December 22, 2009
News for Immediate Release
Photos Available Upon Request
By Kathleen Kuhn Johnson
USTA Georgia
QuickStart Tennis & USTA Jr. Team Tennis:
A Winning Combination
The first-ever 8 and Under (8U) Jr. Team Tennis Regional League Championship got under way at
Harrison Tennis Center in Marietta, GA, on a beautiful November 2009 Saturday morning. From about
10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., on Nov. 7, 2009, four teams from Cherokee, Marietta and Atlanta gathered for
the Georgia’s inaugural regional championship—Vinings Estates (Rachal), Harrison TC (Hermann), Eagle
Watch (DeVargis) and Eagle Watch (Marchetti).
When the dust cleared Saturday, the team from Eagle Watch (DeVargis), had come in first place
with 122 team points, and Vinings Estates, had come in second. But there were no losers at the
tournament as families gathered to watch their children and siblings play tennis on a spectacularly
beautiful late fall day.
“Jr. Team Tennis is always a real family affair,” says Mary Dillon, USTA Georgia’s Jr. Team Tennis
(JTT) state league coordinator. “This is the first year for an 8U championship,” said Dillon, who organized
the tournament. “Ideally, I’d like to see four regions in the state, but we’re starting with just two this
year.”
The following weekend, 18-year-old Melanie Oudin, 2009 US Open quarterfinalist and former
world #2-ranked junior, joined the 8 and unders at Racquet Club of the South (RCS) on another
spectacular November day. A total of 12 teams are entered from most of the Atlanta metro area, as well
as Athens, over two weekends (Nov. 7 and 14) to participate in the two 8U regional league
championships.
Eight teams from the Atlanta metro area, as well as Athens, gathered at RCS on Nov. 14. There
were two teams from the Athens COTA League (Athens-Bowen, Athens-Beck), one team from Roswell
(E Roswell Park-Julian), three teams from Norcross (RCS-Nealy, RCS-Doyle and RCS-Dreaden), one
from Atlanta (Bitsy Grant-Mauldin), and one team from Grayson (Wheatfields-Cavaness). Mary Doyle's
and Steve Nealy's RCS teams received gold medals. Runners up were Lisa Bowen's Athens-COTA,
Debbie Beck's Athens-COTA teams.
Oudin, who is in only her second year as a professional, has had a whirlwind fall, but she’s took
time out of her very busy schedule to come cheer on the 8U Jr. Team Tennis regional championship
participants at RCS. It was just 10 years ago that Oudin was an 8U herself . . .
QuickStart and JTT: A Winning Combination
The 8U teams play on the new smaller “QuickStart” courts (36’x18’), without doubles alleys.
Harrison TC was the first tennis center in the state to complete six dedicated QuickStart courts in the fall
of 2008. QuickStart is the new junior format established by USTA to give young tennis players a chance
to experience tennis on their own terms, and own size.
What is QuickStart Tennis? QuickStart Tennis is an exciting new play format for learning tennis,
designed to bring kids into the game by utilizing specialized equipment, shorter court dimensions and
modified scoring, all tailored to age and size. It is divided into two different levels—ages 8 and under and
ages 10 and under.
“The smaller courts, low-compression balls and smaller rackets give the young tennis player
(10U, 8U) a chance to experience tennis as they would in other sports,” says Scott Laakso, chairman of
USTA Georgia’s Jr. Team Tennis Committee and tennis director for Roswell Park. “We wanted to give very
young tennis players a chance to start out on smaller courts and with smaller equipment, too, as they do
in baseball and soccer.”
“The idea is to encourage immediate success,” Laakso adds. “The ball is foam or lowcompression, and larger than the standard tennis ball. The rackets, for the 8U players, are 23-in. in
length or less. And the court is smaller too.” In fact, you can actually fit four of the QuickStart 36-ft x 18ft. courts on a regular sized court.
In addition to the age-appropriate equipment and court sizes, scoring is easier, too. The 8U
group players game scoring is similar to a tiebreak where they play first to seven points, alternating two
serves per player before changing servers. The set scoring is two games out of three, so games go fast,
with no time to stand around and get bored.
Harrison TC and Racquet Club of the South Lead the Way
With QuickStart Tennis in Georgia
USTA’s QuickStart program was designed to ensure children have success and enjoyment in
tennis from their first swing. Two Georgia facilities jumped at the opportunity to build dedicated
QuickStart courts (8U--36x18) and paint lines (10U—60x21 singles and 60x27 doubles) receiving grant
monies from USTA, USTA Southern, USTA Georgia and other sources. Harrison TC was first in the state,
completing construction on six QS 36x18 courts and eight 60-ft courts with painted lines in the fall of
2008. RCS followed in 2009 with six permanent 36-ft. courts and five 60-ft courts, as well.
“The parents and children love the format,” said Steve Lottinger, Director of Tennis at Harrison
Tennis Center. “The kids are actually playing tennis instead of just chasing balls. It’s amazing watching
serves and returns go in the court, and points lasting five to 10 shots long.”
At Harrison, their first QuickStart league signed up 128 juniors. QuickStart classes and camps in
2009 had 950 enrolled, and the new Cobb County elementary league, which used both the 36- and the
60-ft courts, had 135 players. Special Pops, a tennis program for special needs juniors, used the
QuickStart courts, as well, and had 35 participants. Radio Disney broadcast from Harrison in 2009 and
100 kids showed up to play. Harrison was also site of the first-ever 8U Regional Championship in
November 2009.
“I see QuickStart tennis as a great program for beginning junior tennis players,” said Lottinger.
“The fantastic participation numbers we are generating show just how much the parents and children
have enjoyed it.”
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