2009 Junior Nationals:

5 juniors from Virginia participated in Junior Nationals held at the Michigan Athletic Club in East Lansing, MI, June 24-28, 2008...Kelani Bailey, Rion Ocampo, John Baird, David Kriparos, and Jeff Gorenshtein.

Congratulations to these juniors for their accomplishments:
     Kelani - 1st Place - Girl's Singles 14 & Under
     Kelani - 1st Place - Girl's Doubles 14 & Under - Partner Abbey Lavely (OH)
     Kelani - 1st Place - Mixed Doubles 14 & Under - Partner Nicholas Riffel (CO)
     Rion - 2nd Place - Boy's Doubles 16 & Under Consolation - Partner William Craig (TX)
     David - 3rd Place - Boy's 12 & Under - Blue Division


2008 Junior Nationals:

3 Team members participated in their second Junior Nationals held at the Big C Athletic Club in Concord, CA, June 25-29, 2008...Rion, Kelani, and Warren.

Congratulations to the Team as they brought 3 medals home with them:
     Kelani - 1st Place - Mixed Doubles 14 & Under - Partner Nicholas Riffel (CO)
     Warren - 1st Place - Boy's 10 & Under - White Division
     Kelani - 3rd Place - Girl's 14 & Under - Gold Division
    

2007 Junior Nationals:

5 Team members participated in their first Junior Nationals held at Arizona State University, June 20-24, 2007...Sharief, Rion, Kelani, Kamal, and Warren.

Congratulations to the Team as they brought 7 medals home with them:
     Kelani - 1st Place - Girl's 12& Under - Gold Division
     Kelani - 2nd Place - Mixed Doubles 12 & Under - Partner Sam Zeng (MI)
     Kamal - 2nd Place - Boy's 14 & Under - Red Division
     Warren - 3rd Place - Boy's 8 & Under - Gold Division
     Rion & Kamal - 1st Place - Boy's 14 & Under Doubles - Consolation
     Warren - 1st Place - Boy's 10 & Under Doubles - Consolation - Partner Derek Lynn (MD)

Special congratulations goes out to Kelani as she was named the Player of the Tournament by Adam Katz in his tournament wrap-up!!

Player of the Tournament, by Adam Katz:
Again a lot of stron contenders in this one but the player that stood out to me was Kelani Bailey of Virginia.  In her Junior Nationals debut, she claimed the Girl's 12 and Under National Championship and also brought home a Silver Medal in the Mixed 12 DOubles with Michigan's Sam Zeng as her partner.  It's not very often that a player can make their debut in a division higher than 8s and bring home the gold. but Kelani fought through the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th seeds on her way to the title and did it with a smile on her face the entire tournament.

Peter Appel has started holding clinics for juniors at the Sport & Health Club (Kirkwood Road) once a month with help from Jeff Wilson.  Click on the link below to read the article that appeared in the Sun Gazette (DC metro area) on Feb 3, 2009:

http://www.sungazette.net/articles/2009/02/03/arlington/sports/spt214.txt

The Eastern Regional Junior Championship was held at the Severna Park Racquetball and Fitness Club in Millersville, Maryland on February 21-22.  Below are the results for those Virginia juniors who participated.

Jeff Gorenshtein - 1st place Novice, 4th place 18 & Under
Brendon Grammes - 1st place 10 & Under, 2nd place 12 & Under Doubles
Coner Grammes - 1st place 12 & Under, 2nd place 12 & Under Doubles
Sriram Iyer - 5th place 12 & Under, 4th place 12 & Under Doubles
Lorena Meruvia - 3rd place 10 & Under
Christopher Peterson - 6th place 10 & Under, 6th place 12 & Under
Matthew Peterson - 4th place 14 & Under, 7th place 12 & Under
Mark Wolter - 5th place 10 & Under, 4th place 12 & Under Doubles

Malia Bailey has organized a Junior Racquetball Team that is open to any junior in the state who is willing to make the commitment to be a team member and follow the team guidelines.  The team meets monthly at the Greenbrier North YMCA (Chesapeake).  The team practices are filled with racquetball instruction, physical conditioning, application, rules review, etc.  Please see information below for team guidelines, goals, cost, and contact information.


Purpose:

The purpose of the Junior Racquetball Team is to develop racquetball skills, improve fitness levels, and promote sportmanship among any junior in the state who is willing to make the commitment to be a team member and follow the guidelines listed below.

The ultimate goal is to prepare a Team to represent the State of Virginia at Junior Nationals each year. Team members will be encouraged to attend Junior Nationls but this is not a requirement to be a part of the team.

All participants must have a basic knowledge of the game (this is not a beginners clinic) and must have exceptional enthusiasm to play and to learn.

Team Coach:

Malia Bailey…29 time national champion, former professional player, former US Team member, former US Team coach. There will be assistant coaches in order to provide more personal attention.

Guidelines:

· We will meet once a month throughout the year.
· We will work together as a team as well as individuals. Our goal is to raise the level of our racquetball game while learning sportsmanship and team work and will encourage one other.
· We will plan to achieve a higher fitness level and mental strength.
· We will play hard and work to the best of our abilities.
· We will respect the coaches and other team members.
· We will represent our team in such a manner that will make us stand out among others.
· We will accept the responsibility of our own actions.
· We will work on the things we have learned between sessions so that we will be ready to go for the next one.
· As we move forward we will add to these guidelines as a team as well as discuss awards and consequences for desireable and undesireable actions.

Workout Routine:

· 45 – 60 minutes for Physical Conditioning.
· 45 minutes for Racquetball Instruction.
· 45 – 60 minutes for Application.
· 30 minutes for Talk Time.
· The times may vary from session to session.
· We will go over rules and application of rules along with how to referee.

Cost:

There is a fee associated with team membership. We are looking to obtain sponsors to help defray costs.

Contact:

Malia Bailey – phone (757) 423-4584 (H), email xl2b1@cox.net