2022 USTA League Participation

[schmke]

I just wrote my yearly analysis on my blog taking a look at USTA League participation. Much more in what I wrote up there, but here are a few of the charts.

Overall Adult league participation 2013 thru 2022.

We see COVID wreaked havoc with 2020 and even 2021, but 2022 is still not back to 2019 levels. That is likely due to some combination of linger effects of COVID, and a continuation of the slow but steady decline we saw from 2013 thru 2019.

Here is participation in 18 & Over where I combined 2020/2021 in an effort to get a more comparable number with the unique players that played across both years.

Even counting two years for one, 2020/2021 was a decline over 2019 for 18 & Over (40+ and 55+ had increases over 2019 by this measure, see the blog), and 2022 has declined at a higher rate than we saw through 2019.

 

[kevin qmto]

I’m doing what I can lol. 2022 is my first year doing this. And I got a friend to sign up for the first time too.

 

[OnTheLine]

@schmke are there any regional differences?

I ask because as I moved from IM to SW I've noticed that there are a mess of folks who play ONLY mixed. Didn't see that much in IM. They may be people who dropped out of adult that they had played in the past, really don't know why.

Decline in 40+ ... which had previously been increasing .... well, they messed with the format, what did they think would happen? Hey, lets remove a playing opportunity and create a format that requires math skills to figure out winners.

We can look at 2022 as a "normalizing" year in terms of scheduling of leagues.

2020 was all but a disaster for league play in most of the country .... majority of places just canceling leagues, truncating them or otherwise.

2021 was a little hit or miss. A lot of places skipped some leagues which had been early start prior, squeezed them all into one year, or skipped them altogether.

2022 ... normalizing ... but kind of. In my current section 2022 saw 2 40+ seasons played. In the early Spring played 2022 40+, and now in the fall playing ESL 2023 40+.

Other questions:
How many people who played only for social reasons dropped out in 2020 and then found their social needs met somewhere other than tennis court?
How many people who played for competition/fitness reasons moved to a sport that didn't have as much of a pandemic impact (e.g. cycling, running ...)
How many people who barely had the fitness to play the sport found that 6-12 months of no activity (coupled with at home baking!) made it too hard to get back into decent enough shape to play?
How many people moved the the scourge that is pickleball?

 

[schmke]

@schmke are there any regional differences?

Working on analysis by section.

 

[mpnv1990]

They started an 18-39 league a few years ago. I think that was a good idea.

 

[GabeT]

If you want to play in a USTA league do you need to find a team that will take you or can you create a team with a group you already play with?

 

[schmke]

If you want to play in a USTA league do you need to find a team that will take you or can you create a team with a group you already play with?

Anyone can create/captain a team generally. Reach out to your Local league Coordinator to find out more about the process in your area.

 

[TennisOTM]

Eyeballing the first chart, it looks like overall 2019 participation was larger than 2018, is that right? I had thought you showed a decline that year at the time.

 

[schmke]

Eyeballing the first chart, it looks like overall 2019 participation was larger than 2018, is that right? I had thought you showed a decline that year at the time.

Here is the same chart from last year where you can see the same slight (a few hundred I think) increase in 2019.

But yes, the 2019 chart I did had a slight drop for 2019, which means I must have been missing a few matches, likely from an early start league that I'd somehow missed at that time and subsequently got the matches for, or an early start league that entered their matches late.

 

[travlerajm]

@schmke
I've noticed that there are a mess of folks who play ONLY mixed.

I’ve been helping to make a mess of things lately.

 

[treo]

Here in Atlanta, ALTA is more popular than USTA and ALTA has been hosting seasonal pickleball mixers this year. I went to one yesterday and the ALTA rep said they have had a committee studying getting into pickleball league play since 2019. Maybe they have seen a similar tennis decline?

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

Here in Atlanta, ALTA is more popular than USTA and ALTA has been hosting seasonal pickleball mixers this year. I went to one yesterday and the ALTA rep said they have had a committee studying getting into pickleball league play since 2019. Maybe they have seen a similar tennis decline?

Hotter women, tennis or pickleball? In the mixers.

 

[Moon Shooter]

there are all sorts of reasons we might imagine from pickle ball to generational ages and COVID. But the data showed many more people are playing tennis. Last I read tennis is booming. It is just that usta offers services that a smaller percentage of players are interested in.

 

[socallefty]

I stopped being an USTA member when the pandemic started and haven’t started again. With more people working from home, they have a flexible work schedule are able to play more tennis. So, it has become a lot easier to find competitive social matches at my club and I feel like I don’t need USTA leagues anymore to find tough matches. During the pandemic, many players started scheduling multiple doubles and singles matches on their weekly calendar and now they are continuing to play a full schedule of social matches.

