Petition to amend 2014 USTA Jr rules

[tennisforlife77]

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/...-jr-rules.html

petition to amend 2014 rules - please sign

[ga tennis]

Whats the point? They never asked parents before they made the changes why would they care now?

[chalkflewup]

^^^ Agreed. They did conduct a survey 3 years ago. I voted once and I'm not voting again.

[DB_Cooper]

Signed by court2court. I can see the pool of people who sign this overflowing with credibility. This is just more noise.

[ga tennis]

Im not gonna worry bout the changes.If my daughter wins then it will all take care of itself.

[BirdieLane]

New USTA stuff is nothing compared to what NCAA just did to college tennis. College tennis is now worse than backdraws of junior tourneys...super breakers and 6 game matches for doubles?

USTA changes are not even evil. Maybe going to a regional now will actually be a decent quality draw. And making kids work their way up from a Level 4 regional to a level2 national...or a level 3 regional to a sweet 16 seems like great incentive.

I guess the bright side of the NCAA changes is they might have solved the international players problem so many have whined about...I suspect fewer borderline professional juniors will want to play NCAA tennis when it's less demanding than little Mo tourneys.

This petition is a lot of bluster and hearsay in the preamble. Is that Hannity-speak? Let me know when there's a petition against the NCAA changes.

#sadday

[strike1]

I understand the frustration, but I have to admit I have been thinking about something similar since we got back from zonals this year. Although I see zonals on the calendar for next year, the talk at Wake Forest a few weeks ago is that zonals is definitely gone after that. Our son has played zonals in 12s, 14s, and 16s and would keep playing it forever if he could -- we think it may be one of the most positive tennis experiences he has had. If we are right that this is one of the "changes" coming, what about a targeted petition specifically addressing zonals? I agree that there are lots and lots of issues with the upcoming changes, but I am not sure how effective a general petition will be. I keep thinking though that something specific targeting one issue (at a time) might be more potent. I would love to hear what you all think. And sorry, maybe this should be a new thread specifically about zonals . . . . .

[BirdieLane]

Originally Posted by strike1

I understand the frustration, but I have to admit I have been thinking about something similar since we got back from zonals this year. Although I see zonals on the calendar for next year, the talk at Wake Forest a few weeks ago is that zonals is definitely gone after that. Our son has played zonals in 12s, 14s, and 16s and would keep playing it forever if he could -- we think it may be one of the most positive tennis experiences he has had. If we are right that this is one of the "changes" coming, what about a targeted petition specifically addressing zonals? I agree that there are lots and lots of issues with the upcoming changes, but I am not sure how effective a general petition will be. I keep thinking though that something specific targeting one issue (at a time) might be more potent. I would love to hear what you all think. And sorry, maybe this should be a new thread specifically about zonals . . . . .

My understanding is that Zonals is not going anywhere. Only twist is that I think it is going to run concurrent with Intersectionals which is going to be expanded to 14s as well as the current 16s. And again this is a great incentive and I like the change. Intersectionals gets a lot of top players, zonals doesn't. So now, if you are top 4 in your Section, you play Intersectionals. If not, then you play Zonals. (i.e. work hard if you want to play Zonals....work REALLY hard if you want to play Intersectionals)

[strike1]

Thanks Birdielane, I hope you are right. That change would actually make alot of sense. All of the folks at Wake Forest (16s) this year unfortunately had heard otherwise so I would love to hear from others if anyone knows for sure?

[MarTennis]

Originally Posted by BirdieLane

New USTA stuff is nothing compared to what NCAA just did to college tennis. College tennis is now worse than backdraws of junior tourneys...super breakers and 6 game matches for doubles?

USTA changes are not even evil. Maybe going to a regional now will actually be a decent quality draw. And making kids work their way up from a Level 4 regional to a level2 national...or a level 3 regional to a sweet 16 seems like great incentive.

I guess the bright side of the NCAA changes is they might have solved the international players problem so many have whined about...I suspect fewer borderline professional juniors will want to play NCAA tennis when it's less demanding than little Mo tourneys.

