To fully understand the context of the controversial situation described in “Suddenly Suspension Points,” we must first take a few steps back to examine the history and evolution of the Tom Fey Tri-Level Invitational.
That starts with the event’s founder, Tom Fey himself. He was one of the true heroes of adult recreational tennis. When Fey was the Director at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, he founded Tri-Level a little over 20 years ago. It is an innovative format of team play where three lines of doubles face off at three different NTRP levels, hence Tri-Level. Among the numerous benefits of this format is it cross-pollinates tennis relationships across the NTRP levels. That builds a stronger tennis community.
For years, one of the principal draws of this event was the chance for recreational players to play in “Tennis Paradise” at Indian Wells. While I have never personally had the opportunity to compete at the Tri-Level National Invitational Championship event, I am told by numerous players who did that Tom Fey and his staff at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden put on an amazing event.
Due to the pandemic, the Tri-Level National Invitational was not held in 2020, and Tom Fey subsequently left his position at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden. Guillermo Lucero, the facility director in Surprise, Arizona, and Vice Chair of the USTA National League Program, ran the National Invitational in 2021. After that, Tri-Level returned to Southern California. This year, the Tri-Level tournament was conducted at Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego. Tom Fey passed away in 2022, and the event is now named in his memory.
Fey created the Tri-Level National Invitational independent of the USTA. As discussed in “Tri-Level Lives in a Gray Area,” it isn’t a part of the USTA League system. Fey was free to institute any rules he wanted, though he based much of it on existing USTA League Regulations. From people I know who previously competed in his events, I have been regaled with many tales of Fey emphasizing to captains and players the degree of separation between his event and the official USTA.
However, that separation has been eroding for some time. For many years, matches played at Tri-Level did not count toward NTRP ratings. However, some Sections included their Tri-Level Sectional qualification tournaments in those calculations. Starting in 2024, all Tri-Level matches are now included in NTRP rating calculations.
That signals increasing involvement by the USTA and is yet another factor that puts the Tri-Level National Invitational, along with all the Sectional Championships in that format, further into the gray area of applicable rules and Regulations.
One “fix” for anyone who perceives that to be a problem would be to pull Tri-Level fully under USTA League adminstration. Coincidently, that is where this event appears to be trending. However, there are reasons I don’t think that is a good idea. That is the primary focus of tomorrow’s post.
Eventually, we will get to the crux of the situation that resulted in players receiving substantial suspension points at the Tom Fey Tri-Level National Invitational Championships this year. Once we do, it is crucial to understand that this event has historically been able to impose rules outside of the official USTA rulebooks.
- Celebrate The Life of Tom Fey (1953 – 2022), Indian Wells Tennis Garden, May 2022.
- 2024 USTA League National Regulations, USTA Resource Document, March 14, 2024.
- USTA Tri-Level National Invitational Welcome Page, USTA SoCal Hosted Informational Page, last viewed April 6, 2024.
- Friend at Court: The Handbook of Tennis Rules and Regulations, USTA, 2024
- USTA Adult and Family Tournament, Ranking, & Sanctioning Regulations, USTA Regulation, as amended December 14, 2023.
- USTA League Suspension Point System Calculation Tables, USTA Resource Document, February 6, 2024.
- USTA League Suspension Point System 2024, USTA Resource Document, February 6, 2024.
- USTA League Suspension Point System Frequently Asked Questions, USTA Resource Document, March 23, 2023.
