Junior Challenge Ladder

It Takes A Village

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.

Junior Challenge Ladder Mid-Season Standings BOYS GIRLS

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 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