JTCC | Junior Champs

The Junior Champions Program is an after-school invitation only program for players ages 8-12. The goal is to develop young players who possess the talent, character, work ethic and desire to progress to JTCC’s highly acclaimed Champions Program.

junior champs training program

Participation in the Junior Champions program is by invitation only. In the Junior Champions program, Director Ali Aganamba introduces players to High Performance Training focusing on proper tennis technique, match play, fitness, video analysis, evaluation and after-school tutoring. Coaches attend many local tournaments to evaluate JTCC players.

Tennis & Fitness Training

Junior Champs is the first 12 and Under program where players are introduced to fitness training in addition to their on court development. Players typically practice 2-5 days per week with progressive drills, including fundamental footwork and technique, soft ball hitting, drop ball, fed ball and live ball drills.

In their fitness training sessions, players concentrate on plyometric, agility, dynamic stretching and flexibility as well as tennis-specific movements designed to make the players more effective in competitive situations and better athletes overall.

Summer Training

There are 11 weeks of summer training beginning in mid June and concluding in late August. Most Junior Champs attend at least 6 summer camp weeks. In addition, players increase their tournament play. JTCC coaches accompany players to most Mid-Atlantic Section tournaments. Annual tuition includes additional summer training based on how many times per week each player participates during the school year. Summer training consists of drills, matches, fitness, and mental training Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.

With the Junior Champs, the primary focus of the training is on stroke production and development. With our youngest players, it is critical to establish a strong foundation of technique as early as possible. Players should expect high repetition of drop and fed ball drills along with progressive training techniques incorporated into the 10 and Under training methods.