At the Wichita ITA Event last weekend, OTA sent 7 players: Lexi Beaver, Catherine Nettle, Emma Baker, Colton Cheek, Kyle Henry, Andrew Miller, and Jack Neal.  For those that don’t know, the ITA series is a collegiate-focused tournament schedule, where most players are either incoming or returning college players.  We came away with 6 wins as a group, which is not bad for a group of high schoolers playing with the big kids! 

All of our girls won a singles match, and Emma added a doubles victory as well.  Kyle won two rounds (including one over a Division I player from Dallas), and lost 3^rd set breakers to players from the Big 10 and Big East conferences.

Overall it was a very good tournament for the group, and we had a great time, too!  A movie night, separate coaches and player rooms, and (most importantly) a restaurant that served grass-fed beef… what more could we ask for???  How about our mental training coach coming along to observe the group in action?  Check.   Jason showed up for both days, offering many quality insights to Christy and Jared about all of our players.

We’ll be planning on this again next year, so keep it in mind – It’s a great experience!!

Just a few things to catch up on over the last couple of weeks… we’ve had a lot going on!!

• A rainy Aquafina: Lexi Beaver, Catherine Nettle, Hayden Swope, and Carter Swope all made the trip to Jackson, Ms, for the STA L3 Aquafina.  While many of the final rounds were rained out, all of our OTA players won at least one match, highlighted by Lexi’s 3^rd place finish.  That is her 3^rd top 4 finish at STA L3 tournaments… in April.

• Local rain, too: Also, we had very good OTA participation for the Fayetteville Summerhill tournament.  Many matches were shortened, but the tournament managed to get finished.  Here were our top finishers:

• Andrew Miller – 1^st Boys 18s
• Ryan Hargrove – 1^st Boys 16s
• Harsh Dhayal – 2^nd Boys 10s
• Catherine Nettle – 1^st Girls 16s
• Kruti Shah – 2^nd Girls 16s
• Avery Hargrove – 1^st Girls 14s
• Mary Houston – 2^nd Girls 12s

• Making his name: Carter Swope was invited to participate in the Southern Regional Tennis Camp in Atlanta last weekend.  The camp is for the top 24 players in each age division (8 and under for Carter), and is a rare invite for players from Northwest Arkansas.  (Although not so rare if you live in the Swope house… Hayden is shortlisted to make the 10 and under camp!)  Tough to tell from the picture, but I’m thinking he had a good time!!

• Gone but not forgotten: One of our OTA alums is doing very well in his new home.  Griffin “Crime Dog” Clark recently helped his new high school team lock up the city championship.  We are very happy for his continued success, but even more so that it is important for him to share his successes with us.  We hear he’s getting some nice compliments on his technique and oncourt behavior… in other words, he’s the same old Crime Dog!  Here is a great article on his team’s championship: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/841435_Wirth-the-wait–ManheimTownship-outlasts-Hempfield-for-L-L-team-tennis-title.html

• A reminder, summer sign-ups are here!  Head over to the Registration page under our Programs tab, it’s easier than ever!!

Another Southern Level 3 tournament, another successful OTA weekend!  We were very impressed with our overall play, and hope you can all see the progress you’re making.  It was great having 28 players to watch, as it gives us a great feel for where we are as a program.  And, with 3 finalists in one Level 3 tournament, we tied our record… for the second straight tournament!!

Here were our top finishers:

• Brooke Killingsworth (Girls 12s), Hayden Swope (Boys 12s), and Dylan DeLuca (Boys 16s) all made the finals… and all got second.  Oh well, next time!  Dylan made it for the second straight tournament, avenging his loss in last month’s Polar Bear final in the semis.  Hayden gutted out one of the most physical matches of the tournament in his semis, taking down a kid who crushed him last fall.  And Brooke lost a tough 3^rd set tiebreaker in the final – on her 11^th birthday!

• Avery Hughes (Girls 12s) was our other placer, finishing 4^th.  In addition, Colin Clay (Boys 10s) and Catherine Nettle (Girls 16s) won out in consolation.

In addition to our top finishers, here were some standout moments from the weekend:

• For the most part, our attitudes were incredible!  OTA players demonstrated discipline and self-control, without sacrificing passion and fight.  It made us proud as coaches to watch them.  But this weekend was impressive in a slightly different way – we stayed above the fray in many moments where we could have just responded in kind.  Brooke was treated about as rudely as possible by one of her opponents, and never took a shot of her own, just ignored it and went about her business.  Hayden witnessed an absolutely epic meltdown by his opponent, and simply grabbed his stuff and walked away.  All over the grounds, we witnessed OTA players refusing to sink to lower levels of behavior, and we were just thrilled!

• Jack Neal HAS to be singled out, though.  One opponent insulted and screamed his way through their match.  Jack never did more than chuckle and shake his head before walking away.  Great, right?  No… amazing!  Because Jack used to go ballistic over any slight, real or perceived.   For some people, it’s easy to ignore things.  In a way, it’s even more rewarding when you know how hard it used to be for someone to do that.  Way to go, Jack!

