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The USTA Foundation announced 10 National Essay Contest winners, including two winners are from United States Tennis Association (USTA) Southern: Kristofer Glason, of Little Rock, Ark., and Maasiai Sales of Fairburn, Ga.

For us in the South, USTA Southern announced the selection of seven National Junior Tennis & Learning chapter members as state winners of the 2024 USTA Foundation NJTL Essay Contest. The state essay winners were selected out of over 160 entries in nine Southern states. They will receive an all-expense paid trip to Charlotte, N.C., in December to attend the Charlotte Invitational, in which top players Carlos Alcatraz, Francis Tiafoe, Sloan Stephens and Madison Keys will compete.

There were more than 1,000 entries nationwide.

Glason won the Boys 13-14 age group while Maasiai Sales won the Girls 17-18 age group. They received an all-expense paid trip to New York City with a weekend of activities during the US Open Fan Week, which included meeting 18-time Grand Slam singles champion Chris Evert on Wall Street and ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, a Deloitte learning experience and a special awards luncheon at the Yale Club.

A great topic to explore this year. For the 2024 Essay Contest, NJTL participants were asked: “Who is your GOAT?” In 500 words or less, they wrote about their “Greatest of All Time.” GOATs could be athletes, coaches, community leaders, teachers, artists, musicians and family members.

When asked what the award meant to her, Emely Munoz of Kimberley Park NJTL, wrote, “This means a lot to me because I tried very hard on the essay because I wanted to make sure that made myself, my parents, and my uncle proud with what I wrote. I like to win, and I never thought that I would win something like this, and it is giving me so much more confidence in being able to do things that I thought I might not be able to achieve.”

Eliza and Kalon Belle, the parents of Marley, shared, “We're excited to support Marley in all of her endeavors, and writing has always been a passion of hers. Winning a contest not only helps strengthen her confidence in her own unique abilities, but it also helps shine a light on the James Lewis Education and Tennis Foundation (Birmingham, Ala.) for all of their continued love and support towards the development of youth. We are so proud of Marley for this accomplishment!”