I wonder if there are a lot of other people like me. That would explain the trend of more players playing tennis, but less league participation.

 

[Chalkdust]

I have the same suspicion as @Moon Shooter and @socallefty ... Tennis participation is if anything increasing even though USTA participation is declining.

Probably some combination of more non-USTA options available plus lower satisfaction level with USTA offerings.

 

[travlerajm]

I stopped being an USTA member when the pandemic started and haven’t started again. With more people working from home, they have a flexible work schedule are able to play more tennis. So, it has become a lot easier to find competitive social matches at my club and I feel like I don’t need USTA leagues anymore to find tough matches. During the pandemic, many players started scheduling multiple doubles and singles matches on their weekly calendar and now they are continuing to play a full schedule of social matches.

I wonder if there are a lot of other people like me. That would explain the trend of more players playing tennis, but less league participation.

Probably not that many like you.

 

[TennisOTM]

I don't have much insight on the declining national trend, because our area (Utah) has gone the opposite direction.

In Adult 18+ leagues we did have a sudden drop in participating players in 2016 but it has been increasing ever since (aside from 2020):

2013: 1655
2014: 1748
2015: 1791
2016: 1551
2017: 1676
2018: 1749
2019: 1872
2020: 1462
2021: 2081
2022: 2139

Adult 40+ league participation has been pretty steadily increasing as well:

2013: 1064
2014: 1054
2015: 1206
2016: 1215
2017: 1319
2018: 1469
2019: 1495
2020: 1145
2021: 1532
2022: 1608

 

[cks]

2022 is my first year doing this.

Same. I started playing USTA league matches in January 2022. It took me a few months during the fall of 2021 to find a team to join.

 

[kevin qmto]

Same. I started playing USTA league matches in January 2022. It took me a few months during the fall of 2021 to find a team to join.

Through my work at a tennis club I heard a team was looking for singles players as most of the guys on the team only wanted to play doubles. Works out great for me as I don’t care for dubs at all.

 

[ChaelAZ]

A chart of Pickleball participation the last two years...

 

[Cobra Kai]

There are a couple of problems with USTA:

1) They don't do a good job of reaching out and getting new players to join and sign up. Most players are "recruited" from friends or other people who they hit with and eventually join to make a run at Nationals at a certain level.

2) New players can't find teams to join since most teams are either established with players that have been on the same team for years or are recruited to make a run at Nationals. USTA must do a better job of placing new players on teams by having a paid captain for this situation or provide incentives for captains to take on new players. New players don't know anything about USTA and when they tell them that they can captain their own team, it is basically telling them you are on your own and good luck...

A feeder program needs to be done for new players to join leagues and make it fun and competitive for everyone so it can be an enjoyable experience and develop players before the USTA regular leagues grinds them through the process. The pickleball group are mostly new players looking for social fun and that is where most of these players are heading...

 

[LOBALOT]

There are a couple of problems with USTA:

1) They don't do a good job of reaching out and getting new players to join and sign up. Most players are "recruited" from friends or other people who they hit with and eventually join to make a run at Nationals at a certain level.

2) New players can't find teams to join since most teams are either established with players that have been on the same team for years or are recruited to make a run at Nationals. USTA must do a better job of placing new players on teams by having a paid captain for this situation or provide incentives for captains to take on new players. New players don't know anything about USTA and when they tell them that they can captain their own team, it is basically telling them you are on your own and good luck...

A feeder program needs to be done for new players to join leagues and make it fun and competitive for everyone so it can be an enjoyable experience and develop players before the USTA regular leagues grinds them through the process. The pickleball group are mostly new players looking for social fun and that is where most of these players are heading...

Plus the staff in are district are complete a*#$#@#'s. They are lazy as anything, grumpy when you call, and disengaged from growing the sport. We have a very large district as far as participation so it is not like this is some podunk district where there aren't any tennis courts.

A few years back my team made states and I reached out to our district office to find out where states was being held and received zero response. I called the adjacent district in our state and they said the site was announced 3 weeks ago and packets went out. They then said.... "Oh you are from district xyz." "That explains it."

 

[Moon Shooter]

My social matches are more competitive, cheaper, and less of a scheduling pain than usta. The tennis community in my area is large enough and I am an average player so I have a fairly large pool of players to play with and against.

Why should people play usta? I played to get a rating but usta does quite a bit to make that rating less valuable then it could be.

