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This document has a massive amount of information about 2 different types of tournaments (USTA and UTR) and will take some time to go through. USTA stands for United States Tennis Association and UTR stands for Universal Tennis Rating. College coaches are almost all using a players UTR as a means of recruiting players now and a player can get 3 matches done in 1 evening so you don’t have to commit the whole weekend. Right now almost all local UTRs are being held at local Life Time Fitness clubs and I will include information on those as well.  I’m available anytime via email at bashamtennis@ or by cell phone at 651-503-9007 to help answer any individual questions.  Below is a step by step process that will help you get your daughter signed up for the USTA and how to search for tournaments that they can participate in until the start of next season and basically my notes and recommendations for USTA tournaments. 

USTA Tournaments

 

They will sign up for tournaments according to their age level first and those age levels consist of:

        -12 and Under

        -14 and Under

        -16 and Under

        -18 and Under

**There has been a large initiative within the USTA to move 12 and under players to a lower bouncing ball called a green dot or a green ball vs the regular yellow ball to allow there to still be a focus on correct stroke production.  While I 100% agree with this idea, I’m not sure it would be beneficial for our girls that our 12 and under to use them since they are playing with real tennis balls.  Luckily, we don’t have many of these cases and most girls are going to fall into the older age groups so please feel free to email or call me individually if you have any questions as to how you should approach it.**

 

With the age groups, you always have the option to play up to any age group older than you, but I recommend playing in your correct age group unless there are no other tournaments in the area during the weekend they are available.  When the girls have a birthday, they can continue to play in that age bracket for the entire month and then the next month they “age up” and will have to play in the higher age bracket.

 

The level of play for the tournaments are as follows in order from beginner to very advanced:

-Level 7 (I want everyone in the program to start here unless they have already accumulated enough points to be kicked up to level 6)

-Level 6

-Level 5

-Level 4

 

With each tournament they play, they will accumulate points based on many factors but some of the most basic to understand are:

-simply for signing up and playing

-each match they win

-making it to the semi-finals

-beating a seeded player

-winning the whole tournament

 

Each player must accumulate a minimum of 50 points before they can even sign up for a level 6.  Once a player has accumulated 250 points, they now can no longer sign up for level 7 tournaments.   There is always going to be some players that will still sign up for Level 7s even though they shouldn’t but at least it’s only 1 match and then they will most likely never have to play them again.  You will also come across the player that is brand new to the USTA and is very good but still needs to go through the process of accumulating 50 points in order to play at a higher level.  Again, you just have to get through that match and hopefully never have to play them again.  A good rule of thumb on when you should think about moving up to level 6 is obviously after you have accumulated 50 points and either won a tournament or made the semi-finals of a larger draw (16 players or more).

 

I recommend that if you are committing to playing for the weekend that you play BOTH singles and doubles!!  It will maximize the amount of play for the weekend and just let me know if you need help finding a partner.  Unfortunately, doubles matches are almost always played on Sundays or Fridays with the matches being the dreaded 8 game pro-sets.  If you feel that you are mainly just a “doubles” or “singles” player, I highly encourage that you still play both because you never know when you will be asked to play either one.

 

Here are the steps on how to sign up for a USTA membership:

 



 

-Scroll to the very bottom of the page and click on the link “Become a USTA Member”

 

-Under Junior Memberships in the middle/bottom of this page click on “View Benefits & Join”

 

-Select the Junior membership starting at $20/year and at that time you can select a 1 year for $20, a 3 year for $54 or a 5 year for $80.

 

-Just fill out all the personal information and keep the printout for the temporary membership as you will need the membership number to sign up for a tournament and most likely the printout at the time of check in or the permanent membership card.

 

WHERE DO I FIND TOURNAMENTS?

 

1. Log onto northern. (home page)

2. (along top to the right of the USTA Northern logo) Click on juniors; use drop

down and click on Jr. Tournaments/ Rankings.

3. Click on TennisLink/Register for Tournaments/Tournament Results

4. Use the Advanced Search section (which should be pre-filled with sanctioned

tournaments, Northern Section, Junior Divisions and All Tournaments). Use the

drop down for month and pick the current month and click Search at the bottom.

