Hello captains! Welcome to another season of the USTA Atlanta Adult 18 & Over League! Thank you so much for volunteering and helping to make our league so successful. Not only will you serve as the communicator and representative for your team, but we wouldn t have our league without all of your efforts. This introductory letter will serve as an information source throughout the entire league season. Refer to it whenever you have a question. If there is a question not listed in this information source, or if you need clarification on a topic, please do not hesitate to contact your level rep/volunteer. Sincerely, Judy Mapstone 18 & Over Weekday Women Program Director Contact for the Season Each team will have a dedicated level representative who has volunteered to answer questions throughout the season. They are here to make this a great experience for you, so please utilize them. If you are unable to contact your level representative for an immediate question, you are welcome to call another level rep. 2.5 Shannon Rowe 770-597-1611 shannondrowe@hotmail.com 3.0 Patti Kinneer 757-619-6055 pkinncpa@bellsouth.net 3.5 Low Sonya Peel 770-337-2793 slpeel@mindspring.com 3.5 Red Dee Lavender 404-664-3938 deirdrelavender@yahoo.com 3.5 Blue Maureen Gold 770-972-7035 mogo@mindspring.com 4.0 Low Elena Ford 404-375-3195 elena.ford@att.com 4.0 Red Johnnie Collier 404-402-9739 jwcollier@mindspring.com 4.0 Blue Joan Marcinko 770-396-2947 joanajcl@aol.com 4.5 Susette Hall 770-979-4753 susette.hall@comcast.net 5.0+ Shannon Rowe 770-597-1611 shannondrowe@hotmail.com Program Director Judy Mapstone 404-314-4114 jspmapstone@gmail.com Scheduling Matches Default Match Start Times: 9:30 AM: 1S and 1D 10:30 AM: 2S and 2D (to follow 1S and 1D) 11:30 AM: 3D (to follow 2S and 2D) Both captains must agree if start times and order of lines differ from the default. Page 1 of 7
If you schedule your match start times/order of play differently from the default time, it is recommended to get e-mail confirmation from opposing captain. Refer to the USTA Atlanta rules and regulations for all match time scenarios. Make-up Matches Teams have 13 days to make up matches (with the exception of the last 2 matches of the season see paragraph below). Please refer to our league rules and regulations for specifics. The make-up deadline for the second to last match of the season is the following Wednesday, 9:30 AM. If it rains on Wednesday, it becomes the following Friday, 9:30 AM. The make-up deadline for the last match of the season and playoff matches is the following Friday, 9:30 AM. If it rains on Friday, then day-to-day, 9:30 AM (excluding Saturday/Sunday). Defaults: If the start of any team match is cancelled due to inclement weather, any defaults awarded in advance are voided, and all five lines may now be scheduled for make-up play. However, if any line has already started when weather stops the match, the default(s) stands. Season Schedule for Winter 2016 Season In most groups, teams will have 6-7 team matches in their local round robin. Some groups may have more. This does not include playoffs and/or city finals. Local Round Robin* *dates are subject to change Thursday, November 5 Thursday, November 12 Thursday, November 19 Thursday, December 3 Thursday, December 10 Thursday, January 7 Thursday, January 14 (last match for all levels except 2.5 and 5.0+) Thursday, January 21 (2.5 Level last match) Thursday, January 28 (5.0+ only) Thursday, February 4 (5.0+ only) Playoffs Thursday, January 21, 2016 (all levels except 2.5 and 5.0+) Thursday, January 28, 2016 (all levels except 2.5 and 5.0+) Thursday, February 4, 2016 (all levels except 2.5 and 5.0+) City Finals Thursday, February 11, 2016 at Dekalb Tennis Center (all levels) Friday, February 12, 2016 (rain date) Playoffs We do NOT have any minimum number of matches played requirements for the local playoffs for Weekday Women. Your players may participate in the playoffs even if they did NOT play any Page 2 of 7
matches during the first seven weeks of the regular season, as long as they were registered within the proper deadline. There will be a playoff tournament for each division level. The playoff tournament will be comprised of the top 2 teams in each group. For example, if there are 7 groups in the 3.0 division level, then the top 2 teams in each group will advance to playoffs. In some cases, the best 3 rd place teams (out of all groups) will be used to fill in the draws. There will be a playoff tournament for each division level. The playoff tournament will be comprised of the following teams below. Normal seeding procedures will apply. 2.5: Top 2 teams advance to the city final. 3.0: All eight first place teams (seeds 1-8); and all eight second place teams (seeds 9-16). 3.5 Low: All five first place teams (seeds 1-5); all five second place teams (seeds 6-10); 3.5 BLUE: All five first place teams (seeds 1-5); all five second place teams (seeds 6-10); 3.5 RED: All five first place teams (seeds 1-5); all five second place teams (seeds 6-10); 4.0 Low: All six first place teams (seeds 1-6); all six second place teams (seeds 7-12); the top 4 best overall 3 rd place teams (seeds 13 16). 4.0 Blue: All five first place teams (seeds 1-5); all five second place teams (seeds 6-10); 4.0 RED: All four first place teams (seeds 1-4); all four second place teams (seeds 5-8); and all four third place teams (seeds 9-12). 4.5: All four first place teams (seeds 1-4); all four second place teams (seeds 5-8); and all four third place teams (seeds 9-12). 