Hardest Section in USTA

[watergirl]

And 1/2 the TX girls were 13 and only 3 of the boys were in the top 20 of the section. This is my point exactly about depth.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by watergirl

And 1/2 the TX girls were 13 and only 3 of the boys were in the top 20 of the section. This is my point exactly about depth.

The hosting state at Zonals should have the inside track. But Zonals doesn't draw all the best players so it's not an accurate indicator of what section is the best. The reason Zonals doesn't draw include:

1. Time commitment.
2. Expense (hotel, travel, food).
3. No impact on rankings.
4. Too close to hard courts.

[watergirl]

There are still a lot of high rank players there from every section that participated. Eastern and Texas are probably at a disadvantage just because they both field 4 teams.

Of note - the official said they were on the court more at this zonals than and other. Mostly because of a few Eastern players who didn't seem to know that balls on or near a line inside of the courts were still good balls.

Probably the team that surprised us the most was the Pacific Northwest. Horrible doubles but all but 2 single matches were tight.

[watergirl]

One of the Eastern teams fielded probably the best boys team there but didn't have the girls to back it up. 4 of the boys on that team have not lost a singles match.

[tennisnoob3]

Originally Posted by rafabull

Ok Yoda....

hes right. the pacific nw is one of the weakest by far overall. having one or two good players doesn't make it a strong section.

[hound 109]

Comments below:

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

The hosting state at Zonals should have the inside track.

They should.....but not the case in both years my kid played. (local section got killed)

But Zonals doesn't draw all the best players so it's not an accurate indicator of what section is the best.

Maybe not the best couple of kids....but many of the 5-25 play which (as the other poster mentioned) & since (say) 15 of the best 18 boys or girls are playing, then the results of these matches would indicate the depth.....or lack of depth of the various sections.

The reason Zonals doesn't draw just about everyone include:

1. Time commitment. Agree. It's another week long commitment in the summer.

2. Expense (hotel, travel, food). Agree.

3. No impact on rankings. In my observation....Not accurate. My kid earned the same number of points at Zonals that he did in winning the L3 Regional tournament.

(maybe if you're top 10 in the nation, 300 points wouldn't help a kids record, but line 1 or line 2 kids who win all or most of their singles matches earn serious national points).

4. Too close to hard courts. Very much agree. In fact it's a couple of days after the CLAYS & exactly one week prior to the hard courts. Few kids are able to do all three of these events. I wish they'd move one to late June.

.

[deltacore1]

How is Eastern so good if the players can not play all year, due to the weather conditions?

[the 10s n00b]

Originally Posted by scraps234

Id say flordia and so cal are toughest... then eastern norcal southern southwest texas ... then intermountain pacific northwest middle states new eng...I hear hawaii and missouri valley blow..

add ******* with socal and fl... other thn tht i agree

[MomTennis]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Comments below:

Agree completely. Just got home from 14 Zonals in Cary. Great experience for the kids including lots of good matches including one to three three set matches everyday. Leaving in four days for Hard Courts and didn't do Clay Courts because of the time commitment and added cost - as a working parent couldn't take three weeks off in a span of six weeks. The team atmosphere was wonderful for the kids - to see the boys pulling for the girls and the girls pulling for the boys was great but wish it was at a different time of year - the tournament calendar is so full from the end of June through early August - moving the Zonals to third week in August and moving Hard Courts up a week would be my suggestion.

[TennisCoachFLA]

Originally Posted by MomTennis

Agree completely. Just got home from 14 Zonals in Cary. Great experience for the kids including lots of good matches including one to three three set matches everyday. Leaving in four days for Hard Courts and didn't do Clay Courts because of the time commitment and added cost - as a working parent couldn't take three weeks off in a span of six weeks. The team atmosphere was wonderful for the kids - to see the boys pulling for the girls and the girls pulling for the boys was great but wish it was at a different time of year - the tournament calendar is so full from the end of June through early August - moving the Zonals to third week in August and moving Hard Courts up a week would be my suggestion.

