Wyoming juniors came up big at the recent ITA WY District Cup Indoor Championships held in Laramie on November 8 - 9th at the beautiful UWYO Indoor Tennis Complex. This is the second Level V junior tournament held in Wyoming this year.
Josh Cossitt (Cheyenne P&R Director of Tennis) held the first Level V this year, and the first ever in WY, earlier this summer in Cheyenne. It was a HUGE Success with 109 participants from all Intermountain Districts (WY, CO, UT, NV, MT, and ID).
The ITA WY District Indoor attracted 63 players from WY, CO, ID and UT. Wyoming players were from Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper, Cody, Powell and Sheridan. The event was held over just two days and was a compass draw or round robin events. This format (RR or Compass) allows all players to play more matches than a traditional single elimination tournament. We wanted this for our Wyoming player development. It paid off! Wyoming juniors took first or second place in a number of the divisions:
B 10’s Singles Champion Ben Vigneri (Casper)
G 14’s Singles Finalist Grace Dereemer (Cheyenne)
G 16’s Singles Finalist Rachel Phillips (Cheyenne)
G 16 Doubles Champions Lea Bergman (Laramie) and Mia Oliver (Denver)
G 18’s Singles Champion Julianne Soler (Casper)
G 18’s Doubles Champions Julianne Soler and Jaclyn Soler (Casper
  Finalists Grace Dereemer and Rachel Phillips (Cheyenne)
Tennis wasn’t all the players got involved in. While waiting for matches we introduced players to the UWYO NJTL Chapter, the Arthur Ashe Essay Contest, and to the A.C.E. Curriculum. Players played one of the ACE activities, Multiplication Tic-Tac-Toe, with other competitors, with their siblings and with their parents. Many parents commented that they had never heard of NJTL. The ACE activities were a GREAT educational pastime while waiting for matches and it was FUN!
Our excellent tournament desk staff where USTA WY Board members Julie Francis and Timmy Lew. A Tournament Director could not ask for a better “crew.” They even figured out how to put 7 matches on at the same time on only 6 courts – they are the BEST!
Many thanks to all; players, parents, staff, umpire David Henry, and the UWYO Varsity Tennis for helping make this such a great event. We will see you again next year!