2nd Annual ATA Winter Invitational
Over President’s weekend, more than 40 players participated in the second annual ATA Winter Invitational event held at the Legacy Youth Tennis and Education facility in Philadelphia, PA. Players from Washington DC, Maryland, Philadelphia, New York, Trenton and Boston competed together on teams and individually in a highly competitive single round elimination tournament. Results from the final round of singles are as follows:
Girl’s 18’s – Emira Stafford from Philadelphia defeated Stephanie Miller from Washington DC
Boy’s 18’s – Andre Jarmen from Philadelphia defeated KumeilHosain from New York City
Girl’s 16’s – Kiara Rose from New York City defeated Lauren Jacobs from Boston
Boy’s 16’s – Leo Escudero from New York City defeated Jonathan Agyeno from Yonkers, New York
Girl’s 14’s – Leila Sorr from Philadelphia defeated Jasmine Morris from Philadelphia
Boy’s 14’s – Jordan Chrysostom from Washington DC defeated Ameer Hosain from New York City
In addition to the action on court, all players participated in four off court activities including a team building exercise, a night of bowling, a College Readiness Workshop and a 10 and Under Tennis community service project. As part of the team building exercise, players where encouraged to network with their randomly selected teammates and create imaginative team names like team “Blurred Lion” which ultimately won the team competition by collectively winning the total number of games during match play, posting the most content on social media and demonstrating outstanding team spirit. The level of “skill” on display Saturday night made it blatantly obvious that although a great time was had by all, the players were definitely in town for tennis not bowling!
The College Readiness Workshop commenced with a panel discussion led by current college players Rebecca Breland and Carly Bohman from Temple University and De’Sean Fennell from LaSalle. Coach Shawn Becker from Philadelphia University discussed the recruiting process and the NCAA clearing house and Maisha Challenger from the United States Department of Education outlined the Financial Aid process for all kids and parents in attendance. However, the off court highlight of the entire weekend was admiring the excitement and enthusiasm the players brought to the court as they gave back to the next generation of ATA juniors during the 10 and Under clinic.
Coverage of the weekend was captured extensively on social media. Comments, video and photos are available at ATA1916 (#atawinterinvitational) on Twitter, Vine and Instagram respectively. Overall the weekend was a huge success. We would like to thank all of you for your support and special recognition should be given to USTA-DC, USTA-Middles States, USTA-Eastern and USTA NJTL for sponsoring food, prizes and activities all weekend.