 

[PK6]

To much politics-which we don’t need, if you to be good you must must must must put the time off the courts. It has to be 2nd job which I have no time for as I’m already working long hours. F—k the USTA it’s cut into watching sports/workouts and diet. Don’t miss playing one bit

 

[mpnv1990]

To much politics-which we don’t need, if you to be good you must must must must put the time off the courts. It has to be 2nd job which I have no time for as I’m already working long hours. F—k the USTA it’s cut into watching sports/workouts and diet. Don’t miss playing one bit

What a shocker! You have to practice to get better!

 

[PK6]

Watching sports/getting back into shape/dieting/getting lean/fit/cut and ripped is way more important. You can’t do this/play tennis full time.why is it most if not all are into watching sports????? You must support your pro/college teams!!!!!

 

[bobbybob14]

There are a couple of problems with USTA:

1) They don't do a good job of reaching out and getting new players to join and sign up. Most players are "recruited" from friends or other people who they hit with and eventually join to make a run at Nationals at a certain level.

2) New players can't find teams to join since most teams are either established with players that have been on the same team for years or are recruited to make a run at Nationals. USTA must do a better job of placing new players on teams by having a paid captain for this situation or provide incentives for captains to take on new players. New players don't know anything about USTA and when they tell them that they can captain their own team, it is basically telling them you are on your own and good luck...

A feeder program needs to be done for new players to join leagues and make it fun and competitive for everyone so it can be an enjoyable experience and develop players before the USTA regular leagues grinds them through the process. The pickleball group are mostly new players looking for social fun and that is where most of these players are heading...

There is a coordinator in our local area who takes all the new players and puts them on a team that she captains. The team seems to work out pretty well except when a really good player comes in that way, immediately gets pulled into an established team and never plays with those people again.

 

[time_fly]

If I received, say, a 10% cut of the court time that I fill for clubs as a USTA captain then I’d be more motivated to help expand our team offerings and bring more players in. But USTA in their short-sightedness thinks that shoveling $#@! onto volunteer captains is a good operating model. So as long as I have a team to play on with some guys that I know and get along with, I’m all good.

 

[LOBALOT]

If I received, say, a 10% cut of the court time that I fill for clubs as a USTA captain then I’d be more motivated to help expand our team offerings and bring more players in. But USTA in their short-sightedness thinks that shoveling $#@! onto volunteer captains is a good operating model.

I agree 100%. Plus.... Plus... If anything the pandemic showed us playing socially is a blast and way more fun than USTA. Why else are we playing tennis anyway?

Even though I captain 3 teams during the summer I usually just get my 2 in to qualify for playoffs and that is it as I am usually playing socially with my pals someplace else and friends on the team captains the team at the match.

Our district is a network of club owners / club management company leaders. These same leaders refuse to host junior tournaments (as the members complain), don't do anything to "grow the sport", they really don't do anything.

 

[cks]

There is a coordinator in our local area who takes all the new players and puts them on a team that she captains. The team seems to work out pretty well except when a really good player comes in that way, immediately gets pulled into an established team and never plays with those people again.

+1 I'm glad you posted this story.

I had a difficult time finding a USTA league team during the fall last year (2021) and I wish there was an easier way to meet players, teams, and captains outside of league tennis matches.

 

[TagUrIt]

USTA leagues are optional, not sure why there's so much animosity towards them. Most leagues have a free agent list too, the league coordinators can assist with placing most players. Yeah it's very common to switch teams after playing for a season or two. Or completely getting away from the leagues because your tennis circle has grown. I completely agree that USTA has it's issues, but I also think it's regional, the level and quality of the leagues. Fact remains if you don't like it, then don't play or GET INVOLVED AND MAKE IT BETTER.

 

[Cobra Kai]

USTA leagues are optional, not sure why there's so much animosity towards them. Most leagues have a free agent list too, the league coordinators can assist with placing most players. Yeah it's very common to switch teams after playing for a season or two. Or completely getting away from the leagues because your tennis circle has grown. I completely agree that USTA has it's issues, but I also think it's regional, the level and quality of the leagues. Fact remains if you don't like it, then don't play or GET INVOLVED AND MAKE IT BETTER.

Didn't mean it to sound harsh on the league coordinators since they get a lot of flax throughout the year for trying to coordinate USTA leagues. I just wanted to bring out the point that new players have a hard time trying to get on a team and being offered as a free agent list typically does not garner much response from the existing captains. This happened to me when there were 16+ players looking for a team and the league coordinator said if anyone steps up to Captain they can form a team. I didn't know what was involved in being a captain but wanted to play so I volunteered to get this band of misfits to form a team. Unless you have a mentor to help you through this process of being a captain, you will certain get frustrated and fail and drop out of ever playing in USTA. That being said, I did get a local captain to help me with all my questions and provided resources to help me out so that is how I was able to stay. The reason I play USTA versus just playing locally with friends is that I like the competition of playing new players and different styles which help improve my game. If I just played only with a certain group of "friends", my game would stagnate and I would get bored with the same style of play to be expected against the same competition. Also, playing USTA gets you to meet new people who eventually become good friends on and off the court.

