Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida - Youth Sports, Tennis, College Scholarships. Cedar Key, FL

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The Jack Blair Award/Ed Krass College Tennis Academy

In 2007, the YTF initiated its College Tennis Academy Award Program to assist high school varsity tennis players and USTA junior tournament level players ages 15-18, in obtaining college scholarships through attendance at the College Tennis Academy, at the University of South Florida, in December and June each year.

YTF camp scholarship players with head college coaches December 3-4, 2011.

The College Tennis Academy includes on-court collegiate style drills and matchplay competition, college tennis search and scholarship information seminars, roundtable discussions with college coaches, hotel accommodations, meals and 24-hour adult supervision. The staff of the College Tennis Academy consists totally of current head men's and women's college tennis coaches.

Download the current Scholarship Application HERE.

The YTF is proud to offer this program to deserving young men and women based upon their financial need, aptitude and dedication in seeking a college tennis scholarship.

-2023-

Congratulations to our 2023 recipients of the YTF Jack Blair Scholarship. The female winner is Adela Piskor of Venice. She was nominated by Bob Zipay, Owner/Director of Englewood Tennis Club. Adela Piskor has been a Venice high varsity starter, this being her fourth year. She was part of the Venice girls team that finished second in the 2023 FHSAA State tournament last year.

The male winner is Nathan Germano who was selected by Coach Ed Krass, founder/director of the Annual College Tennis Exposure Camp.


	Ed Krass with Adela Piskor and Nathan Germano

YTF would like to congratulate our 2022 recipients of the Jack Blair Award: Nika DeLong and Steven Ethier from Sarasota. They attended the Ed Krass College Tennis Preparatory Camp over the weekend of December 10-11 in Lakeland, along with dozens of other participants. Twenty college tennis coaches provided the instruction and guidance.


	Ed Krass with Steven Ethier and Nika DeLong

-2022-

Congratulations to the newest recipients of the Jack Blair Award recipients nominated by Coach Bob Ziplay and YTF Board member, Sue.

The male winner was Steven Ethier. He is a 15 year old who played No. 1 singles as a freshman at Lemon Bay High in Rotonda West, FL. Their team won Regionals and made State Finals. Steven has high expectations of repeating a successful season.

Weronita (Nita) DeLong was the female award winner. She is from Venice, FL and is ranked 110 in girls singles. Nita submitted a very strong application packet and expressed gratitude to Coach Bob Zipay and Sue Zipay for all the coaching and mentoring she received, as well as to the Youth Tennis Foundation board members for the opportunity.

-2021-

Congratulations to Gabby Goyins from Pensacola and Cameron Wilcoxin from Lake City. These two YTF-Sponsored players attended the Ed Krass College Tennis Academy Camp December 11th & 12th, 2021 at the Beerman Family Tennis Center in Lakeland.


	2021 YTF Sponsored College Tennis Academy Camp players from left, Gabby Goyins, Cameron Wilcoxin, Coach Krass

-2020-

One of our YTF Scholarships to the Ed Krass College Tennis Exposure Experience held December 12-13, 2020 at the Beerman Family Tennis in Lakeland was Maggie Eddins from Pensacola. The family went along and her Dad was able to watch the whole weekend and got some pictures.

From Maggie Eddins:

Dear Youth Tennis Foundation,

I would like to thank the Youth Tennis Foundation for the scholarship which gave me the opportunity to attend the Ed Krass College Tennis Academy. This allowed me to meet and discuss the possibility of playing college tennis with so many different college coaches. The instruction and competition on court allowed me to compete, learn, and grow with the helpful guidance of the coaches. The break-out sessions also allowed me to learn about applying, recruiting, and what it is like to play college tennis at various schools.

I will continue to research what I want to do in college but I plan to attend another session since I learned so much and I will apply the many pages of notes to my tennis game. I also met so many new players that I have kept in contact with! I want to keep playing tennis and see what the future holds!

Thank you so much, Maggie Eddins

-2016-

Congratulations to the 2016 recipients of the Jack Blair College Tennis Academy Scholarships:

Natdeilys De Armas, Miami
Hailey Waguespack, Jupiter
Lenah Monosky, Clearwater

Hayden Essary from Gulf Breeze and Jacob Baehr from Pensacola received scholarships from the YTF and attended Ed Krass' College Tennis Exposure Camp on December 3 and 4, 2016 at the University of South Florida.

		From Jacob Baehr: I really enjoyed this camp. I loved getting to play points and move up and down the courts. Talking with the coaches was an invaluable experience. My favorite part of the camp was learning one-on-one doubles which is a great game and I have already started playing it here in Pensacola. Jacob Baehr
		From Hayden Essary: To Whom it May Concern, I just wanted to send an email thanking your organization and Scott Harrison for putting us in contact with your organization so that I could have the opportunity to attend Ed Kraus' College Tennis Exposure Camp the weekend of December 3, 2016. As I'm sure you know, traveling to tournaments all year and now making multiple college visits can be very costly. I had a great time at the camp. It's a very high energy camp. The coaches and other guys attending the camp were very nice and a lot of fun. The camp gave me some exposure to a few schools I am interested in attending but it also was a great tool to see where I stand in my game and what I need to continue to work on to be competitive. Again, thank you for the opportunity. Hayden Essary

-2015-

Congratulations to the 2015 recepients of the Jack Blair College Tennis Acadamey Scholarships:

Carter Sebo, Englewood
Isabella Winter, Sarasota
Sarah Lown, Englewood Florida
Hailey Waguespack, Jupiter Florida

Bella Winter of Sarasota High School was recently awarded a YTF grant to attend the College Tennis Exposure Camp on December 5-6, 2015. She and her parents thanked YTF Board Member Sue Zipay:



	Hello Ms. Zipay, Thank you so much for the opportunity to play in this camp. I had a really awesome time meeting the coaches and I learned a lot. Thanks again for the experience :) Sue, Thank you for your kindness and generous spirit...Bella had a wonderful experience and gained insight on college level play. We are hoping that she continues to improve her game while enjoying it. Again, thank you so much! Mary & William Winter

-2014-

Congratulations to the 2014 participant in the Ed Krass Camp, Sydney Clark.

