by outright margins of victory, so it's not what most of us are used to as tennis players. So even though the Blue Squirrels went 5-0, they finished fifth.

"It's basically like Federer and Nadal meeting in the Wimbledon final, Federer beating him and Nadal getting the title because he won his earlier rounds by a bigger margin than Federer did," Wynne explained in an email, clearly not thrilled about the format. I'm sure he was not alone. If you have an opinion about this, please email me so I can share it with other readers.

Eric Clay, who ran a USTA 10 & Under training workshop at TCU last Friday, is the USTA Texas JTT Coordinator. If you are a junior and want to compete, or if you want to sign up your children, contact Clay at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 512-433-1334, ext. 212. There are also local JTT coordinators, so contact your CTA to find the one at your tennis club.

Learn about JTT, and consider participating. Wish they had JTT when I was a kid!


Two Area Teams Win UIL State Championships

High school tennis is over, and most schools have closed for summer, but the experience of playing in the state tournament should keep these juniors energized at least until school starts.

Millsap's Josh Jones and Gabe Knight won the Class 2A boys doubles title, defeating Tyler Keel and Collin McMullen of White Oak, 7-5, 7-5, in the final. Argyle's Lacy Blake and Maddie Schorlemmer won the 3A girls doubles title, defeating Abilene Wylie's Shelby Corn and Whitney Frazier, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the final.

Jones-Knight and Blake-Schlorlemmer were the only locals to win UIL championships, but many other area juniors competed in the prestigious tournament. Last year, Mansfield's Andrew Korinek won the 5A boys singles title, and he has since committed to play for UT-Austin.

Here's a list of players from the Greater Fort Worth area who qualified for the University Interscholastic League (UIL) state tennis championships (in order from Class A to Class 5A).  For full brackets, visit the UIL website.

Millsap's Josh Jones and Gabe Knight won the Class 2A boys doubles title; Brock's Adam Lessner made the 2A boys singles final; Brock's Amy Henard and Sierra Potts made the 2A girls doubles final.

Argyle's Lacy Blake and Maddie Schorlemmer won the 3A girls doubles title.

Birdville's Will Adkisson made the 4A boys singles semifinals; Birdville's Haley Whatley made the 4A girls singles quarterfinals.

Wichita Falls' Adam Dockery and Shane Trebisky made the 4A boys doubles semifinals; Wichita Falls' Amy Gray and Meredith Wileman made the 4A girls doubles semifinals; Wichita Falls' Maggie Ross and Margaret Saied made the 4A girls doubles quarterfinals.

Aledo's Rob Raines and Amanda Richter made the 4A mixed doubles quarterfinals, as did Wichita Falls Rider's Melinda Johnson and Chris Norrie.

Southlake Carroll's Collin Alexander and John Woolridge made the 5A boys doubles quarterfinals; Carroll's Kelley Anderson and Austin McCasin made the 5A mixed doubles semifinals; Flower Mound Marcus' Kyle Barnes and Madison Car made the 5A mixed doubles quarterfinals.

Helio Castroneves to Play Exhibition at TMS

IndyCar and Dancing With the Stars champion Helio Castroneves (go ahead and try to find another athlete with both titles) will play tennis from 4:30-6 p.m. Wednesday, June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway in a special exhibition. Southlake Tennis Center will help create a court, and highly skilled juniors/college players are being recruited to take on the racing champ.

There is space for the first 50 who sign up. Go to Southlake Tennis Center's site for more details and to reserve your space.

Run/Roll Tennis Comes to Wagon Wheel

Wagon Wheel Tennis Center, which is in Coppell, hosted a Run/Roll Series event Saturday. USTA Run/Roll tennis pairs wheelchair and able-bodied players as doubles partners. The "roll" player is allowed two bounces, but that's the only rule difference.

Intrigued? I was--but I first noticed it on the USTA Texas Facebook page the day of the event, so I missed it. I will keep my eyes open wider so we all get a chance to go next time.

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