What amazes me is the vastly different experiences at tournaments. Compare your post to the very last post in the "Emira Stanford" thread below.

One person went to a tournament and said they had the best experience with a great atmosphere. Another went to a tournament that sounds like junior tennis purgatory.

[BMC9670]

Originally Posted by deltacore1

How is Eastern so good if the players can not play all year, due to the weather conditions?

Um... indoor courts. Expensive, yes, but very common here in the North East.

[MomTennis]

Thanks did read the post - our group of kids that had a great time are all good sports - one of the team won the Boys Sportsmanship award.

However there are some crazy kids and parents at all tournament. One of our players got a retaliation call on match point - ball was at least two feet in - player that was losing hadn't liked a close call two points before questioned the call but then called the match point ball out to make the score duece but to make things worse when he called the ball out walked off the court, crossed over a court where two girls were playing their match, walked out into the crowd about 50 feet to find a ref and then having found the wrong ref (not overseeing his court) had the ref call for another ref all while the game was still in progress. Parents sitting right there encouraging him. Match went to third set and that player lost with a double fault on match points.

Point of the story is that there are clearly parts of the country where the parents/coaches teach and encourage poor sportsmanship as a part of the game.

[BSPE84]

Originally Posted by MomTennis

Point of the story is that there are clearly parts of the country where the parents/coaches teach and encourage poor sportsmanship as a part of the game.

LOL, and I'm sure your player was an angel in that whole mess right, Mom?

[mojojojo]

.....................

[andfor]

Originally Posted by MomTennis

............................
Point of the story is that there are clearly parts of the country where the parents/coaches teach and encourage poor sportsmanship as a part of the game.

Yea, parents and tennis coaches are blatantly encouraging and teaching poor sportsmanship. It's so clear I can't believe the USTA is allowing it.

All parents who see their kids make even one close call and who hear or see their kids act out in anyway should pull them off the court in every instance. I can see the lines of a players court from the sideline much better than the players can from the actual court they are playing on. All kids except mine act out and make bad calls. It's just awful out there on the junior tennis circuit. I'm thinking about going to an activity like painting or water ballet.

[chalkflewup]

Charles Barkley is not a role model and it's not the job of the USTA to raise kids.

[BMC9670]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

Charles Barkley is not a role model and it's not the job of the USTA to raise kids.

No, but the USTA has a responsibility to promote fair play for all it's participants. That's one of the primary things a sports governing body is supposed to do.

[tennis5]

Originally Posted by BMC9670

No, but the USTA has a responsibility to promote fair play for all it's participants. That's one of the primary things a sports governing body is supposed to do.

It is nice to come on this board, and learn that everyone is frustrated by:
the lack of refs at the tournament,
or the lack of competency of the refs,
or the refs that are too busy talking to each other,
or the refs that are eating lunch,
or the refs that are on the court, but say, "Sorry, I wasn't watching".
or the kids cursing, throwing their racquets, cheating, parents coaching, etc.

Folks, you have to document it.

Eventually, the sectional and national office do have a stack of complaints on kid x....

We had one kid from our section at zonals who cheated every match.
The parents from other sectionals were upset and said they would be putting it in writing....

[tennis5]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

The hosting state at Zonals should have the inside track. But Zonals doesn't draw all the best players so it's not an accurate indicator of what section is the best. The reason Zonals doesn't draw include:

1. Time commitment.
2. Expense (hotel, travel, food).
3. No impact on rankings.
4. Too close to hard courts.

You actually get a lot of points if you are the 1 seed.
5 matches won = 250 points.
Plus, any other points if the player is in the top 100.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by BMC9670

No, but the USTA has a responsibility to promote fair play for all it's participants. That's one of the primary things a sports governing body is supposed to do.

I don't think putting an official on every court is the answer. And, I don't think it's a problem of that magnitude. If there is a problem, file a grievance. Encourage other parents to do the same. Put the hooks on notice. I have done it with positive support from our section.