The Hannity Poll

[chalkflewup]

I for one will not miss taking my kid to the Winter National. The timing of the event is horrific (in my opinion). And the weather has been so cold at times that we had to wait for the ice to melt on the courts (and then dry).

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Pro_Tour_630

One last thing hound, are you going to tell your kid that you are going to repeat a grade so their ranking will go up nationally, and cheat errrrrr I mean play the system because everyone is doing so. let us know

Umm....the ranking won't "go up" in USTA if one repeats a grade. (we are talking about usta, right?)

& regarding your question......I'm pretty vocal about my opinion that colleges that take 20 y/o freshmen (especially 20 y/o non american freshmen...) are pretty slimy. So what in the heck are you talking about?
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[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

I for one will not miss taking my kid to the Winter National. The timing of the event is horrific (in my opinion). And the weather has been so cold at times that we had to wait for the ice to melt on the courts (and then dry).

For those of us that live in the western part of the U.S., Winter's in Tucson and Phoenix was close enough for us to drive to.
With not much extended family, winter's where a great time to combine tennis and a road trip.

By the way, 18's winter drew a lot of college coaches.

In all the years we were at winter's, I've never seem the kids complaining.
Yes it's cold in the mornings, but my wife and I were there for our kids.

Welcome to the "Whining Parent" club.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by Tennishacker

Welcome to the "Whining Parent" club.

Thank you! Unlike the Pied Piper (Sean) and his followers, I'm one of the few that is not whining about the changes.

[Alohajrtennis]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

I for one will not miss taking my kid to the Winter National. The timing of the event is horrific (in my opinion). And the weather has been so cold at times that we had to wait for the ice to melt on the courts (and then dry).

There is another alternative : just don't go if you don't like it. Nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to go. I can see why it would be a hassle for you, but don't you think is a bit self serving to take this event away from players from the west coast and northern climates who did enjoy it ?

[tball2day]

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[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by Alohajrtennis

There is another alternative : just don't go if you don't like it. Nobody held a gun to your head and forced you to go. I can see why it would be a hassle for you, but don't you think is a bit self serving to take this event away from players from the west coast and northern climates who did enjoy it ?

I didn't go. Self serving? Isn't Sean's position self serving? Isn't your position self serving? Please.

[Alohajrtennis]

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

I didn't go.

Originally Posted by chalkflewup

And the weather has been so cold at times that we had to wait for the ice to melt on the courts (and then dry).

You didn't go ? So you were using the royal "We" ?

I'm not sure my position is self serving. Guess what - I got a long way to fly under either system, and I have no way of knowing which way it will be better for us, can't predict the future, only time will tell, and even then, will never no for sure. Lots of variables. I can see scenarios where it works out better, some where it doesn't. But I really can't see how any changes will reduce the travel costs for us, so I think that actually makes me sort of objective.

There a lot of tournaments we are not going to go to. I am frankly not fond of Alpheretta in the summer: humidity, bugs, now that's insane. Much better weather here. But I don't begrudge the people who do want to go there and I don't want the tournament to be cancelled just cause its a pain in the *** for me to get to it.

And its not Sean's position, its a position shared by a lot of people. Sean just has a bigger microphone. Please.

[chalkflewup]

No... my royale "we" was more of a been there done that.

It is Sean's position. In his first passage, he "attempted" to separate himself from insane tennis parents and then he writes a tome or two about the fallacies of the system. He got any mirrors in his house?

As far as the Ice Nationals are concerned, that train already left the station.

[Pro_Tour_630]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Umm....the ranking won't "go up" in USTA if one repeats a grade. (we are talking about usta, right?)

& regarding your question......I'm pretty vocal about my opinion that colleges that take 20 y/o freshmen (especially 20 y/o non american freshmen...) are pretty slimy. So what in the heck are you talking about?
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no TRN, read below, why are you playing tournaments then it is not rocket science. talk about cherry picking,,,,,,,,,,,,, nothing wrong with kid being 19 when kid dropes down does it?

Originally Posted by hound 109

I'm not familiar with kids over 15.

But i am aware that of the top 8 kids in our section (in my kid's grade)......4 of them "dropped down" from higher grades in the past 2-3 months. (granted....maybe TRN had their info wrong.....but ALL of them are 12-18 mos. older than the "average" 6th grader.)

Two of them are a good 18 mos older than my kid (who's a Jan. kid in the middle of the age group)....& the other two are 12 - 16 mos. older. The reason i know this is that our section posts the "age up" lists each month. So we KNOW how old the kids are when they age up.


Maybe the drop down of middle schoolers....say from 7th to 6th grade (or 8th to 7th) is a recent trend BECAUSE of the new rule (forcing kids to finish HS in 4 years)? All i know is that for these 4 kids:

- One went from a 2 star 8th grader to a high 4 star 6th grader.
- One went from a 4 star 7th grader to a Blue Chip 6th grader.
- One went from a 3 star 7th grader to a 5 star 6th grader.
- One went from a high 2 star 7th grader to a low 4 star 6th grader.

Who knows how this will all play out (6 years to HS graduation). But these 4 kids will be 19 y/o HS seniors & a couple will be 20 y/o freshman. I know 2 of these are "academy" kids.....possibly home schooled.....not sure about the other two.

My kid only plays them now when he's playing up. Since they have been playing in 14s since aging up 6 - 12 mos ago. (& aren't allowed to play 12s where most 6th graders are located).

I'm not stating it's a "widespread problem". Just sharing info that i observe. If i ever decided to take my kid the "home schooled" route (in the next 2 years), maybe I'd drop him down a grade too. Doesn't sound like there's any reason why one shouldn't?

[Pro_Tour_630]

Originally Posted by hound 109

Anyone who has a kid playing National Jr. Tournaments is quick to come to opinions on what is good & what is not good about the upcoming changes (& how it might affect our kid....or not). It's also easy for us to determine when a poster has no idea at all. Dude, this might be your second rodeo, but your talking points are all howlers.

it is easy for us to determine the posters/players (not you) who are/were cheating the system, it takes one to know one, that is why they changed it. Dude the loopholes were being abused get over it.

[hound 109]

Originally Posted by Pro_Tour_630

it is easy for us to determine the posters/players (not you) who are/were cheating the system, it takes one to know one, that is why they changed it. Dude the loopholes were being abused get over it.

I don't agree that is why they changed it. (Probably why they came up with the geo regions.....buy no the reason for most of the changes).

My post above (man, that was from a long time ago) was to ask other parents (or coaches) about TRN. In our section, 4 of the top 9 kids (who were blue chip or 5 star) were one year to 18 mos older than the average Feb/March birthday of a certain grade. I was just curious if this was the case in other sections. (Was curious if nationwide if 40-50% of the Blue Chip/5 star kids are a full year older than the average Feb/March birthday for a particular grade. I still am.

This is a separate issue from the Usta hatchet job though. I do agree that some loopholes were being abused, but i believe that the USTA decided to fix a scratch on the arm (perceived point chasers).....by amputation (elimination of SuperNats, chopping down of draw sizes, & goofy geographic regions).

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