TEAM SPONGE BOB
I had the pleasure of attending the Boy's 12's Southerns in Columbia SC. It was my second time around. I had been there 4 years straight previously, about 4 years ago. Nothing much has changed. The site has been improved a bit, but our MS Juniors are still struggling. We honestly do not have the numbers to competitively compete on that level. Don't get me wrong, there are exceptions. However, the majority of Junior players need others on their level or better to compete against on a regular basis in order to get better. We need more Junior Tennis Players. Let's work on this problem.Also, there is obvious miscommunication about who qualifies. Because of this miscommunication we never have had all of our top juniors participate. There is a misconception that you much end up in the top 6 in the MS Qualifing Event to qualify for Southerns. Not necessarily..... Say you have worked all year to establish a ranking of #3 in MS and you have a bad tournament at the Qualifying event.... you are not out! It goes by the quota (which needs to be increased, see Important Comment on Home Page). If 7 kids are endorsed that leaves one spot for you, even if you don't have your best tournament. You still deserve it. There were 4 or 5 top ranked boys 12's, at least, that were not at Southern's that should have been there. If it is financial, we need to car pool and share rooms, share costs.....something to get them there. I would put money on the fact that it was the same in all other age groups. Let me know your thoughts.