This petition is a lot of bluster and hearsay in the preamble. Is that Hannity-speak? Let me know when there's a petition against the NCAA changes.

#sadday

...but also going to make some homegrown players reassess. The irony being that USTA Player Development now encouraging juniors to play in college. Total blindness by the left and right hand on that front. Going to be lots of teens in the Futures starting NOW.

[BirdieLane]

Originally Posted by strike1

Thanks Birdielane, I hope you are right. That change would actually make alot of sense. All of the folks at Wake Forest (16s) this year unfortunately had heard otherwise so I would love to hear from others if anyone knows for sure?

Your report of "All of the folks at Wake Forest" is a case in point on how little the whiners know about the new system. Hardly digging at all, from the USTA website I found this:

http://www.usta.com/Youth-Tennis/Jun...ment_calendar/

See July. Clearly Zonals lives on but with Intersectionals running concurrently which makes a lot of sense as do lots of the changes.

I don't agree with every point of the new system, but I think it will at least mean that national play is truly high-level competition. Because there are a lot of players running around the country playing nationals who are not dominant regional players and always lose quickly at national events. Some could clearly spend that time and money on their games rather than the hotels and airfares and they'd be better players for it.

[BirdieLane]

Originally Posted by MarTennis

...but also going to make some homegrown players reassess. The irony being that USTA Player Development now encouraging juniors to play in college. Total blindness by the left and right hand on that front. Going to be lots of teens in the Futures starting NOW.

I'm not sure if this particular right and left hand are of the same origin...I would think PD is not happy with this but who knows.

Sophomore NCAA champ Nicole Gibbs who has been playing pro tennis this summer but intended on going back to Stanford tweeted:

RT @Gibbsyyyy: @NCAA thank you for reducing my sport to a joke at the collegiate level #wasteoftime

But totally agree MarTennis - teens/futures is a lock stock.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by MarTennis

...but also going to make some homegrown players reassess. The irony being that USTA Player Development now encouraging juniors to play in college. Total blindness by the left and right hand on that front. Going to be lots of teens in the Futures starting NOW.

Not just USTA saying that...Cahill and many others in the know.

[chalkflewup]

Originally Posted by ga tennis

Im not gonna worry bout the changes.If my daughter wins then it will all take care of itself.

This is the post of the year. Thank you.

[10ismom]

Originally Posted by BirdieLane

New USTA stuff is nothing compared to what NCAA just did to college tennis. College tennis is now worse than backdraws of junior tourneys...super breakers and 6 game matches for doubles?........
........
I guess the bright side of the NCAA changes is they might have solved the international players problem so many have whined about...I suspect fewer borderline professional juniors will want to play NCAA tennis when it's less demanding than little Mo tourneys.

This petition is a lot of bluster and hearsay in the preamble. Is that Hannity-speak? Let me know when there's a petition against the NCAA changes.

#sadday

Educate me on this. What will be the new college format? Are they compressing the matches so college tennis would be televised?

Just hoping!

[MarTennis]

Originally Posted by 10ismom

Educate me on this. What will be the new college format? Are they compressing the matches so college tennis would be televised?

Just hoping!

10 point tiebreaker for 3rd set in singles. Doubles is 6 game one set affair.

[10ismom]

Originally Posted by MarTennis

10 point tiebreaker for 3rd set in singles. Doubles is 6 game one set affair.

Wow! That's not good for pro developmental path.
How will a player be prepared for best of 5 in a Grand Slam match?

[MarTennis]

Originally Posted by 10ismom

Wow! That's not good for pro developmental path.
How will a player be prepared for best of 5 in a Grand Slam match?

go to college and become a pro, under this format. Maybe Mitchell Krueger got a heads up.

[andfor]

Or play NAIA or JUCO. Although no one here cares. I hope they don't also adopt the NCAA new format.

[TennisEko]

The rules are tough, but so is life. You win and you get in. Kids need to excel at what they do. If you lose just play the lower end tournaments untill you get better. There is no reason for kids that are really good to waste time in the early rounds. High level tournaments need high level matches right from the first round....I think USTA is on the right track. Someone needs to step up and make the changes..