That being said - the question was the number of players playing year to year in USTA and I was just pointing out that they need to do a much better job of getting and retaining NEW players that want to get involved in this sport. The interest is there, it just needs to be harnessed correctly.

 

[TennisOTM]

There is a coordinator in our local area who takes all the new players and puts them on a team that she captains. The team seems to work out pretty well except when a really good player comes in that way, immediately gets pulled into an established team and never plays with those people again.

Maybe we're in the same area. Our outreach coordinator will work to find a captain to take any interested new player, and if she can't find enough for all the newbies then she'll just captain a makeshift team herself via email. I was on a couple of her teams, both as new USTA player and as a newly bumped-up player without a team, and it worked out great.

Perhaps it's no coincidence that our area's 18+ league participation has been growing every year while the rest of the country is dropping.

 

[schmke]

There is a coordinator in our local area who takes all the new players and puts them on a team that she captains. The team seems to work out pretty well except when a really good player comes in that way, immediately gets pulled into an established team and never plays with those people again.

My LC does a good job with new players by having a list of new players seeking teams that is sent out to captains regularly so the captains can reach out to them if they need players. She is also very helpful when captains reach out to her looking for players to try and identify any she knows of that may be a match.

This is probably why my area also has been growing the past few years, although we are beginning to run into court capacity limits.

 

[Mongolmike]

Put me in the category that was, but now isn't.

Prior to covid l was pretty regular men's 18+, 40+, 55+ and also played mixed, combo, and tournaments.
Covid shut down my club March 2020, l let my membership lapse.
Started playing outside in May 2020 with small group of friends.
Club reopened with strict distancing, that didn't sound fun so l didn't rejoin.

Now, 2 years later, l sorta miss some aspects of league play, but fortunately l have more opportunities to play outside with different groups then l have time or desire for. Winter is coming, so l might play as a guest in the club once or 2x a week, but l don't see the need to pay a full year membership, nor do l see myself rejoining USTA, unless a friend really needs the numbers. I'd join to help a friend.

 

[cks]

USTA leagues are optional, not sure why there's so much animosity towards them.

Not from me. Overall, I really enjoyed playing USTA league matches this year. I just started playing in January 2022, and I've been fortunate to get to play at some really nice tennis facilities around my town, along with meeting more tennis players.

Most leagues have a free agent list too, the league coordinators can assist with placing most players.

My Local League Coordinator (LLC) has a list for players looking for teams. I signed up, but did not find any teams looking for players. This just didn't work for me, but it may have work for others.

Yeah it's very common to switch teams after playing for a season or two. Or completely getting away from the leagues because your tennis circle has grown. I completely agree that USTA has it's issues, but I also think it's regional, the level and quality of the leagues. Fact remains if you don't like it, then don't play or GET INVOLVED AND MAKE IT BETTER.

I like it, so I'm still playing.

 

[cks]

the question was the number of players playing year to year in USTA and I was just pointing out that they need to do a much better job of getting and retaining NEW players that want to get involved in this sport. The interest is there, it just needs to be harnessed correctly.

My captain recruits new players he meets while playing tennis matches on non-USTA run city ladder. He plays singles/doubles and uses these opportunities to see folks play under match conditions. He has also recruited players he meets at local clinics.

I occasional play singles on this same ladder, and I make it a point to ask my opponent after the match if they play USTA league. If they don't and are interested, I pass their contact information to my captain. I still remember the difficulty I had trying to find a team last year, and I want to help where I can.

 

[Moon Shooter]

USTA leagues are optional, not sure why there's so much animosity towards them. Most leagues have a free agent list too, the league coordinators can assist with placing most players. Yeah it's very common to switch teams after playing for a season or two. Or completely getting away from the leagues because your tennis circle has grown. I completely agree that USTA has it's issues, but I also think it's regional, the level and quality of the leagues. Fact remains if you don't like it, then don't play or GET INVOLVED AND MAKE IT BETTER.

usta is the official tennis organization for this country and therefor has a monopoly on the huge pro events. Yet it does almost nothing for amateur tennis players and refuses to listen. Many people have said they want a a better rating system. Usta ignored them for years until utr started getting traction. So they started wtn to crush that out. But now wtn is just languishing - no information on what you need to run tournaments and they don’t even update the rating with current scores. So usta is aggressive against alternative national programs to keep its monopoly instead of passing it off to a more responsive org. And then just collects money from its monopoly of the pro game to fund its real estate empire. The organization is really bad.

 

[nyta2]

I stopped being an USTA member when the pandemic started and haven’t started again. With more people working from home, they have a flexible work schedule are able to play more tennis. So, it has become a lot easier to find competitive social matches at my club and I feel like I don’t need USTA leagues anymore to find tough matches. During the pandemic, many players started scheduling multiple doubles and singles matches on their weekly calendar and now they are continuing to play a full schedule of social matches.

I wonder if there are a lot of other people like me. That would explain the trend of more players playing tennis, but less league participation.

same.
lots more self run ladders.
many many more courts being used at lunch time (i was working from home since 2018-19)
many more tournaments (utr) available
league participation usually means playing at odd hours, or annoying travel logistics
local clubs are packed, indoor court time hard to get if i don't plan ahead...
i've been teaching way more beginner lessons (and folks i know have been too), since after covid (online tools make it much easier to match students to instructors at a reasonable cost) - compared to pre-covid
so it seems like tennis participation is up (even with pickleball), but usta participation is down

lol i keep looking at the usta website for tech jobs, but they pay like 1/3 the going rate... which to me is an indication of where they are not investing (feels like usta could have had a monopoly on things like:
* student/coach matching
* standardized coaching certs (like ptr/pta)
* ladders
* finding other players
* their own standard of elo rating (like utr)

 

[LOBALOT]

USTA leagues are optional, not sure why there's so much animosity towards them. Most leagues have a free agent list too, the league coordinators can assist with placing most players. Yeah it's very common to switch teams after playing for a season or two. Or completely getting away from the leagues because your tennis circle has grown. I completely agree that USTA has it's issues, but I also think it's regional, the level and quality of the leagues. Fact remains if you don't like it, then don't play or GET INVOLVED AND MAKE IT BETTER.

I and others have tried that. Our district is entrenched with a bureaucratic mismanagement outside opinion and help is pushed to the fringes. Our district has been like this for 50 years.

 

[bobbybob14]

The USTA in our area does a good job overall. I believe that there are people that get a ton out of it and get good tennis and camaraderie from it. The politics and bureaucracy really comes out when you talk about trying to win districts and sectionals. That is as much on the players as the USTA though. There is enough blame to go around but I don't believe it falls all on the USTA.

 

[LOBALOT]

The USTA in our area does a good job overall. I believe that there are people that get a ton out of it and get good tennis and camaraderie from it. The politics and bureaucracy really comes out when you talk about trying to win districts and sectionals. That is as much on the players as the USTA though. There is enough blame to go around but I don't believe it falls all on the USTA.

I assure you our district office doesn't care one iota who wins or doesn't win districts and sectionals.

 

[bobbybob14]

I assure you our district office doesn't care one iota who wins or doesn't win districts and sectionals.

I apologize I never meant to imply that any district office cares who wins. More meant to say that they set the rules and the players who do care if they win districts or sectionals learn how to use them to do that.

 

[LOBALOT]

I apologize I never meant to imply that any district office cares who wins. More meant to say that they set the rules and the players who do care if they win districts or sectionals learn how to use them to do that.

Sorry I misunderstood.

 

[Moon Shooter]

For what it is worth some people are expressing problems with their local people. My local people are great. The problem is the national organization.

That is why tennis overall is booming but usta tennis is in decline.

 

[sureshs]

Hotter women, tennis or pickleball? In the mixers.

Pickleball

 

[cks]

I just wrote my yearly analysis on my blog taking a look at USTA League participation. Much more in what I wrote up there, but here are a few of the charts.

Below is a breakdown from my local league coordinator (LLC) on USTA registrations (2011-2021) for Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Most cities increased participation with the exception of Houston after Covid.

 

[mpnv1990]

Pickleball

I saw some hot Indian woman probably 5-7 years younger than me a few weeks ago.

 

[FuzzyYellowBalls]

Below is a breakdown from my local league coordinator (LLC) on USTA registrations (2011-2021) for Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio. Most cities increased participation with the exception of Houston after Covid.

Poor Houston, they really shouldn't separate Dallas and Ft. Worth, smooosh them together.

 

[ktx]

I think the USTA could promote adult recreational growth more, but it's clear that is not a priority of the org - I would love to know their revenue breakdown. It really makes me sad to hear that regular clubs won't host jr. tournaments anymore. I would love to see the USTA work harder at the facilities-level to build up jr programs. And kids who play tennis turn into adults who play tennis - plus their parents might be into it too.