SPORTS 'N SPOKES

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2010 S`NS Junior Athlete of the Year

SPORTS `N SPOKES is proud to announce Dylan Levine as the 2010 S`NS Junior Athlete of the Year.

SPORTS `N SPOKES is proud to announce Dylan Levine as the 2010 S`NS Junior Athlete of the Year. The New Jersey native is an outstanding athlete and young adult who has excelled in wheelchair tennis and basketball. He is the U.S top-ranked junior player, 18 and under, and is ranked seventh in the country for men. He has represented the U.S. at the junior level for the World Team Cup for four years, 2006-2009, and is the youngest American wheelchair tennis player ever to play in the International Men’s Open Division.

For the past three years, Levine has taken place in the most prestigious junior tournament in the world, Les Petits 2010 in France, and has made the varsity Tennis Team at Paramus High School, NJ, playing second against able-bodied players. He was chosen by the Disney channel and the Paralympic Committee to appear on two Disney Channel spots for it’s program entitled, Sports Briefs, which highlighted his achievements. In 2007, he was the recipient of the International Champion award from the Bergen County (NJ) Department of Human Services.

Levine has a rare bone disease called Fibrous Dysplasia that has required him to have more than 30 surgeries since age 3. He first started in wheelchair sports at the age of seven and quickly excelled in the field events, exhibiting exceptional upper body strength, power, and determination. On the track, he pushed even when in considerable pain and often with broken bones or rods. As his pain and discomfort increased, he started exploring other sports that would provide the competition he sought while limiting his pain and discomfort. He found wheelchair tennis.

“Being nominated for the S`NS Junior Athlete of the Year Award is a huge honor,” said Levine during a phone interview. “I had no idea I was even a consideration.” Over the past year, Levine has gone through several surgeries to correct rods that had been interfering with his hip and leg mobility and causing him pain. “Through all of this, Dylan has continued to give his all in sports,” said Dan Levine, Dylan’s father. “It’s been a tough year for him, but we know he always finds a way to motivate himself to move on.”

“I’ll be focusing on my tennis skills in preparation for the Hilton Head tournament in September,” says Dylan. “My main goal at this point is getting my national and international standing back up for the 2012 Paralympics.”

The SPORTS `N SPOKES Junior Athlete of the Year award is replete with history spanning back to it’s inception more than 20-years-ago. S`NS founding editor, Cliff Crase and wife Nancy felt there needed to be an award that recognized the junior athlete and based the award on the Paralyzed Veterans of America’s Jack Gerhardt award for adult athletes. “Junior sports was quickly becoming more popular and we felt there needed to be something as prestigious as PVA’s award,” said Nancy Crase. “The junior athletes can now win this award and then go on to win the adult award.”

Do you know an exceptional young athlete? We’d love to hear about them. To nominate an athlete for the SPORTS `N SPOKES Junior Athlete of the Year email brenda@pnnews.com.

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