Why Junior Matchplay Matters: the Development of “Pathway to Match Play”

“Do your kids want to play Junior Team Tennis this spring?” asked our coach in March of 2024.

“But, they don’t really know how to play a match yet,” I protested. “Are they actually ready?”

“Absolutely!” their coach replied. “I will work with them on serving and keeping score again and they will be fine. In Orange Ball, coaches and captains are out on the courts with the kids to help them with scorekeeping and rules. It will be great!”.

She was right.  It was great.  In fact, it was more than great; it was transformational.  Something about playing in that very first match made the kids realize just how much FUN tennis could be. Playing regular, weekly matches made them more motivated to practice and attend clinics. They wanted to improve for the next match, and suddenly, tennis became infinitely more fun!

A group of seven children, ages 9-10, most of whom had never played matches before (or even met each other), became a sweet little team over the course of the eight-week season.  Additionally, the other team in the league was also composed of new players, and all of the children were able to learn together in a collaborative and encouraging environment. The kids and adults cheered for both teams alike.  It was incredible to watch how rapidly the players grew in their abilities once they began playing matches.

Jackson Ivester enjoyed many things about that first season.  “I liked getting to play more often and getting to play doubles with new people was fun.” (Junior Team Tennis teams play weekly matches on Sunday afternoons and players get the opportunity to play both singles and doubles matches).

Zoe White remembers “being out there without really knowing what I was doing, but there were adults there to help me, and soon I was able to call out the score and play an entire match without assistance.”

Junior Team Tennis has two seasons each year, Spring and Fall.  Our team then played another season of Orange Ball the Fall of 2024.  I was asked to serve as the team captain by our coach.  Despite feeling completely unqualified, I said I would do it, and I am so glad that I did. Having parents willing to step up to captain JTT teams is an essential part of the process, and it was easy to do.  I completed the USTA Safe Play training and background check, which is required to be a JTT Captain, and I started doing the lineups and standing on the court with the kids during matches. 

As a team, and with the guidance of their coach, we decided that the kids should advance to the Green Ball level for the Spring 2025 season.  Orange Ball plays on a modified, smaller court with a low compression ball that is designed to bounce at waist level for a typical 8-10 year old.  Green ball, on the other hand, plays on the FULL court, but it uses a low compression ball that bounces a little higher than an orange ball.  

Owen Windemuller remembers that “it was easy to transition and green ball was much more fun with the full court.” Madeline White remembers feeling “proud” about moving up to green ball and that “the ball bounced higher so that was a challenge and we had to learn new techniques because the kids we played were older.” 

Despite moving up to the new level, the core group of the team stayed together. Seven out of the original seven that played on the Spring 2024 Orange Ball team are still playing together now. Many of the children have expressed how special it has been to keep playing together as a team.  Zoe White enjoys that it has allowed for “getting to know each other better as people.  It makes us closer as a team,” she said. 

Junior Team Tennis is special because sportsmanship is at the core of the sport and the league.  As parent Kate Windemuller points out, “One thing that has surprised me with JTT is how much more responsibility is on the kids to govern themselves versus most other sports that have referees/umpires making the calls. This creates a great learning opportunity for the kids to learn to speak up and be confident, but always with fairness and good sportsmanship.”

After two years and four season of JTT league play, this group of kids is definitely hooked!  They are already thinking ahead to their next season and what they hope to improve upon between now and then:

Jackson Ivester says, “In 2026 I want to work on a new serve technique and play in more tournaments.”

Madeline White is looking forward to working on a slice serve and playing against new people.

Owen Windemuller has set a goal of improving his winning record.

Zoe White is looking forward to hosting her team for a party to kick off the Spring Season and wants to win the state championship.  

Our team’s experience, seeing children grow in their enthusiasm for tennis after playing matches, led to the idea for revamping of Young Folks Tennis to emphasize a “Pathway to Match Play” for 2026. The goal is to make this new 12-week introductory course culminate with the kids learning to play a match, so the children can experience that thrill of match play. Additionally, we hope that the children will form friendships within the small clinic environments, which will set them up to potentially continue to play together as a group (or a JTT team!) in the future.  

Winston-Salem Tennis, Inc. will publicize these offerings in January of 2026 for children ages 8-12, and children will be grouped according to age and ball color. The program is being supplemented with grant money from Young Folks Tennis to reduce the cost to $100 total for the 12-week, 18-hour session.  

We hope to see many happy children on the courts this spring on the “Pathway to Match Play” with one of our local host vendors. And we hope to later see those same children playing JTT starting in mid-April!

Written by JoAnn White, Winston-Salem Tennis, Inc. Board Member