Fiend at Court Unplugged
Yesterday I described an ambiguity in the USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking & Sanctioning Regulations document that impacts how ranking points are awarded at tournaments. This has prompted me to explore the process for proposing updates to that document. The specific change will be a clarification of how rankings points are assigned for players/teams that do not win a match in Round Robin pool play. Like any good bureaucracy, the USTA has a process for updating their regulations.
After careful examination of the existing text in the document, I believe that the best place to remove the ambiguity is in the Glossary. Specifically I am proposing that the red text be added to the existing definition for the Points Per Round entry. (The Participation Points entry is included for context.)
Participation Points. Participation Points are ranking points that are earned in by participation in a tournament. Participation points are earned when a player plays at least one point in a tournament or wins all matches by reason of withdrawal, walkover, disqualification, and default.
Points Per Round. Points Per Round are the ranking points that are awarded for reaching specified rounds in a tournament. Ranking points are earned when a player advances in the draw by winning a match including wins by reason of withdrawal, walkover, disqualification, and default. A player who advances because of a bye does not receive ranking points for advancing.
Proposed modifications in red font.
Additionally, while other draw formats are defined in the Glossary, the Round Robin format is omitted. I propose that a new entry for Round Robins be added as follows:
Round Robin. A Round Robin is a type of draw in which all players compete in a head to head match. A division may be competed in a single Round Robin draw or with preliminary Round Robin pools that feed into a single elimination Championship bracket. When the Round Robin format is used, a player must win a match by any means including wins by reason of withdrawal, walkover, disqualification, and default to receive rankings points.
Proposed new glossary term.
That would eliminate the ambiguity and would give the people implementing the new digital platform a chance to develop a system that fully aligns with USTA Regulations as well as player expectations.
The only question is how to formally submit these changes to the USTA for consideration. Additionally (and fortunately), there is no documented restriction on WHO can send proposed changes to the USTA for consideration. The following excerpt reveals that consideration of proposed changes is under the purview of the “Adult and Family Regulations Subcommittee” which operates under the Adult Competition Committee.
Amendments. These USTA ADULT AND FAMILY TOURNAMENT, RANKING, AND SANCTIONING REGULATIONS may be amended by the USTA Adult Competition Committee upon the recommendation of an Adult and Family Regulations Subcommittee.
Regulation I.D, USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking & Sanctioning Regulations
The USTA has not published separate contact information for the “Adult and Family Regulations Subcommittee.” My questions requesting that information from the USTA have gone unanswered. To be fair, the USTA hasn’t had much time to respond to this specific request. I have submitted these proposed amendment to the USTA Adult Competition Committee and requested that it be routed to the Adult and Family Regulations Subcommittee for consideration.
To set expectations, it is way too late for these changes to be incorporated by January 1, 2022 per normal committee review timelines. Believe it or not… I think I have a fun way to describe the complete process. That is the planned topic for Friday December 17.
- United States Tennis Association (2021), Friend at Court: Handbook of Rules and Regulations, White Plains, NY
- USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking & Sanctioning Regulations, Adopted May 14, 2020 and Amended December 2020.
- 2021 USTA Adult Tournaments Ranking System, USTA Web Hosted Document, viewed 11/11/2021.
The red text just showed up. Will study and respond Thanks.
Not seeing shy red text in this post.