The photo is of Tennessee players and coaches represented at last weeks (2021) 25th annual World Team Tennis Junior National Championships in Orlando, Florida at the USTA National Campus.
Although Bill Riddle has coached Team Southern more than ten times over the last 25 years, this was the first year ever for Team Southern to get two teams in the event. The field consists of 16 teams invited from around the USA.
Players are between 14-18 years old and sections are encouraged to put together the best team possible with the only restriction being that no player can be ranked higher than 150 in the country in any age division.
The two teams, Team Southern Stars and Team Southern Heat, consisted of 3 boys and 3 girls each from around the 9 southern states.
Tennessee was represented as follows....(left to right in the photo)
Jackson Vaughan (Nolensville) assistant coach and current player at Cumberland University
Will Knighton (Memphis) player
Larissa Nogaeira (Clarksville) player at Rossview High School
Davis Eastham (Brentwood) player at Ravenwood High School
Bill Riddle (Nolensville) coach for both teams and M&W Tennis Coach at University of TN Southern
Both teams finished 2nd in their flights and faced off in the playoffs on July 1st finishing 7th (HEAT) and 8th (STARS) overall out of the 16 teams.