5.0+: Top 2 teams will advance to city finals. City Finals If your team moves on to the city finals for USTA Atlanta, a schedule of events will be posted on the USTA Atlanta web site (www.ustaatlanta.com) approximately one week before the city finals begin. Go to Captain s Corner > Weekday Women. Georgia State Tournament for 2016 Championship Year We are currently in the 2016 Championship Year. City Champions from USTA Atlanta will advance to the USTA Georgia State Tournament to be held in May 2016 in Rome or Macon, GA (two separate weekends for different levels). Please visit the USTA Georgia s site at http://www.georgia.usta.com/leagues/league_state_championships/ for more information on logistics. There is no state tournament for the 3.5 Low level. Qualifying for State Tournament If your team receives an invitation to the state tournament, each player (going to state) must be on the scorecard for two matches during the regular season (including playoff matches) in order to qualify for State. One of these times may be recorded as a default received, but at least one must be an actual match played. Page 3 of 7
Finding Phone Numbers for Opposing Captains Go to TennisLink (http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/); Log in your USTA account (if you don t have one create one); Go to your team s Team Summary page (the default page for your team) Click Match Schedule you will see the opposing captain's phone number. Finding E-mails for Opposing Captains If you would like to find an e-mail for an opposing captain, you may find this information by doing the following: Go to TennisLink (http://tennislink.usta.com/leagues/); Log in your USTA account (if you don t have one create one); Go to your team s Team Summary page (the default page for your team) Click the Team Captain Report Tab You will see opposing captain e-mails. Assigning a Co-Captain If you would like to designate a co-captain, please include the following info in an e-mail to Josh Blankman at blankman@ustaatlanta.com: Your Team Name (example: Blackburn Park Jane Smith); Division Level, Group Color, and Flight: (example: 3.5 Red Group, Group 5) Co-captain s Name. Captain s Corner The Captain s Corner is another key resource tool for captains. You can find the Captain s Corner by going to www.ustaatlanta.com > Captain s Corner > Weekday Women. Here, you will find: TennisLink instructions; League calendar; USTA Atlanta local league rules and regulations; Friend at Court. FAC tells you everything you need to know about line calls, balls that hit scoreboards, hindrances, losing your hat during a point, yelling at your partner, etc. The section called The Code is a great reference for unofficiated matches. Grievance forms and procedures; Self-rating Guidelines; Playoff information (when available); and City Finals information (when available). Team Management Tool TennisLink has a team management tool! This is similar to the Netcord and TennisPoint features you have used in the past. However, this is free with your USTA registration. For a step-by-step presentation on using it, please go to the Captain s Corner and find Team Management Instructions. Adding a Player After the Season Begins Page 4 of 7
You may add players at any time up until 11:59 PM on the Wednesday before the last local round robin match (for many of you, this would be 11:59 PM on January 13, 2016). Scoring The match format is best 2 out of 3 sets with an optional 10-point tiebreaker (first to 10, win by 2 points) in lieu of 3rd complete set. Coman Tiebreak All tiebreaks (including a 10-point 3 rd set tiebreak) will be played using the Coman tiebreak. The Coman tiebreak is the same as the present tiebreak (set or match) except that ends are changed after the first point, then after every four points (i.e. after the 5 th, 9 th, 13 th, 17 th points, etc), and at the conclusion of the tiebreak. For example, at 6-6, the player whose turn it is to serve shall serve the first point from the deuce court; after the point first, the player shall change ends and the following two points shall be served by the opponent(s) (in doubles, the player of the opposing team due to serve next), starting with the ad court. After this, each player/team shall serve alternately for two consecutive points (starting with the ad court), changing ends after four points, until the end of the tiebreak game. In short, everything remains the same as a standard tiebreak except for when you change ends (1 st, 5 th, 9 th, 13 th, etc) and conclusion of tiebreak. Playing on More than One Team A player may play on more than one team in the same season provided they are: At a different level if playing in the same league (example: a player may register for a 3.5 Low and 3.5 regular team). At the same level in a different league (example: a player may register for a 3.5 regular Weekday Women s and 3.5 Business Women s team) Low Levels (3.5 Low and 4.0 Low) It is every captain s responsibility to check low eligibility before registering a player on a roster and/or playing them. If a player is not eligible for a low level and plays a match, the match will be reversed. There is a published list of eligible players on the USTA Atlanta website. USTA Atlanta does a weekly check every Wednesday to ensure eligibility of newly-added players. If there is a player not eligible, USTA Atlanta will notify you as soon as possible. USTA Atlanta is NOT responsible for a