(When you know your tournament ID#, you can do a quick search.)

You'll now see a listing of the tournaments for the month.

 

Date - is the first day of the tournament

Tournament - gives the name, the Level, the tournament ID# and you'll find the

facility/location, age groups, etc.

Location is the town where the tournament is held

Entries Close is the deadline for registering

Status will either be a link to register or draws available

 

Start your search by looking for the level, sex, age, location that is appropriate, then

click on the name of the tournament. You are now on the tournament director

information page that provides more detailed information. It is important to read the

important information that has notes pertaining to the tournament.

In the middle of the page, you will find a tab for Applicants. Once registration closes

and draws are posted, tabs will be added that say Players, Alternates, Competitors,

Draws and Results.

The box on the bottom right provides additional options (i.e. if you need to withdraw

before registration closes, etc.)

 

WHAT IS THE REGISTRATION PROCESS?

 

Once you decide on a tournament, you register online before the entry deadline. You

will need your USTA number or you select the option to Join USTA Now.

You will receive a confirmation registration e-mail. Typically, if entries close on Sunday

night, your credit card will be charged in the next 24 hours. Your name will now appear

on the Competitors tab on the tournament director information page. You will receive

an e-mail if you are not selected for the tournament.

 

WHEN DO I FIND OUT WHEN I PLAY?

 

If registration closed Sunday night, draws are usually posted Wednesday evening. It is

your responsibility to go online and check when you play. You will find the draws

tab on the tournament page.

 

 UTR Tournaments

Below is how the rating process works. If your daughter has never played a UTR Tournament or USTA tournament before, you would contact that tournament director and ask how they can get started. Most of the girls in the Rogers Tennis Program would start out with a 1-4 ranking with a few possibly having a higher ranking. It is just a starting point and will constantly move based on matches played. It is free to be a part of the UTR system. Here is the link where I got the information below:

The actual UTRs start at 1.00 with beginning players and progress through the integers to 16, the ratings for top male athletes on the ATP Tour. We have divided the scale into four developmental stages, each stage embracing four UTR levels.

Stage 1 (levels 1-4, green) correspond to the earlier stages of the road to mastery in tennis. They represent a progression of competence through the basics of the game.

Stage 2 (levels 5-8, blue) represent progressively higher levels of junior and adult “intermediate” play. It includes ITF and USTA junior tournaments, as well as adult competition in various formats around the world.

Stage 3 (levels 9-12, purple) represent the ratings of athletes experienced in advanced competitive play. At levels 9 and 10 we find male and female players who could compete successfully in many college programs, at the NCAA Division III level and above, along with top LTA 18 girls.

At Level 11, look for highly ranked NCAA Division I college women and world-class girls having success on the ITF Circuit, along with top Tennis Europe 14 boys and Tennis Europe 16 girls.

Level 12 includes athletes who are valuable in most ITA college programs, as well as women pros achieving success in the WTA. Highly ranked USTA Sectional boys also appear here, as well as top Tennis Europe 16 boys and LTA 18 boys.

Stage 4 (levels 13-16, magenta) corresponds to the highest competitive levels. Level 13 players include top-ranked WTA women who make their living playing tennis and often win professional events. High-level national and sectional USTA boys also show up at Level 13.

Level 14 includes junior boys with world-class success in ITF events, and the upper levels of ITA college men playing NCAA Division I tennis.

At Level 15, we find men competing on the ATP Challenger Circuit, and at Level 16, the top ATP players, who earn their livings playing professional ball.

Here is a link to find out when and where local UTR tournaments are:



When you sign up for a UTR tournament, most of the time they are put into 4 player “pods” so you play every one in your group and it takes about 5 hours vs an entire weekend. The down side is that there aren’t any trophies or t-shirts for these tournaments like in the USTA. Your pod can also include a boy or 2 with a similar UTR.

 

Thanks again and I look forward to hearing about when girls are playing in USTA and UTR tournaments of the off-season!!!

 

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