Regular readers of this site know that I generally try to link the “Unplugged” posts into natural sets of three with a common unifying theme. This weekend is a two-for-one. First, I recently played in the USTA Texas 18+ League Sectional Championships, directly inspiring each article. However, the primary character is the brutally hot weather conditions at this year’s event.
Conversations between the players, officials, and organizers naturally centered around the broiling conditions. There were a few hot takes (I hate myself) that are rife for further exploration. It is important to note that I am not keying in on any particular conversation, but rather considering ideas that came up more than a couple of times.
One commonly suggested solution to the “problem” of the high temperatures at this year’s Sectional Championships was to conduct the 18+ Sectionals later in the fall when temperatures are usually a little cooler. I don’t think that is very realistic because the USTA League schedule is already packed with Sectional Championships for all the eclectic League formats.
In 2023, the USTA is conducting National Championships on separate weekends broken down by NTRP levels. The 18+ events run every single weekend between September 29 and October 22.
This year Labor Day weekend runs September 1-4. USTA League generally tries not to schedule events over holiday weekends. That leaves three opportunities in September to get Sectional Championships played before Nationals starts. That’s not a lot of calendar space. It also seems unreasonable to expect a team to qualify for Nationals and immediately pull together team travel plans to make it there.
I frequently write about the tyranny of the calendar in conjunction with USTA Tournaments. It is interesting to note that USTA League has grown to the size where there is competition for calendar space between USTA League formats. In fact, if you overlay the 2023 USTA National Championship schedule over the 2023 USTA Texas Sectional Championship calendar, every weekend between Labor Day and Thanksgiving is fully booked.
I fundamentally believe that too much USTA League play has crushed the tournament side of Adult competition. Examining the Sectional and National Championships on the calendar is an example that has led me to that idea.
Setting aside the calendar, there is also a demographic reason why I think moving 18+ USTA League to the Fall isn’t a good idea. Without the recent (floundering) innovation of 18-39 League divisions, 18+ Leagues are the only product available to players in that age range. They cannot play 40+, 55+, and 65+ divisions. Those are also the players who are the most likely to have kids, school activities, and weekend sporting events in the fall. August is arguably better suited for them.
I don’t think USTA Texas will ever move 18+ Sectionals out of August. It’s just not practical. Tomorrow I will round out this weekend with a hot take of my own.
