National Junior Scholar-Athlete Award

Past Winners:

2023: Xander Barber, USTA New England; Esha Velaga, USTA Middle States

2022: Masato Perera, USTA SoCal; Sophia Wang, USTA Florida

2021: Not awarded
2020: Theodore Dean, USTA NorCal; India Houghton, USTA NorCal
2019: Niraj Komatineni, USTA Midwest; Zoe Howard, USTA Mid-Atlantic
2018: Jared Pratt, USTA Southern; Danielle Willson, USTA SoCal
2017: Austen Huang, USTA NorCal; Stephanie Schrage, USTA Eastern
2016: David Horneffer, USTA Midwest; Alexis Milunovich, USTA New England
2015: Sameer Kumar, USTA Midwest; Kimberly Yee, USTA Intermountain
2014: Xavier Gonzalez, USTA Texas; Nicole Kalhorn, USTA Intermountain
2013: Benjamin Tso, USTA New England; Anna Sanford, USTA Midwest
2012: Jason Brown, USTA Midwest; Mitchell Krueger, USTA Texas; Mihir Kumar, USTA Midwest; Nicholas Mahlangu, USTA Intermountain; Hannah Camhi, USTA Eastern

Selection Criteria:

• Junior or senior in high school (graduating class of 2024 or 2025)

• USTA National Standing in the Top 100 (boys'/girls' 18s) as of March 6, 2024

• An unweighted GPA of 3.75 (on a 4.0) scale; honors and/or AP/IB classes will be given additional consideration in the selection process

• Leadership and service to the community

• Sportsmanship

 

Below, you will find the link that begins your application process. In a survey, you will be asked to supply the following information prior to proceeding to the next stage of the application process. 

• Name & contact information
• Graduation date
• Test results: PSAT/SAT/ACT/AP/IB (as applicable)
• Class rank (if applicable)
• Extracurricular activities, community service, and leadership awards
• USTA ranking
• USTA or sectional sportsmanship awards

Applications will open on March 25. To begin the application process, click on the following link: National Junior Scholar-Athlete Award. After successfully submitting the above information, please submit the additional materials necessary (listed below) to complete your application. The Scholar-Athlete Award application deadline is Monday, April 29 at 5 p.m. ET. Late applications will not be accepted.

Application materials

1. Answer one prompt in 250 to 500 words

1. The lessons we learn from tennis, and the unique challenges competitive tennis provides are fundamental to our success on and off the court. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did your junior tennis experience help you deal with this challenge, and what did you learn from the experience?

2. Reflect on something or someone who has helped you in your junior tennis journey that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

3. Every student is unique. Every competitor is unique. What do you feel is your “superpower," and how does that set you apart from other scholar-athletes?

2. Copy of official high school transcript with PSAT/SAT/ACT/AP/IB scores (as applicable)

3. Teacher & Coach Recommendation

• Applicant’s teacher recommendation letter

• Applicant’s coach recommendation letter

4. Please submit a brief 20-30 second video on what it means to be a USTA National Scholar Athlete. The USTA may use this video for social media and award ceremonies.

The essays, transcripts, test scores, and recommendation letters should be scanned and emailed to william.manson@usta.com prior to the April 29 deadline.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that both teacher and coach recommendation form and supporting letter are submitted by the application deadline. All complete submitted applications and supporting information will be reviewed after the deadline and the selected recipients will be contacted by the end of July..