XXIV AAU Junior Olympics and USA National Junior Championships

USATT President Sheri Pittman awards the Joe Ferrell Memorial Award to Puerto Rico's Santiago Coste. Copyright 2000 by Roger Brown.

Traditionally, the Junior Olympics have been the proving ground for America’s next generation of Olympic Athletes. This year, more than 14,000 young people met in venues located around the Orlando area to compete in 26 different sports. Many of these athletes and their parents were treated to a taste of table tennis during the Opening Ceremonies at the Orlando Arena. Eight juniors from Georgia gave an exhibition of multiball training at the beginning of the show that drew large applause from the amazed spectators. This was the first time table tennis was included in the Opening Ceremonies. From the response of the audience, it will not be the last.

The table tennis competition attracted one hundred and thirteen competitors from eleven states. Hats off to Maryland, Florida, and Georgia, which each brought more than twenty athletes. New Jersey with twelve athletes and Puerto Rico with nine athletes also made a major impact on the competition.

The table tennis competition was held on the campus of the University of Central Florida, over a three-day period. Competition was held on sixteen individually-barriered tables with four practice tables in an adjacent room. A special Thank You goes out to Butterfly who sponsored the event, and provided the tables, barriers, and balls.

This competition is actually three separate tournaments rolled into one. Day One consisted of the AAU Junior Olympic Events. In these events, players can only play within their own age groups. Day Two consists of Doubles events in the morning and the USA National Junior Championship Singles events in the afternoon and evening, where players can play in multiple age events. Day three consisted of the AAU Regional Team Competition.

Play throughout the three days was of a high level and filled with drama. I am happy to report that it was also filled with fellowship and good sportsmanship. There were many high level matches and a number of athletes deserve special mention.

Martin Qian (VA) dominated a very talented Boys’ U10 field, taking the gold medals in both the AAU and National Championship events. Yao Xu (MD) took both the AAU and National Boys Under 12 singles titles as well as the doubles and team event. Amy Hung (FL) and Linden Li (VA) split the gold medals in the Girls’ Under 10 Singles events. Judy Hugh (NJ) and Sarah Zheng (FL) split the Girls’ Under 12 Singles events. Millisa Feliciano (PR) and Sherri Geng (MD) split the Under 14 Girls’ Singles events.

The two most dominant players of the tournament were Maryland’s Han Xiao and Katherine Wu. Han won six of the seven events he played in. His only loss came at the hands of Georgia’s Michael Liu in the finals of the National Boys Under 14 event. Katherine Wu was even more dominant as she won all six of the events she played in.

Each year the AAU recognizes one athlete who represents the best in both performance and sportsmanship with the Joel Ferrell Memorial Award. This year the award went to Santiago Coste from Puerto Rico. Santiago won gold in the AAU Boys Under 16 Singles, Doubles and Team Events. Throughout the tournament, he never failed to impress everyone with his fighting spirit and good sportsmanship.

The Junior Olympics/USA Junior Nationals is a key development tool for the coaches around the United States. I would like to take this opportunity to thank a number of coaches who have consistently supported this important event:

Team Maryland (26 athletes) – has long been the dominant team at this event. Coached by Jack Huang, Cheng Yinghua, and led into battle by Larry Hodges, this year they once again took the largest share of gold medals (26 of 49, with three shared doubles titles), including 10 of the 12 National Junior Singles titles. "Team Maryland" was known as "Potomac Valley AAU" (PVA) at the tournament, and is actually made up of parts of Maryland and Virginia. All the Maryland and Virginia players came from this AAU region, and from the MDTTC & PCTTC clubs in Maryland.

Team Florida (21 athletes) – Coaches Marty Prager and Terese Terranova are building a very strong program with many very young athletes. Many thanks for your years of dedication to coaching.

Team Georgia (28 athletes) – Led by W.C. Cleveland, this group consisted of athletes from three separate coaching programs in Atlanta. Coaches include: Don Olson, Richard McAfee, George Cooper, and Ralph Pressley. Only two years old, this program is on the move.

Team New Jersey (12 athletes) – Led by National Level Coach and U.S. Olympian Lily Yip, this program features a number of young rising stars. This includes two of her own children, Judy and Adam Hugh, who are both highly ranked junior stars.

Team Minnesota (4 athletes) – Coached by National Coach Mitchell Seidenfeld, this team featured rising stars Cory Eider and Joe Podvin. Both boys won a number of medals at this competition.

Finally, this event would not have been a success without the hard work of Tournament Director Yvonne Kronlage. I had the pleasure of assisting her this year and was amazed by her ability to put together this event in a very short time frame. This event provides a unique challenge because the AAU does not give the tournament director the entry information until the day before the event, and often the information is not correct. This makes for a lot of long hours trying to get draws correct and information out to the players. As always, Yvonne was up to the task, and the tournament ran smoothly.

Next year the Junior Olympics will be held in Hampton Roads, Virginia. I would urge the parents of any junior table tennis player to bring your child to this event. It is the only table tennis event in the country where the kids are the stars. It is indeed the future of our sport.