stevenymets
New User
I know, I know, a strange topic to post in the Adult League and Tournament Talk Forum, but hear me out.....
As I wrote in another posting on a different thread, I have played tennis my whole life, amongst other sports. I played one year Division 3 tennis on a pretty good team, but mostly rode the pine. I am an average player pretty much, most likely because I am an average athlete. However, when you have played tennis long enough, your game eventually develops to the point where one is comfortable playing against all different levels. I will make as many bum headed mistakes against a 3.5 player as I will against a Division 1 college player. Pace, variety of shot, spins, accuracy, etc., etc., in my time playing I have seen it all. A college kid would wipe the court with me, but I wouldn't look out of place out there to a casual observer just walking by, the score on the other hand would be more indicative of the truth.
About 14 years ago (can't believe it has been that long) after a move from Florida, I discovered league tennis with a friend of mine that I had been playing with. At this point in my life, I hadn't played tennis but maybe 2 or 3 times over a 5 or 6 year period. Living in Florida I played a ton of basketball and softball, and though I knew tennis players, I was too busy with other stuff to care about playing.
But now, in my new home town, I was back into playing, and many old friends were as well. So we joined the USTA, found the local league and dove in. I was all in, it was a ton of fun, and I was playing on multiple teams, multiple time per week.
My observation about league tennis at the time was that for the most part, the majority of people played fairly and competitively with an eye toward fun and recreation. Yup, there were some bad seeds, both individual players and team captains who really skirted the rules, but in general it was pretty good.
The leagues were also competitively fun, typically having 10 to 16 teams (some seasons we would have multiple divisions there were so many teams), complete with playoffs with the winners advancing on to districts, etc. etc. Forfeits were at a minimum, and most matches were pretty close.
Then either I got more league experience and noticed things I hadn't before or things began to change . Questionable teams, with a bunch of self rated players, or a bunch of players who had appealed began to increase in number. They would roll everyone. Ok, at least I got to play against some very good players a couple of times per season. Then I started noticing poorer and poorer sportsmanship, questionable calls, questionable tactics, bordering on breaking the hindrance rule, etc. Still, the majority of people had good intentions.
Around this time my core team broke up, a bunch of us got bumped, my friends moved away/got injured, I got injured (cupla knee surgeries from soccer), and I didn't have a "main" team that I was always guaranteed to play on (still, plenty of other teams to play on in the area.)
In addition, the USTA introduced age groups into league play, next the USTA introduced combo leagues, and then the "tiered leagues (where you have 4.5 at first doubles, then 4.0 at second and 3.5 at third, not sure what this is called), I think at one point they introduce mixed species leagues where you could play with your pet, etc., etc., etc...
I started to notice that my positive league experiences, which well outnumbered my negative ones, were now on balance, almost equal with my negative experiences. An arms race had begun, once one team started doing questionable things to win, others followed suit, it left a bad taste in my mouth when I ended up on one of these teams. Tennis drama, where adults started acting like high school kids with clicks, recruiting players off of other teams and cutting players, their friends, from their team. More and more questionable behavior came into play in deciding matches on the court.
These experiences started leading me to question whether I wanted to continue in league tennis. During this time we had created a group of friends who had reserved court time weekly. There was 9 of us splitting the court, playing doubles. I kept a spreadsheet with scores and calculated winning percentages for each player, thus creating standings. We would have beers afterward, and even had a "playoff" and "end of season" party and bought a trophy for the winner (a monkey that when switched on would clap cymbals together.)
The play of this group was extremely competitive, and generally of a high caliber, simply because we got to know each other so well. Familiarity breeds quality of play. It was much more fun for me than USTA league play and made me question league tennis that much more.
By this time the men's league, which once was 16 teams was now 9, with at least one or two forfeits per season, many less matches, and much less a sense of team. Quality of play was all over the map, captains were always scurrying to find players. Then, it finally dawned on me. USTA leagues were over saturated. There were too many of them. Active players, who at one time, were playing on 3 or 4 teams during a season, were playing on 8, 10, 12 even in one season. Their captains were busy competing with the player's other teams to get a line-up. This, it turns out, was finally my tipping point. I did the math, I realized it was no longer worth it.
I could put up with the questionable sportsmanship, the sandbagging, the politicking within and between teams, even the occasional player/partner drama, but I really feel the USTA, in either their misguided attempt to create a league for everyone, or simply to increase revenue (not sure what the math is, but I wonder how much they collect in those league fees with the increase of league options, I would think it adds up) was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.
Once the quality of the league itself went down, once you added that in, the scales tipped. The outside group I played with represented everything I had come to love about league tennis in the early days when I first started playing. Good sportsmanship, really competitive, high quality tennis. Sure, we will argue occasionally, but we will still share beers afterward.
I have taken another long break from tennis due to some injuries and life changes. I am about to start playing again, but I wonder, will I go back to leagues, have they changed, are they the same, are they worse?
I have been very fortunate playing tennis as an adult. I am at the age where my body probably won't allow me to play basketball, soccer or baseball/softball anymore, but I can still play tennis. I have never had a problem finding people to play with, and I live in an area where there are a number of districts close to one another, so there are a lot of league options. But I wonder, given the option, if I am just better off playing with friends then with the USTA leagues I used to love.
