My 55+ 9.0 NTRP USTA League Team qualified for the National Championships last weekend. In related news, I have a history of asserting that elimination of NTRP “National Championships” would eliminate the majority of unsportsmanlike behavior that plagues the USTA League system. Additionally, I have also railed at the absurdity of conducting NTRP competition with age based restrictions. Will I make the trip with my team? Absolutely.
USTA League National Championships are an incentive that the USTA has implemented to encourage players to compete in USTA Leagues. I strongly suspect that the intersectional play is necessary to prevent divergence between NTRP ratings from Section to Section. At the same time, the incentive of National Championships causes people to behave badly. As much as the USTA wants to deny it, people tank matches to manage their ratings and recruit players to self-rate considerably below their competitive level. There would be a lot less of that without the enticement of competing at Nationals.
I would never advocate that players should recuse themselves from competing at their highest level in pursuit of the National Championship incentive that the USTA has placed before them. In fact, that is completely consistent with my guiding principle that players should strive to play at their highest competitive level at all times. Competing hard at Nationals when the opportunity arises is exactly what all players should do.
I care too deeply to claim ambivalence regarding my own NTRP rating. I was unenthusiastic about my demotion this year. My attitude can be summed up as “I am currently NTRP 4.5, but I identify as 5.0.” I am trying very hard to be the best player I can be. It would be good for the tennis ecosystem if everybody shared that same philosophy.
I am looking forward to competing with this team at the National Championships. Because I tend to think several moves ahead, I am also starting to consider what inevitably happens after that. The move-up/split-up rule looms large. There is no option to move-up from 9.0, so the team will be subject to a draconian degree of split-up.
In 2023, no more than three players from my current team can play together on a 55+ 9.0 team. With 16 players on the roster, that means that 5 new teams will theoretically be spawned. Some players will likely get bumped up to 5.0, but that only opens the door for 4.0 players to suddenly be welcomed to a lot of new 9.0 teams.
The reality is that there aren’t enough active 55+ players in the local area to fill out that many teams. Some players may be unable to find a home and will have to sit out a season. Or perhaps this is an inflection point that draws a bunch of inactive players back into the fold. It could be a watershed moment for 55+ women’s tennis in Dallas.
- USTA League Regulations, 2022, downloaded February 5, 2022.
After competing at the Nationals a few years ago, I was given a ‘benchmark’ 5.0 rating which essentially prevented me playing in USTA Leagues locally in west Florida. We don’t have any 5.0 leagues even close to where we live.
The Captain was re-rated too and our team was broken up.
The Nationals was a great experience not to be missed but tinged with sadness that it was a one time event.
This is one of the fundamental issues with the NTRP system. The top players get choked out of competition.