captain or player registering and/or playing someone who was not on the eligibility list and/or checked by USTA Atlanta first. Conflicts with USTA Adult State Tournament Per section II.4.F of the USTA Atlanta rules, we do not penalize players who are participating in a USTA league-related tournament. USTA Atlanta expects all teams to cooperate with each other in pre-scheduling any matches due to this conflict. Only players actually attending those tournaments will be allowed to pre-schedule their individual line/match. Teams with this concern must notify the affected opponents at least two weeks prior to the scheduled match to reschedule individual matches, or as soon as the schedule is known if there is less than two weeks notice. If the teams cannot agree to an earlier schedule, the match will be rescheduled Page 5 of 7
using inclement weather rules. Any individual match rescheduled for after the regularly scheduled time under this rule must include at least one player who played in the state or sectional tournament; else this match may be defaulted and awarded to the other team. Food Our league has no formal requirements in regards to providing food. However, we expect teams to provide at least snacks and drinks to the visiting teams. Facilities Make sure you have the keys to the bathrooms and that they stay open throughout the match. If your facility has time constraints for courts, please make arrangements for them to stay open and lighted to allow you to complete long-running matches. Another important note regarding facilities: Once you have indicated your official home facility in TennisLink, all home matches should be played at that facility. If you cannot play at your designated home facility, the visiting team has the option of supplying courts for the match. Of course, you can always agree to play your match somewhere else if it eases the commute but home captains may not arbitrarily choose to schedule matches at an alternate facility. Line-ups Avoid having matches reversed by ensuring that your players are registered on your roster (not registered as a USTA member). During the first week of play, we usually have to reverse/disqualify up to 5-7 matches because of players not being registered. Players must be registered before they step foot on court to play their match. If they are not registered in time, the match will be reversed/disqualified and the point will be awarded to your opponents even if you win. No exceptions. The Grievances Process (found in captain s corner) When viewing the captain s corner, you will notice a grievance section with two types of complaints that can be filed from a captain. NTRP Grievance aka Fair Play Grievance If you believe that you (or one of your players) have played against a player that has misrepresented their playing ability within the self-rating process (i.e., their playing level is at the top of the next level or higher), you should file a NTRP Grievance ASAP. However, you must have evidentiary support for your claim (i.e. college background). An opinion is not a valid backup for a NTRP grievance. NTRP Grievances filed within seven days of the start of the local playoffs will not be processed and penalties will not be imposed until after the city finals for the league. Sportsmanship Grievance Unfortunately, a captain may come across a bad experience where they felt the opposing captain displayed poor sportsmanship. Examples of this type of behavior would be violation of USTA Atlanta rules and verbal abuse. (Playing against a player who was not the most pleasant does not count in this instance.) Although sometimes these cases can be hard to prove, USTA Page 6 of 7
Atlanta encourages captains to file a complaint if you felt extreme poor sportsmanship was witnessed. Important Tips Be sure to thoroughly read through and be well-versed with USTA Atlanta local rules and regulations. Ensure a proper scorecard exchange before each match. Both captains should simultaneously exchange COMPLETE scorecards before the start of the match. Assign a co-captain for your team! This will help for when you are out-of-town unexpectedly and can have someone take over for a team match. Once assigned, they will be able to have captain access on TennisLink. Contact your captain at least 3 days in advance to coordinate logistics for the team match. When speaking with your captain, confirm the facility to make sure you have the correct address on file. You will also want to find out the number of courts that will be given for match and court surface. If both captains agree, you may play your match earlier or at a different time on match day. Keep your level rep informed if you do this! Home teams are required to provide two courts of the same surface for each team match. Unless another arrangement was made (and agreed upon by both captains), the first two matches to go on will be the #1 singles and doubles. The #2 singles and doubles should be there within one hour after the start of match time, and #3 doubles an hour after that. Make sure your player is registered on your team before stepping foot on the court. If your player s match is started at 9: 30 AM, and they registered on the team at 9:31 AM, it is an illegal match and will be disqualified and awarded to the opposing team. Each player should bring a can of balls for their match. After the match is finished, the winners of the match should receive/have the unopened can. Good luck and have a great season! Page 7 of 7