• Mary Houston had an entire city (it felt like) against her in her 2^nd round match.  Parents (not hers) were calling out wrong scores, coaching, and generally cheering obnoxiously against her throughout the match.  Let’s just say the umpires – while they normally do a great job – were a bit overmatched in this case.  Not only did Mary have the courage to fist pump and fight her way to victory… but she did it at age 10.  Incredible.

• And finally, there was a poignant, bittersweet moment in the Girls 12s semis.  Brooke and Avery met up and had an absolute battle.  For those that haven’t played, it is a difficult situation playing a good friend, doubles partner, teammate, or major rival.  It is even harder to play someone who is all of those!  Our girls showed each other the respect to play as hard as they could, without holding back or whining or making excuses.  They were fist-pumping, crying “come on,” and practically diving for balls all over the court.  When the dust finally settled, with Brooke narrowly taking the 3^rd set breaker, they came to the net and Avery immediately embraced Brooke.  It was a devastating loss for her, yet she had the maturity and dignity to congratulate her friend.  And for Brooke, it was a huge win, yet her celebration was muted to say the least.  Before their next match, I saw them walking through the trees at Rebsamen together.  Laughing.  That is what it means to compete, and that is a true OTA attitude.

So thank you all for a great weekend, we appreciated all of you!  See you at practice, and next weekend in Shreveport…

As if Kennedy Coffee weren’t already the coolest coffee place around, it just got a whole lot cooler… Coach Drew has his art on display until May 5^th!!

When you get a chance, stop in for a mango smoothie with oj (Antea’s favorite), a Green Monster (Christy and Jared’s favorite), an 8 oz Americano – with 3 Splendas (that would be Abbey), a spiced chai latte (Drew), or just a nice, warm cup of joe (keep it black, keep it paleo!!).

Seriously, it’s a really awesome display, you guys will love it!

What a great weekend we had for our 8^th Annual OTA Championships!!  Thank you all so much for participating, it was a fantastic showing from our entire group… as usual!  We’d like to thank our sponsors Coppertone and Nestle for providing sunscreen and water.  Also, thanks to our Process Communication Model trainer, Jason Leal from Talknotch (pictured to the right, no doubt waist deep in PCM theory with Christy!), for coming down to see the kids perform and share his insights with our coaches.

This year’s overall champion was Jordan Sheppard, who won after appearing in the finals for the second straight year.  Jordan is the last of the “Original 7” members who began with us on a January day a little over 7 years ago.  (We got a little nostalgic, so you’ll see some “old school” pictures of him below!)  In this, his 8^th and final try, he overcame a very game Grady McCain, who pushed him to the limit before Jordan pulled out the final tiebreaker, 16-14.

In addition to securing his first OTA Championship, the win also vaulted him to the top of the leaderboard in this year’s OTA Player of the Year race.   It came down to the final day, but with Luke Lundstrum barely dropping a 3rd set breaker to Grady in the semis, Jordan clinched it by simply reaching the finals.  So a big congratulations to Jordan, for taking home both titles in the same day!

Two other awards were given out, and they are some of the toughest ones to judge… which is a really good thing!  The Sportsmanship Award went to Veronica VanderMolen, and the Fight Award went to The Richie Joshuva.  We had lots of great choices for both awards (in fact, the Fight Award truly came down to the final match between The Richie and Srikar Chikkala), but in the end we felt that Veronica and The Richie were most deserving.  Congratulations to both!

So thanks again for coming out and showing your OTA pride, it’s this type of event that truly shows what kind of family we are!  We appreciate the incredible attitudes from all of our players and parents alike.  Playing against your friends is sometimes the toughest thing to do, but you all managed it with the class and dignity we’ve come to expect.

Great job to everyone, we’ll see you this week!

2013 OTA Championships: 

Rafa Division – Jordan Sheppard def Grady McCain

Djoker Division – Hayden Swope def Kruti Shah

Federer Division – Jake Keefauver def Tripp McConnell

Murray Division – Agnibho Roy def Carson Nettle

Stephens Division – Carter Swope def Grace Coleman

Isner Division – Ella Coleman def Andrew Schweitzer

2013 OTA Player of the Year – Jordan Sheppard

• OTA Championships Winner – Jordan Sheppard
• Highest Southern Ranking – Hayden Swope (11^th in the Southern Section, Boys 10s)
• OTA Doubles Champion – Jordan Sheppard/Srikar Chikkala
• OTA Team Event Champions – Luke Lundstrum, Nathan Street, Jack Neal, Hans  Corbell, Sammi Cowan, Tony Kopek, Tripp McConnell
• OTA Shoot-Out Winner – Dylan DeLuca

Hall of Fame

OTA Champions:

2006 – Abbey Sharpe def Andrew Todd

2007 – Abbey Sharpe def Retz Chapman

2008 – Abbey Sharpe def Martin Tabler

2009 – Martin Tabler def Abbey Sharpe

2010 – Daniel “DJ” Joshuva def Caleb “C Mac” McReynolds

2011 – Reed Churchill def Kyle “Holiday” Henry

2012 – Kyle “Holiday” Henry def Jordan Sheppard

2013 – Jordan Sheppard def Grady McCain

Player of the Year:

