The following is a letter written by Bonnie Vona, USTA Mid-Atlantic Competitive Tennis Manager, to Junior Tennis Champions Center players and parents concerning schedule adjustments, ranking changes and the pathway to National tournaments:
Dear Players and Parents,
Many of you have heard about the changes to the National Schedule, the Section tournaments that count for ranking and entry method into the National Junior Tournaments.
The biggest concern for 2014 is how Mid-Atlantic players will gain entry to the National events. The National Junior Competition Committee determined that entry into the ‘Regional’ tournaments and the ‘National Championships’ (Clay Court, Hard Court and Winter Nationals) should be based on a Quota system whereby players must qualify through their Section ranking.
After much review and discussion concerning the changes to the National System, the Mid-Atlantic Junior Section’s Junior Competition Committee met to determine the best possible system to help our players optimize their opportunity to compete at the regional and national level. The following are the core changes for 2014:
1) The actual schedule of the Section Level tournaments (known as Championships and Challengers) is similar to 2013. Some dates have been adjusted to avoid events on the new national schedule. Tournament structures did not change.
2) National will only designate six Section Level tournaments toward national rankings.
a) Level ‘5’ has been eliminated
b) Two tournaments are designated National Level 3 points (January and June)
c) Four tournaments are designated National Level 4 points (March, May,. September and October)
3) For Mid-Atlantic tournaments, the ‘Level Designation’ has been changed to align with the National Designation. In 2013, a Championship was designated a Section Level 1 National Level 3 (L1 NL3), referring to the associated point tables. In 2014, a Section Championship will be designated a Level 3 (L3) for both National and Section point tables.
4) In 2013, National tournaments on the National Junior Calendar will count toward a player’s section ranking.
5) A player’s best six singles tournaments plus 15% of a player’s best six doubles tournaments will be used to calculate their ranking.
6) Bonus points for wins over opponents in the top 100 of the Section Rankings (based on final ranking list of each month) will be added to a player’s singles wins but not doubles wins.
7) All Mid-Atlantic resident players will be included on the Section Standing Lists if they have at least one win in a Mid-Atlantic Section or National tournament.
8) Points will count down one age division as long as the player has competed and has one singles win in the younger age division.
9) The section quota will be used by National to determine the number of players who will be accepted into the National Regionals and Championships. The quota is calculated annually based on the size of the Section and the number of players in the top 150 of the National standings. For Mid-Atlantic, the number will be between 5 and 7 depending on 2013 results.
10) The Mid-Atlantic Endorsement List will be used to determine which players are in the Mid-Atlantic quota. Players who are on the weekly Standing List will be included in the Endorsement List as long as:
a) Any player who wishes to be on the Endorsement List must enter and compete in at least three Mid-Atlantic Section Designated Level 3 or 4+ singles tournaments before the deadline for publishing the Endorsement List. Except that, in 2014, you must complete two before the Summer Endorsement Lists and complete the third before the Winter Nationals Endorsement List. Thereafter, a player must have three within a 12 month period.
b) ‘Enter and compete’ means that a player must enter the tournament and play until he/she is eliminated. Withdrawals, walkovers, retirements or defaults do not count as completing the tournament. Results would not be added to a player’s standing and would not qualify the player for inclusion on the Endorsement List. A player cannot enter a tournament intending to withdraw.
c) If the Endorsement List deadline falls during a designated tournament in which a player is competing and using as a qualifying tournament, the Section shall consider that the player has met the Endorsement List requirement.
11) Complete point charts for 2014 Section rankings will be published by October 1, 2013.
