The USTA National League Regulations contain some interesting requirements for players who advance to Championships on more than one team. The procedures are spelled out at both the Sectional and National level. Some Sections also allow Districts to create rules intended to encourage and foster league play at the local level.
The fact that a player can qualify for two (or more!) teams at the same NTRP level for an event highlights some nuances in USTA residency requirements. That has been added to the burgeoning list of future post topics on this site. For the purpose of today’s discussion, we will exclusively focus on the procedures for eligibility only for Championships.
1.04G(7) At any National Championship, if a player qualifies for two or more teams at the same NTRP level for an event, the individual must declare which team he or she will represent. In the absence of a declaration, the first match played will determine which team he or she will represent.
2022 USTA League Regulation
Essentially a player that advances to Nationals at the same NTRP level for two teams merely has to declare which team he or she will play for. Additionally, stepping out on the court to play the first match is an alternate way to make that declaration.
The USTA National League Regulations delegates authority to the Sections on how to handle the situation where a player advances to the Sectional Championships on more than one team.
1.04G(6) A player who qualifies to advance to championships on more than one team may be required by the Section to choose which team he or she will represent.
2022 USTA League Regulation
The USTA Texas Section’s League Regulations is essentially a marked up version of the USTA National League Regulations with additions or local implementations in green font. The Texas Addendum to 1.04G(6) reads “See Texas reg 2.03(a).” That is a bit of a typo because the relevant section is actually under 2.03A(3)a. Additionally, that note does not address if or how a player has to declare eligibility at the Sectional Level.
Texas Regulation: Players on Multiple Teams at the Sectional Championships. A player can play on more than one team at a Sectional Championship, provided they are at different levels. However, there will be no special scheduling for that player or team. Captains cannot captain more than one team at a Sectional Championship at the same level and gender.
USTA National & Texas League Regulations, 2022, note under 2.03A(3)A.
One interesting thing to note is that the last sentence restricting captains to only one team in the same event at the Sectional Championships is a relatively recent addition to the Texas version of the rules. In 2020, the post “Take Two: Casey Carlson’s Very Good Weekend” described how a local captain navigated two teams to the Sectional Championships from separate Districts. That post worked through the moral and ethical ramifications of potential conflict of interest.
At the time, the Regulation was verbatim with the wording in the 2022 note with the exception of the last sentence. I have to wonder if my 2020 post was the catalyst that identified the need for the update. I sometimes feel like I am whispering into a void. It is kind of nice to occasionally see a glimmer of hope that some of the issues highlighted here may possibly be useful for informing change. (Probably not, but don’t feel compelled to burst my bubble.)
This post laid out the USTA Regulations for when a player qualifies for League Championships at the National or Section level. Tomorrow we will examine some interesting local rules that have been implemented for District playoffs. My working title for that post at the moment is “Districts behaving badly.”