2013 – Jordan Sheppard

Collegiate Players:

Abbey Sharpe – Drury University

Martin Tabler – University of Arkansas-Ft. Smith

Caleb “C Mac” McReynolds – Harding University

Rob Hodous – University of Texas-Tyler

Varun Shah – University of Charleston

Colton Cheek – John Brown University

Well, the Spring Swing is in the books, and a huge thank you to all of our OTA players who participated!!  Despite the rain, we ended up getting all of the singles draws finished, and a few of the doubles as well.  We really appreciate all of you, and the patience you displayed with us as we worked to get the schedule tweaked to accommodate the rain.

As many of you know, we rarely do round-ups after Arkansas district tournaments, other than the Qualifier and Closed.  Often our focus in OTA is on how we compete with the state, and even more on how we compete against the South and beyond.  But it can be a point of pride with our players, and this one merits a little attention.  You’ll see why.  Whether you played or not, we want all of our players to know how we are doing as a group, and to take pride in being part of the OTA family!

But, before we get into the results, we wanted to commend the group on what was the best part of the weekend – our attitude, effort, and fighting spirit was so impressive!  We put this first, because with everything else we’re about to report, we are most proud of who you are as people.  We are happy for you because you won so much… we are proud of you for the way you represented yourselves, your families, and OTA.  Thank you!!

All of the results are listed below, but the quick version is this: OTA won EVERY SINGLE OPEN DIVISION!!!  Not only that, we placed 1st AND 2nd in 5 of the 9 singles divisions… over half!  That is an unprecedented result in a tournament with 131 participants.  And while results are not the only measuring stick of our success as a program, we hope that these serve as a validation of all of your hard work, and hopefully inspire you to continue – or even raise – your current efforts.

So, well done, OTA – both during this weekend, and in the weeks and months of preparation that made it possible.  We are looking forward to a great spring, and appreciate the opportunity to work with all of you… Go OTA!!!!

Open singles:

• Boys 10 – Noah Butler won, Carter Swope placed 2nd
• Girls 10 (it was listed as novice, but the top girls were all Open players) – Ella Coleman won, Hailey Tunnell placed second
• Boys 12 – Hunter Freeman won
• Girls 12 – Mary Houston won
• Boys 14 – Tony Kopek won
• Girls 14 – Brooke Killingsworth won (she is 10 years old)
• Boys 16 – Ryan Hargrove won, Patrick Keith placed 2nd
• Boys 18 – Grady McCain won, Nathan Street placed 2nd
• Girls 18 – Catherine Nettle won, Kruti Shah placed 2nd

Only a handful of doubles draws finished.  Here is how OTA did:

• Boys 10 Novice – no entries for OTA
• Boys 10 Open – Noah Butler and Colin Clay won, Carter Swope and his partner placed 2nd
• Girls 16 Novice – Jordan Montgomery and Veronica VanderMolen won
• Boys 16 Open – Patrick Keith and Srikar Chikkala won, Jack Neal and The Richie Joshuva placed 2nd
• Girls 18 Doubles – Emma Baker and Catherine Nettle placed 1st
• In other words, we won every division we entered!!

Novice singles divisions:

• Boys 10 Novice – Neil Chatlani placed 2nd
• Boys 12 Novice – Jackson Runnels won
• Girls 12 Novice – didn’t place
• Boys 14 Novice – Payton Harris placed 2nd
• Boys 16 Novice – didn’t place
• Girls 16 Novice – Jordan Montgomery won, Veronica VanderMolen placed 2nd
• Pretty cool, placed in the top 2 in 4 out of 6 divisions entered, winning 2 of them!

Just wanted to give a shout out to our two award winners in OTA!  At the Arkansas Awards Banquet, players/coaches were recognized from all over the state. Catherine Nettle, otherwise known as EC (Extra Credit), received the Jay Freeman Most Improved Player Award from the Arkansas Tennis Association.  It could not have gone to a better recipient, as she continually puts in the time, hard work, and focused dedication to take her game to the next level.

Also, our own Jared Ward received the Victor Sheshunoff Award, which is given for outstanding contributions to teaching in Arkansas.  For those of you that really know Jared, he would rather be known for being a quality teacher than anything else!  Adding that to having been named Arkansas USPTA Pro of the Year, Arkansas Southern Cup Coach for 5 straight years, and this year selected to serve on the Southern Section Coaches Commission, he is really racking up the hardware when it comes to recognition in the State and in the South.  I would say you guys have put your kids’ tennis in the right hands!  Jared doesn’t like to send these kind of things about himself…but I do!

For 12 years now, he has dedicated a lot of time and energy in doing the best job that he possibly can for his players, and for tennis in general.   He really deserves a “job well done.”

We are always striving to learn more, do better, and execute with a greater accuracy — so hopefully we will only continue to see more OTA players and coaches recognized for their efforts in the future.

Thank you for being part of our OTA family!
Christy Ward