Good tennis for the traveler

[rosenstar]

So I'm graduating soon, leaving the ranks of college tennis and entering the world of USTA leagues. In all likelihood my job is going to be about 75% travel. Are their leagues/organizations that help organize matches for people who travel for work?

TIA

[blakesq]

Thats difficult. My first job out of college, I travelled nearly as much as you. I would recommend finding one or more groups that plays regularly, maybe a group that simply does a pickup game of tennis, for instance every wed night at 6 pm. then when you are in town, go to that group, or let them know you are coming. Playing USTA when you are going to be gone 75% is going to be very difficult. Good luck!

Originally Posted by rosenstar

So I'm graduating soon, leaving the ranks of college tennis and entering the world of USTA leagues. In all likelihood my job is going to be about 75% travel. Are their leagues/organizations that help organize matches for people who travel for work?

TIA

[thejackal]

Used to be in the same boat as you. A good bet would be to email a few clubs in the city you're flying out to 2-3 weeks in advance and see if there are tournaments or perhaps players you could hit with. Given your college tennis background perhaps you could fill in for practice on some USTA teams or hit with ranked juniors

[goober]

Flex leagues for singles.

Join a bunch of USTA teams as a part time or back up player.

When you are travelling bring your racquets with you and hit up the tennis social networking sites and adverstise yourself when you are coming to town.

[goran_ace]

It's hard enough to find a bunch of people to play at a high levels of tennis even at home 100%. A lot of times you find these small circles of good players who will only play with each other or practice with their own team, but saying you played in college is like the secret password to get an invitation. Also the fact that you are young means you'll have no problem playing in one of the singles spots.

The hard part about a 75% travel schedule is the commitment. If you're away obviously you're not going to be in the lineup for that week, but if there's the possibility that you can be pulled away at the last minute, you need to make sure you have a sub ready to go otherwise you may not get scheduled if your captain can't count on you being there. Leagues here play 6pm on weeknights (and are strict about start times) and the main reason I don't play is because I can't guarantee I'll be able to get out of the office in time, you never know how traffic is going to be, if the courts are far away even under a best case scenario I may be cutting close on time.

As for playing tennis when you are on the road, keep in touch with your buddies from college and the guys you played with in juniors. Even if they can't play when you're in town, they may know of someone you can call. Network.

[sureshs]

Craigslist..........

[floridatennisdude]

Originally Posted by rosenstar

So I'm graduating soon, leaving the ranks of college tennis and entering the world of USTA leagues. In all likelihood my job is going to be about 75% travel. Are their leagues/organizations that help organize matches for people who travel for work?

TIA

I you're doing travel that is regular, you can probably find a league that plays on a certain day and time of the week.

Example: you travel Mon-Thu, USTA league plays Saturdays at 9am.

Most leagues are like this and are easy to find near your home. Finding one while on the road might be a little trickier. It woul be cool if you were able to play 2 leagues at once in different cities. Say, a Monday night league in Charlotte and a Saturday morning league in San Antonio. That would be pretty cool. It would require a lot of individual research on your end.

[serveitup911]

If you find yourself in Charleston, SC- send me a PM.

[rosenstar]

Wow, thanks for all the input! Looks like I'll be traveling Mon-Thurs, but be in the same city for those 4 days, and return to the same place pretty regularly, so I might be able to join a USTA League in whatever city I'm in?

Originally Posted by goran_ace

It's hard enough to find a bunch of people to play at a high levels of tennis even at home 100%. A lot of times you find these small circles of good players who will only play with each other or practice with their own team, but saying you played in college is like the secret password to get an invitation. Also the fact that you are young means you'll have no problem playing in one of the singles spots.

The hard part about a 75% travel schedule is the commitment. If you're away obviously you're not going to be in the lineup for that week, but if there's the possibility that you can be pulled away at the last minute, you need to make sure you have a sub ready to go otherwise you may not get scheduled if your captain can't count on you being there. Leagues here play 6pm on weeknights (and are strict about start times) and the main reason I don't play is because I can't guarantee I'll be able to get out of the office in time, you never know how traffic is going to be, if the courts are far away even under a best case scenario I may be cutting close on time.

As for playing tennis when you are on the road, keep in touch with your buddies from college and the guys you played with in juniors. Even if they can't play when you're in town, they may know of someone you can call. Network.

Networking is a great idea, not sure why that never occurred to me?

Originally Posted by floridatennisdude

Example: you travel Mon-Thu, USTA league plays Saturdays at 9am.

WOOF!!! Saturday is college football day/recovering from Friday night! Haha.

Originally Posted by serveitup911

If you find yourself in Charleston, SC- send me a PM.

Will do, thanks.

Originally Posted by thejackal

Used to be in the same boat as you. A good bet would be to email a few clubs in the city you're flying out to 2-3 weeks in advance and see if there are tournaments or perhaps players you could hit with. Given your college tennis background perhaps you could fill in for practice on some USTA teams or hit with ranked juniors

That's the first thing I thought of. Not very familiar with USTA teams, do they practice often or just play matches? I thought it was the latter, but perhaps I'm ill informed?