As I wrote in another posting on a different thread, I have played tennis my whole life, amongst other sports. I played one year Division 3 tennis on a pretty good team, but mostly rode the pine. I am an average player pretty much, most likely because I am an average athlete. However, when you have played tennis long enough, your game eventually develops to the point where one is comfortable playing against all different levels. I will make as many bum headed mistakes against a 3.5 player as I will against a Division 1 college player. Pace, variety of shot, spins, accuracy, etc., etc., in my time playing I have seen it all. A college kid would wipe the court with me, but I wouldn't look out of place out there to a casual observer just walking by, the score on the other hand would be more indicative of the truth.
About 14 years ago (can't believe it has been that long) after a move from Florida, I discovered league tennis with a friend of mine that I had been playing with. At this point in my life, I hadn't played tennis but maybe 2 or 3 times over a 5 or 6 year period. Living in Florida I played a ton of basketball and softball, and though I knew tennis players, I was too busy with other stuff to care about playing.
But now, in my new home town, I was back into playing, and many old friends were as well. So we joined the USTA, found the local league and dove in. I was all in, it was a ton of fun, and I was playing on multiple teams, multiple time per week.
My observation about league tennis at the time was that for the most part, the majority of people played fairly and competitively with an eye toward fun and recreation. Yup, there were some bad seeds, both individual players and team captains who really skirted the rules, but in general it was pretty good.
The leagues were also competitively fun, typically having 10 to 16 teams (some seasons we would have multiple divisions there were so many teams), complete with playoffs with the winners advancing on to districts, etc. etc. Forfeits were at a minimum, and most matches were pretty close.
Then either I got more league experience and noticed things I hadn't before or things began to change . Questionable teams, with a bunch of self rated players, or a bunch of players who had appealed began to increase in number. They would roll everyone. Ok, at least I got to play against some very good players a couple of times per season. Then I started noticing poorer and poorer sportsmanship, questionable calls, questionable tactics, bordering on breaking the hindrance rule, etc. Still, the majority of people had good intentions.
Around this time my core team broke up, a bunch of us got bumped, my friends moved away/got injured, I got injured (cupla knee surgeries from soccer), and I didn't have a "main" team that I was always guaranteed to play on (still, plenty of other teams to play on in the area.)
In addition, the USTA introduced age groups into league play, next the USTA introduced combo leagues, and then the "tiered leagues (where you have 4.5 at first doubles, then 4.0 at second and 3.5 at third, not sure what this is called), I think at one point they introduce mixed species leagues where you could play with your pet, etc., etc., etc...
I started to notice that my positive league experiences, which well outnumbered my negative ones, were now on balance, almost equal with my negative experiences. An arms race had begun, once one team started doing questionable things to win, others followed suit, it left a bad taste in my mouth when I ended up on one of these teams. Tennis drama, where adults started acting like high school kids with clicks, recruiting players off of other teams and cutting players, their friends, from their team. More and more questionable behavior came into play in deciding matches on the court.
These experiences started leading me to question whether I wanted to continue in league tennis. During this time we had created a group of friends who had reserved court time weekly. There was 9 of us splitting the court, playing doubles. I kept a spreadsheet with scores and calculated winning percentages for each player, thus creating standings. We would have beers afterward, and even had a "playoff" and "end of season" party and bought a trophy for the winner (a monkey that when switched on would clap cymbals together.)
The play of this group was extremely competitive, and generally of a high caliber, simply because we got to know each other so well. Familiarity breeds quality of play. It was much more fun for me than USTA league play and made me question league tennis that much more.
By this time the men's league, which once was 16 teams was now 9, with at least one or two forfeits per season, many less matches, and much less a sense of team. Quality of play was all over the map, captains were always scurrying to find players. Then, it finally dawned on me. USTA leagues were over saturated. There were too many of them. Active players, who at one time, were playing on 3 or 4 teams during a season, were playing on 8, 10, 12 even in one season. Their captains were busy competing with the player's other teams to get a line-up. This, it turns out, was finally my tipping point. I did the math, I realized it was no longer worth it.
I could put up with the questionable sportsmanship, the sandbagging, the politicking within and between teams, even the occasional player/partner drama, but I really feel the USTA, in either their misguided attempt to create a league for everyone, or simply to increase revenue (not sure what the math is, but I wonder how much they collect in those league fees with the increase of league options, I would think it adds up) was the proverbial straw that broke the camels back.
Once the quality of the league itself went down, once you added that in, the scales tipped. The outside group I played with represented everything I had come to love about league tennis in the early days when I first started playing. Good sportsmanship, really competitive, high quality tennis. Sure, we will argue occasionally, but we will still share beers afterward.
I have taken another long break from tennis due to some injuries and life changes. I am about to start playing again, but I wonder, will I go back to leagues, have they changed, are they the same, are they worse?
I have been very fortunate playing tennis as an adult. I am at the age where my body probably won't allow me to play basketball, soccer or baseball/softball anymore, but I can still play tennis. I have never had a problem finding people to play with, and I live in an area where there are a number of districts close to one another, so there are a lot of league options. But I wonder, given the option, if I am just better off playing with friends then with the USTA leagues I used to love.
Though I certainly feel like one after a night of playing.......
