Two Fridley Teams to Compete at the 2016 USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – Junior tennis teams from Fridley, Minn., will compete in the 2016 USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships, held at the Cayce Tennis Center in Cayce, S.C.. The 14U Advanced team will compete Oct. 13-16 and the 18U Advanced team will compete Oct. 20-23.

The 2016 USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships will bring together the top 28 14U teams (225 players) and top 32 18U teams at intermediate and advanced levels from various USTA Sections throughout the country.

The 14U team is coached by Sion Wilkins and features team members Christopher Alex, Tomas Jay, Jonathan Nudler, Sarah Shahbaz, Courtney Kallas and Amanda Diao

The 18U team is coached by Brian McCoy and features Sam Hohenshell, Nikita Snezhko, Jake Trondson, Allie Kopiecki, Meagan Brown and Marit Swenson.

The National Championships serves as the crown jewel of USTA Junior Team Tennis as the nation’s top teams compete for the title. Each year the USTA crowns a national champion in two age divisions (14U and 18U) in both the Intermediate and Advanced play divisions.

“The National Championships is a yearly capstone event where every team has had a similar yet different path to make it to the event through their respective sections,” said Matt Barnhart, National Manager for USTA Junior Team Tennis. “The players really enjoy the competition aspect as well as getting the chance to bond with other players from all over the country on and off the court.”

This is the fifth year the Cayce Tennis Center will host to the USTA Junior Team Tennis National Championships. In addition, a second tennis facility, the Lexington County Tennis Complex, also will be utilized to serve the hundreds of players competing each weekend.

“Every year we look forward to these accomplished young people and their families coming to our international award-winning tennis and fitness facility in Cayce,” said Cayce Mayor Elise Partin. “Many of our Cayce residents and residents across the Midlands use this facility on a daily basis, and we couldn’t be happier to share it and our Cayce hospitality with players and families from around the country for the National Championships.”

Established in 1991, USTA Junior Team Tennis provides youth with all of the health and social benefits of tennis in a coed, fun and competitive team environment – all while allowing participants to compete with and against individuals of similar ages and skill levels.

With more than 99,000 players competing nationwide, USTA Junior Team Tennis brings players together to enjoy camaraderie and teamwork, providing a fun environment for kids to learn that succeeding is really more about how they play the game – win or lose.

Visit the USTA Junior Team Tennis website at ustajtt.com for complete results, stories and photos.

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The USTA is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the U.S. and the leader in promoting and developing the growth of tennis at every level -- from local communities to the highest level of the professional game. A not-for-profit organization with more than 715,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds in growing the game. It owns and operates the US Open, the highest-attended annual sporting event in the world, and launched the Emirates Airline US Open Series, linking eight summer tournaments to the US Open. In addition, it owns approximately 90 Pro Circuit events throughout the U.S. and selects the teams for the Davis Cup, Fed Cup, Olympic and Paralympic Games. The USTA’s philanthropic entity, the USTA Foundation, provides grants and scholarships and helps under-resourced youth and individuals with disabilities, and supports wounded, ill and injured service members, veterans and their families. For more information on the USTA, log on to usta.com, “like” the official Facebook page, facebook.com/usta, or follow @usta on Twitter.