Have You Read the Rules? (Can You Even Find Them?)

I frequently write from a USTA Texas-centric perspective on this site. That is natural because it is the Section where I played my Junior tennis and currently compete as an adult. However, I am sensitive to the fact that I have a national following. While Texas is a backdrop for discussing rules and experiences, I always strive to provide a big-picture perspective and relevancy for players from other Sections.

Regardless of where you live, it is critically important to be familiar with the rules and regulations governing your tennis engagement. That was actually the primary idea that motivated the creation of this site almost five years ago. The takeaway from this post for all players is that you should make sure you have access to a copy of the rules you are competing under and are familiar with them.

As I wrote about last week in “The Wild West of USTA Local League Rules and Regulations,” the Sectional League Committee for USTA Texas recently passed a new rule that if a player is suspended from any local League, they will also be suspended from all other local leagues within the Section. Now more than ever, it is essential to understand your local league rules and regulations.

The remainder of this post is a manifestation of the thought exercise exploring if I can find the USTA League local rules and regulations for all the playing areas in Texas. (Spoiler alert! I could not.) Since I think someone needs to take a comprehensive look at the rules that might lead to a player suspension from their local league, there should be an authoritative master list of where to find those essential documents.

The USTA Texas Section office might have an official comprehensive list. However, if they do, it is not on their public-facing webpage that contains the Sectional level rules. I will reach out to them directly once this post goes live. In any case, this exercise aimed to determine if the general USTA League playing population in Texas could quickly find their local league rules and regulations.

The answer was… actually better than I anticipated, but still not great.

Eight associations have excellent local league rules and regulation documentation posted with versioning and date information that indicates those resources are being actively maintained. Unfortunately, seven local league areas don’t have any local rules posted. Additionally, three could not be definitively categorized as good or bad. In those cases, something was published, but the information was inaccessible, or the paucity of metadata suggests that it might not be up to date. Percentage-wise, 44% are good, 39% have nothing, and 17% fall somewhere in between.

I would be thrilled to have any assistance filling in the gaps.