In the business world, a “valley of death” is a period when it isn’t generating enough revenue to sustain operations, and outside support is required. It is a common occurrence for startups that have received initial venture funding for operations but are not yet generating enough revenue to support themselves. A valley of death can also occur for formerly successful companies that are at risk of going bankrupt.
USTA League also has a valley of death. It occurs when there are just enough players to have two teams. In fact, two-team leagues are in an extraordinarily precarious position and at constant risk of collapse. Two is a terrible number for a USTA League.
Per the USTA League National Regulations, two is a perfectly legitimate number of teams required to conduct a USTA League, as it should be. Sometimes two teams are all a local area can muster.
1.04D(1) Definition. A local league is a team competition in a specified geographic area that applies specific local league regulations and consists of NTRP level(s) with a minimum of two teams per level. A local league may choose to divide any or all NTRP levels into flights. Where flights are used, a playoff structure may be established to determine a champion for each NTRP level (See Reg. 2.01C Competition Format).
2023 USTA League National Regulations
USTA Sections are allowed to augment the USTA League National Regulations. For example, in my home Section of Texas, additional rules “require” the fat part of the NTRP player bell curve to have a minimum of three teams.
Leagues that have to have a minimum of 3 teams in a league to advance to Sectionals: (Exception: Qualifying Tournament)
2023 Operating Procedures, (USTA Texas), Excerpt
- Adult 18 & Over – 3.5 & 4.0 levels
- Adult 40 & Over – 3.5 & 4.0 levels
I put quotation marks around “require” because there are exceptions. One is stated directly in that excerpt from the USTA Texas Operating Procedures. If only two teams enter a qualification event in a division requiring three teams, two are automatically designated as enough.
However, a local league that only has two teams for those instances when three are required may apply to USTA Texas for an exemption. While I don’t have great visibility into all the applications for that, I am not aware of any instances where a local league was denied an exemption to that rule.
I want to believe that this rule pushing the more populous NTRP divisions toward more teams is because USTA Texas recognizes that two teams are the hallmark of the “valley of death” for local league play. In effect, this rule encourages leagues to have three teams. Unfortunately, it is also possible that the rule is in place to discourage shill teams and systemic tanking. I guess those are good reasons as well.
In any case, the social dynamics of USTA League make it almost impossible to sustain a two-team division. One way it can fail is if one team is significantly stronger than the other. It becomes “not fun” for the team that doesn’t have a realistic chance to win at least some of the time. That team will start to attrit players. Even worse, stronger players frequently wind up on the other team’s roster. That accelerates the demise.
In fact, even when the teams are competitively matched, each captain will usually be actively trying to poach better players from the other roster. A frequent justification is that it enables the team to be more competitive at Sectionals. However, it comes at the expense of destroying the quality of competition at the local level.
Maintaining a competitive balance is hard when there are only two teams. While those effects can also occur with three or more, there is space for players and captains to maneuver with less impact on the competitive landscape. Even when there is one really strong team, the other teams can still enjoy some semblance of balanced play with each other.
For USTA League Play, two is terrible and three is a magic number. This phenomenon is one of many reasons why viable play for the upper NTRP divisions becomes unsustainable. When you get to the tip of the competitive pyramid, there aren’t enough active players to realistically support three or more teams. It’s the valley of death.
- 2023 USTA League National Regulations, USTA Resource Document, May 31, 2023.
- 2023 Operating Procedures, USTA Texas Resource Document, Undated – Downloaded July 26, 2023.
I recognize a couple of the cute faces in that photo!! 🥰
Down here in North Houston there is an 8.0 mixed doubles league with just two teams. They have to play each other 7 times this seas. One of the teams is clearly better and has won the first 3 matches already. What fun (not) that must be!
This has definitely happened in Colorado Springs where they also had to get special permission to do a 4.5/5.0 women’s combo league with two teams to have enough players. It will likely implode next year when enough of them join teams in Denver instead.
I have a post request – I’ve noticed on my USTA profile that I now have a mixed doubles ranking but I can’t find the actual ranking list anywhere. I also see mixed will have an NTRP 18+ nationals next year! Where is the ranking list and how will the USTA determine who qualifies since men and women have separate ranking lists?
Also the USTA updated their nationals 2024 page and I see they are going to do regular 7-point tiebreakers at 3-3!
There’s a lot to unpack in the recent updates to NTRP Nationals. I am maybe a month out from launching into that topic, but it is definitely going to happen because the Trophy Husband is also insisting on it.
Yeah there’s a lot there! And the if you get moved up you play up rule. And no longer using the end of year standings but the most recent list prior to entry close?
Dear Teresa,
As always, thank you for writing such interesting articles everyday! I want to ask about why there are no 40 and over 5.0 teams in USTA league tennis. I even feel like it would be good information to know how many 50 and older 5.0 women there are in the USTA.
I am fortunate to live in an area that has a ton of 5.0 players. Some of these 5.0 women are under 40 but many are older. This year our area fielded 2 5.0 18 and older teams and we both went to states. I would just love to know why the USTA does not have any 40 and over or 50 and over 5.0 teams. Do they think there aren’t enough people? Can we have those statistics? I am not going to play next year because it seems like I always go to state and play the 24 year old ex college player who forgot to fill out the back page of the USTA form that asks where she played in college and what number she was, what division her college was etc. The system is so flawed and easy to work around. I so appreciate you writing on these issues.
Thanks,
Charlotte Hartsock
I think the answer will essentially come down to no one registered for a team number and recruited players. They offer it in my local area, people just don’t engage. A couple of years ago, my 40+ open team won the Dallas league, only to discover that there were no other local areas that had a league at that level. There was a “National” invitational tournament that our team declined to play for a variety of reasons, but mostly because the format was doubles only.
I am thinking hard about what a better engagement mechanism would be for players at 5.0 plus. League clearly isn’t working at that level and with limited numbers.