Dear Youth Tennis Foundation,

Thank you so much for providing me with the opportunity to attend the College Tennis Exposure Camp last month at the University of South Florida. I am grateful for all of the skills and recruiting tips that Ed Krass and the other coaches taught me. The camp experience was unforgettable, as the technique and strategies are those that I can apply to my game right now. The other players at the camp made my five days even more memorable, as I was able to learn new things from them as well. The activities following our long days on the tennis court were fun and allowed me to bond with the other players. I am grateful that I was able to attend my first Major League Baseball game and see the Tampa Bay Rays.

By granting me this scholarship, this organization has truly paved the way for my advancement this summer. I appreciate the opportunity that I was given to further my knowledge about tennis and recruiting. Thank you so much for providing me with a great week.

Sincerely,
Sydney Clark

-2013-

Congratulations to the 2013 participants in the Ed Krass Camp, Linda Antonova and Shiv Krishnaswamy.


	Shiv Krishnaswamy		Linda Antonova
	Dear Youth Tennis Foundation, I would like to begin by thanking you so much for allowing me to attend the College Tennis Exposure Camp this past month, June 16 - June 20 at USF. I had been so excited for this program since the day I applied and I was surely not disappointed once there. My time there taught me both new skills which I can apply in tennis as well as being a great teammate and other factors that are just as important whilst being on a college tennis team. The coaches were always welcoming and enthusiastic about teaching us their strategies, which they implement on their own tennis team. The players and other staff at USF were great to be around and I felt that this camp was where I truly belonged. I would like to thank you for also allowing me to attend with a full scholarship, the $1200 I was granted. This was definitely great for me and I really appreciate it. Overall, this experience was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for tennis players and I have ecstatic about having attended. I would surely recommend this camp to any and all of my tennis friends, along with others who I may meet during tournaments or other tennis encounters. Thank you so much and I truly appreciate what you have been able to do for me. Sincerely, Shiv Krishnaswamy- Class of 2014		To the Youth Tennis Foundation, I would like to thank the Youth Tennis Foundation for providing me with one of the best opportunities of my tennis career. I am very grateful for the chance to have gone to Coach Ed Krass' College Tennis Camp as the University of South Florida this summer. The experience was absolutely amazing for so many, different reasons. The college coaches were very welcoming and instructive. Their drills, seminars, and advice opened my eyes even more to the game of tennis. I learned about different strategies and techniques that I now try to incorporate into my game, as well as gained insight on how to become and live like a college student-athlete. The tennis players were talented, easy to get along with, and we had so much in common. The college stay and activities after a long day were exciting and memorable. Once again, I greatly appreciate the wonderful opportunity. Not only was it an extremely educational experience, very fun, but it was, perhaps, the best week of my summer! Thank you, Linda Antonova

-2012-

Congratulations to 2012 participants in the Ed Krass Camp, Sean Diegan and Amanda Keller.

From their coach:

Hi Pierce,
I just wanted to say thanks again for the support given by yourself and the foundation for Sean and Amanda at the Ed Krass camp back in June. They both had a great experience and got a lot out of it. Here is a photo of the two at the USF Tampa site. I wish you all the best for now and the great work that you do.
Patrick Diegan

-2011-

Arrice Robinson, who is from Port Orange and Spruce Creek High School, and Cole Fiegel, who is from Alachua and attends Gainesville High School, are the recipients of the Youth Tennis Foundation's full scholarship awards to the Ed Krass College Tennis Exposure Camps for 2011. Both players are highly ranked in their age divisions and both hope to play tennis in college.

Arrice was recommended by her coach, Andy Bacha, and she elected to attend the June camp in Tampa. She raves about the experience in a letter she wrote to the YTF thanking us for awarding her the scholarship, a copy of which is shown below.

Cole is attended the December camp.

Keegan Lowery of Pensacola, FL also attended the December Camp.

From Keegan:

To Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida,
I really appreciate you giving me the opportunity to go to the Ed Krass College Exposure camp! It really opened up a lot more opportunities for me and it gave me more perspective on what playing tennis in college would be like. The coaches were really fun to be around and helped me with my game in different aspects. I only wish that I could have had more time to be there because it was a good time and I came back feeling stronger about my game and also the mental aspect of it as well. I think that it's great what your foundation is doing for the kids that don't have this kind of opportunity and as I met them at the camp, we became good friends and they told me they also appreciate it a lot what your foundation is doing for them. Overall, the experience was great and if I had the chance, I would love to go back. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Keegan Lowery

Kallie Erickson of Pace, FL also attended the December Camp.

From Kallie:

Dear Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida,
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend the college tennis recruiting camp a couple weekends ago. It was a great experience that sparked a new interest in tennis that I needed to elevate my game to the next level. We learned so many valuable tools in the recruiting process that I'm glad I will not look over anymore. I could never say thank you enough for the wonderful skills I learned.
Sincerely,
Kallie Erickson

-2010-

Stevie Platt of Stuart was been awarded the 2010 College Tennis Academy Grant by the Youth Tennis Foundation of Florida. Platt, a high school junior, attended the College Tennis Academy on June 13-18, 2010 at the University of South Florida.

Stevie Platt (on left) and friends at College Tennis Academy

-2009-

The recipient for the 2009 College Tennis Academy Award is Justin Burns of Miami, Florida.

Tug Miller and Justin Burns