The Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association (BLTA) will be sending junior boys and girls teams to the Dominican Republic to play in the North, Central American and Caribbean Zone pre-qualifying event for players 16 and under, from March 23-28.

The Junior Davis Cup team will be led by Jonathan Taylor, the current number one junior in Boys 18s and 16s in The Bahamas. Ondre Cargill and Kevin Major round out the squad. The team will be coached by Giorgio Baldacci, a veteran coach who has travelled with many junior teams in the past.

The Junior Fed Cup team will be led by rising star Simone Pratt, who has been making waves with her performance in Central America this spring and is the top ranked junior girl in the COTEC rankings. Other members of the team are Gabrielle Moxey and Erin Strachan. Both teams are expected to compete well and challenge for the right to represent the region in a qualifying event in early summer.

Stephen Turnquest, 1st Vice President and Director of Junior Tennis for the BLTA who made the announcement, said that he felt good about the juniors who will be representing The Bahamas and that these types of opportunities give our juniors a chance to measure their performance against the best in the region; and that these types of events will go a long way in preparing our juniors for the future.

In related news, the BLTA 14-and-under play-offs for The Bahamas' World Junior Team Championships pre-qualifying team was held over the weekend. In the end, young Kevin Major Jr. upheld his position as the number one 14-and-under player for The Bahamas. He dominated the competition, going undefeated with a 5-0 win/loss record. He lost only one set in five matches.

Joining Major on The Bahamas' team, which is expected to travel to El Salvador, Central America, from April 5-12, will be Christian Cargill who finished in the second position, winning three matches and finishing with a 3-5 win/loss record. Rounding out the team in the third position was Grand Bahamian Shaquille Taylor who also won three matches but lost to Cargill in their head-to-head encounter.

The first alternate for the team will be Philip Major who finished in the fourth position and was leading the competition after the first two days of play but faltered on Day Three losing two matches, and ending up with a 5-6 win/loss record.

Finishing sixth was Treajh Ferguson who failed to win a set, ending up with a winless record. In the end, Major, Cargill and Taylor were named to the World Junior Team.

The girls 14-and-under team which is expected to compete in El Salvador will be announced after their play-offs this week. Participating in the play-offs for two spots are Danielle Thompson, Chelsea Russell and Erin Strachan.

Simone Pratt, who is currently playing on the International Tennis Federation's (ITF) Junior circuit in the Caribbean, and has ITF ranking points has already been named to the team.

Turnquest stated that he was very happy with the match play over the weekend and was happy that all of the players showed up to play their matches which were very competitive. He added that he likes the make-up of the team and expressed confidence that this team will compete for a final spot in El Salvador.

"We should have a very competitive team in El Salvador based upon the performances that I saw," noted Turnquest.