I am on a 40+ 9.0 Mixed doubles team from Wichita Falls that is desperately seeking a place to play. It is a great case study for what it is like to engage with the USTA ecosystem from the tennis wastelands. It has also galvanized me around an idea that the USTA should consider implementing to help build tennis participation in underserved communities.
The USTA National League Regulations require players to compete in at least two matches on the same team to play in the Sectional Championships. Since that requirement is in the National Regulations, the Sections do not have the authority to waive or suspend it.
This essentially establishes a requirement for teams to advance through some semblance of local league play. In underserved tennis communities, such as Wichita Falls, scraping enough players together for a single team is a challenge. There simply aren’t enough bodies for two teams.
The Texas Section has a mechanism that provides an alternative opportunity for areas that can only field a single team. Qualification events are scheduled for teams that do not have an opportunity to play at the local level. The winner of the qualification event can earn a slot at Sectionals while simultaneously generating enough matches for their players to hit minimum match requirements. It is a great system that provides an avenue for inclusion of teams that otherwise wouldn’t have a chance to play.
However, I would like to propose one tweak to the qualification event system. I think that any qualified CTA that sends a team to the qualification event should automatically advance to the Sectional Championship. The team sent to the qualification event is already the de facto champion of the local league. The purpose of the qualification event then becomes simply a mechanism to ensure that players have a chance to achieve minimum match play requirements.
I would be willing to wager that making that minor adjustment would greatly increase participation at the qualification event. It’s worth a try.
USTA Texas does not offer a qualification event for 40+ mixed. Additionally, sometimes qualification events are scheduled but only one team wants to participate. The only avenue for teams to advance under that scenario is to beg a neighboring CTA to field a team or stand up a shill team.
My 40+ mixed team is currently in that exact predicament. Our captain is begging another CTA to field a team. If that doesn’t come through, the only viable option would be to field a shill team. As outlined last weekend, that is a situation rife for abuse. It is a less than perfect scenario that we will likely not execute.
This brings me to a proposal for an alternate method for advancement to League Sectionals. In situations where the CTA can show a good faith effort to create more than one team, and there is no qualification event (or no other teams entered the qualification event) the USTA League team should be allowed to conduct intra-squad matches so that players can reach match play minimums and advance to Sectionals. No defaults should be allowed to count under that scenario.
I seriously think that intra-squad matches should be considered as a great way for the underserved tennis wastelands to create some engagement and excitement around USTA League play.
USTA League Regulations, 2022, downloaded February 5, 2022.
