Obsessively Staring at Maps: USTA Adult National Championships

Fiend at Court Unplugged

To stick a pin in this moment in time, the general population of the United States has spent the last 3 days obsessively staring at maps because the presidential race from the general election last Tuesday has yet to be decided. It may seem like an inopportune time to throw another map into the mix, but this site is nothing if not inopportune.

When the USTA quietly pushed out the National Adult Tournament Schedule a couple of weeks ago, I was struck by the number of Level 1 tournaments that were concentrated in California and Florida. It wasn’t exactly news to me that some parts of the country have more tournaments than others. Seeing it on a list really drove that point home.

I frequently lament that tennis should not be a strictly urban privilege. Pinning those tournaments on a map makes it immediately apparent that USTA National Championship tournaments are highly concentrated along the most populous and generally coastal areas of the country. It makes sense. That is where the people are.

There is a practical reality involved with selecting a site for a National level tournament. First and foremost, there has to be a organizer and a site that is willing to host the event. The simple fact of the matter is that the USTA cannot arbitrarily decide to schedule a National Championship tournament at a site that does not apply to host one.

A National Championship Tournament requires a facility, or a cluster of facilities, with a large number of courts which can be made available to the tournament for the duration of the event. Additionally those courts and amenities need to be in pretty good condition.

It takes a lot of personnel to effectively pull off a large tournament. This includes tournament officials, tournament desk volunteers, and facilities maintainers. Sites without a vibrant tennis community are unlikely to have critical mass of volunteers to support an event.

Finally there needs to be some number of local players who would be attracted to play in the tournament to support the draw size. Local players create more playing opportunities for players who have higher overhead in terms of cost and time to reach an event.

When sites in locations that do not have a history of hosting a national tournament apply for one of those events, it is extremely risky for the USTA to award the event to those locations. In addition to uncertainty over the ability of the tournament organizers to pull off a successful event, there is no good way to predict if players will travel to that location.

This highlights a geographic disparity for Adult players who want to compete at the National level. It is simply easier for players who are located in Florida and California. In other parts of the country, it is more of a challenge and the player has to invest a little more in terms of cost and time to play those events.

I think this presents a conundrum for the USTA as they seek to fulfill strategic imperative number 1, “Attract, Engage and Retain a New Generation of Diverse Tennis Participants.” The question is… where? Is it possible to fill in the center of the map as a part of that growth? Is it even desirable to attempt to do so?