Extraordinary Team, Extraordinary Coach

player/coach is dedicated to jtt

By Bekah Harris, USTA Southern

There are usually several teams that come to the USTA Southern Jr. Team Tennis Section Championships with one or two unusual and unique backgrounds. This year one team has risen above average standards and are not only good players with a wide variety of backgrounds and achievements.

They’re the 18s Intermediate team from Columbus, Ga. and have named themselves “The Mob.”

For the last three years their team captain, Walt Trussell, has organized and led this standout group of teenagers. Trussell has also been in high school the last three years. Not only does he lead his team but is also a fellow player.

And that isn’t all, although Trussell has played Jr. Team Tennis for the last few years, he was never made the cut to play on his high school tennis team. But that never dampened Trussell’s love for the game. He continued to play JTT and this year marks their team’s first trip to the championships!

- This group of kids have given back to tennis voluntarily and have many distinctions:

- Two of the team members are Eagle scouts.

- Team member, Kazuki Onoe, is from Japan and has only been in the United States for two years.

- Two home-schooled players -- brother and sister John and Mary -- are part of the John Illges IV family who were recognized as the family of the year in the state, section and nation, winning the USTA Georgia Family of the Year, USTA Southern Mickey McNulty Family of the Year and Ralph W. Westcott USTA Family of the Year.

- All team members are part of Georgia’s Teen Service Council and have volunteered over 1,000 hours to support tennis!

Georgia’s 18 intermediate team, “The Mob,” can be proud of the accomplishments that brought them here. They have gone above and beyond.