PAWTUCKET, RI – Playing out of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, Coach Drew Goldstein’s Jr. Team Tennis team is familiar with tennis history.
These days, the Hall of Fame team is making some of its own.
For the fourth consecutive year, the Hall of Fame has emerged as Rhode Island state champions and earned a trip to the USTA New England Section Championships, which will take place Aug. 18-19 at UMass-Amherst and Hampshire College.
The Hall of Fame repeated as RI JTT champions.
In 2008 and 2009, the team went on to win the New England championship and represented the section at the National Championships.
Goldstein’s secret to success is about as basic as it gets.
"I just make sure to keep them motivated and make sure they’re still having fun, so they’ll look forward to playing," said Goldstein, a senior professional instructor at the International Tennis Hall of Fame and recipient of the 2009 USTA New England Jr. Team Tennis Coach of the Year award. "If the kids are having fun, they’re going to keep coming back and keep getting better."
The Hall of Fame team has remained essentially intact over the last four years, with a core group of players returning each year.
"These kids have all gotten better and better," Goldstein said. "They’re a really easy group to coach. They play tennis at different high schools during the year and I think they’re getting a lot out of JTT as far as staying on the court and working on their games."
Goldstein was quick to credit his team’s competition and the efforts to grow JTT in Rhode Island.
"There’s some really good tennis being played around the state," he said. "Our championship match (a 3-2 win over South County) was very intense and close. JTT has really taken off down here and each year the level of play is getting better and a lot of the better players from the area are participating."
Small State, Big JTT Interest…
Including the two straight appearances by the hall of Fame team, Rhode Island has sent JTT teams to the National Championships in each of the last three years.
As the interest in the program has grown, so too has the level of competition, according to Sandy Sweet, Founder of the Wakefield-based South County Community Tennis Association.
"Wherever I am, I promote JTT," said Sweet, who regularly attends high school coaches’ meetings and tennis awards ceremonies to spread the word about Jr. Team Tennis.
That strategy has worked tremendously.
Four years ago, Rhode Island had four teams in its winter league. Last winter, that number reached 20. The summer league featured 23 teams.
"I think it’s a matter of the kids knowing that there’s some great competition in JTT and it’s a way to stay sharp for the high school season," Sweet said.
Proof that JTT play has bolstered the level of high school players is in the results. South Kingstown High School, a bona fide high school sports dynasty, sends most of its varsity tennis players to Jr. Team Tennis.
Last year, the school won a mind-boggling 12th consecutive Rhode Island state championship.
"For the South Kingstown team, the players are facing some of the best competition they face all year in the JTT leagues," Sweet said.
And the winners were…
18s- Hall of Fame
14s- Providence Spartans
South Kingstown 18s
South County 14s
Providence 14s