VOLLEYING

“Volleying” is the place for comment by visitors on articles published in prior issues of this web site.

In the January issue, I published an article titled, “Let’s Make It A True “National” Junior”. I am pleased to publish, with his permission, two comments by e-mail from Chris Kelley, a freshman at Georgetown University who partnered with Hallet Nichol in 2007 to win the 18 and under Junior National Championship. They successfully defended their title on January 26, 2008.

Re: "LET’S MAKE IT A TRUE “NATIONAL” JUNIOR"
(January 2008 Issue)

Note #1

Hey Mr. Vasoll,
My name is Chris Kelley and I recently read your post about the Junior Nationals and wanted to commend you for bringing up such an important topic for the growth of paddle. I'm 18 years old, am a freshman at Georgetown University, and me and my partner Hallet Nichol teamed up last year to win the 18 and under junior nationals. Although undoubtedly excited, we both still felt like we had to describe our victory much more modestly than the title of national champion afforded, saying that there were only six states represented, it was basically Fairfield county transplanted to Summit, NJ, and the farthest kids came from Chicago. We will be competing next week in the tournament but I couldn't agree more than with the tone you used in describing the tournament. The success of paddle lies in the potential for growth among youth tournaments and sponsorships and I am significantly surprised that sponsors don't seem to recognize this quite yet. There is a huge surge in youth paddle occurring right now and it would be foolish for ambassadors of the game to let this go by the way side. At the moment I am trying to develop paddle at the collegiate level but it is difficult to do so just because there is not enough publicity for the sport and only a lucky few have played it down in DC. We both know that paddle is the greatest sport around and the people who play it are extremely passionate about its development. There are very obvious steps that the APTA and supporters need to take to encourage growth and I would love to talk to you more about many of these issues. I've played on the junior circuit for years and would love to hear more from your perspective about the growth of the game. Thanks. Paddle hard.

Note #2

I do hope to establish more of a public venue for paddle as it is still, I hate to say, an "elitist" sport. I was a beneficiary of the Wilton YMCA's courts and the Wilton youth program led by Leslie Gambee and Jim Murtaugh. I know how much the game can help kids mature, as it provides a healthy outlet and perfect opportunity for safe and fun socializing. My goal in the next four years at school is to get a paddle court built on campus or in the surrounding area, not only to build a collegiate program, but also to build a mentoring program around the game of paddle, where underprivileged students from the DC area could receive mentors for studying and also learn the sport. With the right support and funding this is definitely possible, as long as we can get beyond institutions' resistance to change. David Kjeldsen has done an incredible job promoting the game and growing the youth programs. Although I am a big Wilson equipment supporter (I grew up playing tennis with Wilson stuff) I really appreciate his commitment to the game and still try to buy Viking gear to support Mr. Kjeldsen's ideas for youth paddle. Hopefully Viking and Wilson can move beyond their differences and work together to promote the game.
Chris Kelley

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