Holding Court
BUTLER TWP — Youth tennis numbers are down in the Butler area.
The joy was definitely up during the recent West Penn Doubles Championships, held at the Butler Area High School courts.
The event featured 72 youths as six organizations — Butler Junior Tennis, Butler Country Club, Treesdale Country Club, Sewickley Area, Wildwood Country Club and Edgeworth Club — fielded three doubles teams each in 13-under (junior varsity) and 18-under (varsity) divisions.
“It's a beautiful day and the kids are having a good time,” Butler Country Club tennis director Whitney Snyder said.
BCC won the junior varsity portion of the tournament. Its JV teams were Max Palmiero and Zach Schelhaus, Jake Jones and Tripp Santoro, Allie Swift and Delaney Kelley, Mark Swift and Anna Schelhaus. BCC had four JV doubles teams on hand.
Max, 13, could have played with older brother Evan, 14, in the varsity division, but opted to stay in JV.
“I've been playing tennis for five years,” Max said. “I've played doubles with my brother before and we practice together a lot. I thought it'd be better for our team if I played in the younger division.”
BCC's varsity players — Evan Palmiero and Patrick Miko, Lizzie Swift and Kaitlyn Plant, Mason Hoffman and Chris Recchia — placed third out of six teams. BCC finished second overall in the tournament, tallying 74 points to Edgeworth's 82.
The Palmiero family has a tennis court at its house.
“We practice there pretty much every day,” Evan said. He's been playing tennis for seven years.
BCC's junior tennis team (ages 8-18) has 30 players this summer. It had 44 last year and 53 the year before that.
Butler Junior Tennis has 45 participants in its organization this year. It had 60 to 70 players last year and had 90 not too long ago.
“COVID caused the drop in a lot of those numbers,” first-year BJT coach Lexi Chappel said. “We do some things to make it fun for the kids.“We had a hat night where everyone wears some type of hat to practice. We've had a Hawaiian night. It's all in fun.”Chappel is a former No. 1 singles player for the Butler varsity girls tennis team. She played No. 3 singles and No. 2 doubles for Grove City College as a freshman last season. She grew up playing for Butler Junior Tennis.“When they asked me if I wanted to take over as coach, no way I was gonna turn it down,” Chappel said. “I've coached younger kids before and I loved it. If they'll have me back next year, I'll coach the team again.“We do hitting drills, serving … we work on all phases of the game. The kids we chose to play in this event are the ones who are most excited and interested in the sport.”BJT's junior varsity doubles teams were Kam Warheit and Zephan Samuel, Kamila Urban and Laini Spohn, Akashia Maxwell and Alicia Maxwell. Varsity teams were Josh Kelley and Nicole Urban, Colton Vietmeier and Dylan Weitzell, Sydni Rodgers and Sarah Bupp.Kelley didn't begin playing tennis until age 16, but was No. 2 singles on the Butler boys varsity last year. Urban said she is thinking about trying out for the Golden Tornado girls team in the fall.“I love the physical exercise,” Kelley said of tennis. “I just want to keep getting better and see what happens.”Urban runs cross country for Butler.“The summer (tennis) program has definitely helped develop my skills and technique,” she said. “I'm a more confident player now. This tournament was fun because of all the new people you get to meet.“I'll do it again next year. I'm definitely staying with this sport.”
