Jack the Hack
02-09-2010, 12:09 PM
It's been a long time since I've posted here, but I heard a story today that I had to share.
A friend of mine was the captain of a mixed 9.0 team this year and they made it to the local area playoffs this past weekend. My friend was also on a team that made it to the 8.0 playoffs, and the matches were taking place at the same time at the same location. Here's the crazy part:
My captain friend is scheduled to start his team's 9.0 match at the same time he is on court playing an 8.0 match. Therefore, he fills out his 9.0 line-up card well ahead of time and turns it in to the USTA onsite coordinator. However, it turns out that this particular USTA onsite coordinator is on my friend's 9.0 team and was upset because he wasn't included in the line-up. Therefore, without telling my captain friend, he talks one of the other players out of playing, substitutes himself in at #1 doubles, and then goes out and loses the match!
Since he was on court playing, my friend didn't notice what this player had done until it was too late. The only way this player could have gotten away with something like this is because he was the designated onsite USTA coordinator (which, to be fair, is a volunteer position and not a direct payroll job of the USTA) and controlled the official line-up sheets. He had known what the line-up was supposed to be for several days beforehand, so he made a premeditated move to use his authority to manipulate the situation.
So, the result was that my friend's 9.0 team lost the match by a score of 1-2 and missed out on going to Sectionals. There is no guarantee that the player that was bumped out would have won the match, but it makes you wonder. Did the manipulator throw his match for revenge?
Technically, my friend might be able to file some sort of appeal since the official coordinator changed his line-up. However, the only likely result is that this player might be banned from any coordinator duties for awhile.
What would you do in this situation? Have you ever heard of a worse situation as a captain? :shock:
A friend of mine was the captain of a mixed 9.0 team this year and they made it to the local area playoffs this past weekend. My friend was also on a team that made it to the 8.0 playoffs, and the matches were taking place at the same time at the same location. Here's the crazy part:
My captain friend is scheduled to start his team's 9.0 match at the same time he is on court playing an 8.0 match. Therefore, he fills out his 9.0 line-up card well ahead of time and turns it in to the USTA onsite coordinator. However, it turns out that this particular USTA onsite coordinator is on my friend's 9.0 team and was upset because he wasn't included in the line-up. Therefore, without telling my captain friend, he talks one of the other players out of playing, substitutes himself in at #1 doubles, and then goes out and loses the match!
Since he was on court playing, my friend didn't notice what this player had done until it was too late. The only way this player could have gotten away with something like this is because he was the designated onsite USTA coordinator (which, to be fair, is a volunteer position and not a direct payroll job of the USTA) and controlled the official line-up sheets. He had known what the line-up was supposed to be for several days beforehand, so he made a premeditated move to use his authority to manipulate the situation.
So, the result was that my friend's 9.0 team lost the match by a score of 1-2 and missed out on going to Sectionals. There is no guarantee that the player that was bumped out would have won the match, but it makes you wonder. Did the manipulator throw his match for revenge?
Technically, my friend might be able to file some sort of appeal since the official coordinator changed his line-up. However, the only likely result is that this player might be banned from any coordinator duties for awhile.
What would you do in this situation? Have you ever heard of a worse situation as a captain? :shock: