Adding new players for sectionals?

[dcdoorknob]

So I'm on a team that's getting a wild card to sectionals in Texas.

Yesterday my captain mentioned that, apparently, there's a new rule that allows a team to add up to 4 completely new players to their team for sectionals that didn't play at all for them in the regular season. Gone is the must play 2 matches in regular season to qualify for postseason rule. He said the new players had to be computer rated, and I think mentioned that they couldn't have played on a different team in the regular season. He said the new players could play at sectionals and potentially nationals despite not having been on the team in the regular season.

I personally hate the idea. Both on principal, and on a personal level.

Anyone else heard of this? Is it just a Texas thing?

 

[J_R_B]

I think that's a terrible idea, and furthermore, it's against the national league regulations (pg 4):

https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/2018NationalRegulations_10_18_2017.pdf

 

[schmke]

It may be a local/section rule that Texas has gotten a waiver for, but that does not follow the 2018 USTA League regulations.

The National regulations state that to advance to championships at Sectionals and below, a player must have played at least 2 matches on the team, and one default can count. See page 4 of https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/2018NationalRegulations_10_18_2017.pdf.

I did not find the section regulations yet, but did find a 2018 Dallas Tennis Association regulations document and it has this regarding player requirements:

2C. All players must play two (2) matches during the local league season in all leagues other than 55 & Over MIXED, Combo Doubles and Tri Level which require only one (1) match to be eligible to participate in championship competition (Local League Championship, Sectionals, etc...).


Can you point to a regulations document or web-page that has this new rule? It certainly doesn't seem consistent with what I've found documented.

 

[winchestervatennis]

So I'm on a team that's getting a wild card to sectionals in Texas.

Yesterday my captain mentioned that, apparently, there's a new rule that allows a team to add up to 4 completely new players to their team for sectionals that didn't play at all for them in the regular season. Gone is the must play 2 matches in regular season to qualify for postseason rule. He said the new players had to be computer rated, and I think mentioned that they couldn't have played on a different team in the regular season. He said the new players could play at sectionals and potentially nationals despite not having been on the team in the regular season.

I personally hate the idea. Both on principal, and on a personal level.

Anyone else heard of this? Is it just a Texas thing?

I've not heard of this in Southern. And doesn't a player have to play 3 for nationals? I doubt the nationals matches played requirement has changed. So that would mean your new player need to get a lot of court time at sectionals to qualify for nationals. Hardly seems fair to your "core" team that played all season.

I'd think a rule like this would encourage upper level players to just sit out the season and wait to join a strong squad with the goal of making nationals. Sounds like a bozo rule if it turns out to be true.

 

[winchestervatennis]

It may be a local/section rule that Texas has gotten a waiver for, but that does not follow the 2018 USTA League regulations.

The National regulations state that to advance to championships at Sectionals and below, a player must have played at least 2 matches on the team, and one default can count. See page 4 of https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/pdfs/2018NationalRegulations_10_18_2017.pdf.

I did not find the section regulations yet, but did find a 2018 Dallas Tennis Association regulations document and it has this regarding player requirements:

2C. All players must play two (2) matches during the local league season in all leagues other than 55 & Over MIXED, Combo Doubles and Tri Level which require only one (1) match to be eligible to participate in championship competition (Local League Championship, Sectionals, etc...).


Can you point to a regulations document or web-page that has this new rule? It certainly doesn't seem consistent with what I've found documented.

And the national regulations bold "any" sectional championship. Hard to imagine they'd go thru the trouble to specifically say any and bold it only to waive it for some section.

 

[dcdoorknob]

Can you point to a regulations document or web-page that has this new rule? It certainly doesn't seem consistent with what I've found documented.

Not exactly. All I've found in my brief search so far is a difference in 2017 and 2018 Texas operating procedures.

Texas 2017

Texas 2018

Note #10 and #11 in 2017. #10 was replaced by a different, vague statement (#9) in 2018. I know that one is for local playoffs, but still. And there's no equivalent for #11 in 2017 at all in the 2018 version.

That's all I got. I'm not even a captain, just passing along what my captain told me. It's possible there's some miscommunication somewhere but I don't see him making it all up either.

 

[schmke]

Not exactly. All I've found in my brief search so far is a difference in 2017 and 2018 Texas operating procedures.

Texas 2017

Texas 2018

Note #10 and #11 in 2017. #10 was replaced by a different, vague statement (#9) in 2018. I know that one is for local playoffs, but still. And there's no equivalent for #11 in 2017 at all in the 2018 version.

That's all I got. I'm not even a captain, just passing along what my captain told me. It's possible there's some miscommunication somewhere but I don't see him making it all up either.

Interesting. 2018 #9 does clearly say it is up to a local league for local/city playoffs and does not set a minimum. It also doesn't say when the player must be rostered. So given this rule, what you were told could make sense for local/city playoffs, but I wouldn't think a team that goes straight to Sectionals, or wins their local/city playoffs to advance there, could add players prior to Sectionals as that is no longer in a local league's jurisdiction and the rule for Sectionals from the Nationals regulation would appear to apply.

 

[NTRPolice]

Any other information?

How was this team "wildcarded" in? If the real winners or whatever couldnt go, then it's possible that the second place team would be allowed to add players so they could represent their section. There could also be a geographical exception, where a new team in a section wanted to attend sectionals, but couldnt play enough qualifying matches during the regular season due to maximum travel limitations.

There are scenarios where this could happen, but as a blanket statement "any team may add up to 4 completely new players as long as they are C rated" does not sound like the whole truth.

Why would they have to be C rated players? Why not S/B/T/M rates? You cant pull people from other teams, so this isnt about being able to make a team to increase poor sectional turnout.

 

[schmke]

This is the listed rule from the linked to operating procedures:

"It is up to each local league to determine the amount of matches that players must play to be eligible for local league playoffs or city championships."

So this allows a local league to set a different standard than the 2 match minimum, but only for local/city playoffs. This does not say anything about adding players before local/city playoffs but this would not restrict it, and if the local league set the minimum matches to zero, you could see how adding a player before local playoffs could be allowed.

Note! This rule is only about local/city playoffs and not Sectionals. And it is only because it is local/city playoffs that are considered part of local play that the National rule requiring 2 matches on the team to be eligible for Sectionals or any other championships below Sectionals does not apply.

So my guess is there is a local league (@dcdoorknob can you tell us which area this team is in?) that has a local rule allowing 0 matches played to be eligible for local playoffs where players could be added, but the captain or someone telling this rule to the captain misunderstood it and inserted Sectionals in place of local playoffs.

 

[dcdoorknob]

I figured it out. Definitely some mix up in communication. Sorry about the confusion.

So apparently Texas has this thing every year called Little State, where 2nd place teams are invited to go compete with each other one weekend with a format that kinda mimics Texas sectionals. This is what my spring team was invited to participate in. Little State does have a rule that you can add up to 4 players to your team as substitutes that didn't play on it during the regular season. I would guess such a rule is to assist teams to be able to field full rosters in case they have trouble getting everyone to travel to the event.

Actual sectionals does not have such a rule and that hasn't changed. I was honestly under the impression that my team was going to Real Deal Sectionals and not "Little State," which I wasn't aware existed, so that was the source of the confusion. My bad.

 

[schmke]

No worries. Good to learn more about Little State.

 

[ChaelAZ]

We had a team that kinda fell apart for sectionals that we lost to in the finals and the USTA was going to allow some of our guys to sub on their team to make the sectionals. Unfortunately it was a weekend I couldn't make a few weeks back, but would have love to have gone down to Tucson to complete. Not sure what the rules were on it all, but if it helps keep everything competitive for the traveling teams I say all good to go. If it is something that a team tries to orchestrate to get better players on board for the event, then no.

 

[dcdoorknob]

I know no one was waiting on an update here lol, but my team ended up withdrawing from "Little State" as we were, in the end, actually invited to 3.5 Texas sectionals in Dallas next weekend as a wildcard team.

(for the thread skimmers, the title isn't accurate, it was a rule for Little State and not for sectionals).

 

[J_R_B]

I know no one was waiting on an update here lol, but my team ended up withdrawing from "Little State" as we were, in the end, actually invited to 3.5 Texas sectionals in Dallas next weekend as a wildcard team.

(for the thread skimmers, the title isn't accurate, it was a rule for Little State and not for sectionals).

Congrats on getting into the big dance.