Boys to Girls Ratio in Juniors?

[J011yroger]

Sorry if this is the wrong category but I figured college folks would know about the up and coming juniors.

What is the boy to girl ratio of junior tournament players? Is it about even or more boys or more girls?

Also to make it more relevant to this subforum are there more roster spots for men or women in college tennis? Obviously we know more scholarship money is available for women's tennis and I would assume slots too.

J

 

[Nacho]

More women's teams (1162) to mens (970), so more athletes in women's (10,812-9,890). Mens teams usually are bigger, but women's carry more scholarships (as you stated). Those numbers include all levels

For Jr players its hard to say, there are hundreds of thousands that play between Jr tennis and HS tennis at all the various age group levels. I believe the USTA keeps stats on it but I haven't readily looked it up. Depends what you want to know: all Jr age groups, International, only 18 under age group, Sr's in HS, etc.. I don't think there is much of a difference in competitors between the genders and also not sure if it matters. The top 100 Sr's each year in both genders usually go on to play college tennis, and after that its a mixed bag depending on the situation.

not sure if that is what you were looking to figure out

 

[J011yroger]

More women's teams (1162) to mens (970), so more athletes in women's (10,812-9,890). Mens teams usually are bigger, but women's carry more scholarships (as you stated). Those numbers include all levels

For Jr players its hard to say, there are hundreds of thousands that play between Jr tennis and HS tennis at all the various age group levels. I believe the USTA keeps stats on it but I haven't readily looked it up. Depends what you want to know: all Jr age groups, International, only 18 under age group, Sr's in HS, etc.. I don't think there is much of a difference in competitors between the genders and also not sure if it matters. The top 100 Sr's each year in both genders usually go on to play college tennis, and after that its a mixed bag depending on the situation.

not sure if that is what you were looking to figure out

Ummm, not sure how to phrase my thoughts. Just gathering information right now. It has to do with who learns as a kid and who learns as an adult and why.

J

 

[MarTennis]

More boys in numbers and quality. #TruthandTennis

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[fngmoe]

There's usually around a 60/40 split between boys/girls at USTA Jr. tournaments. I don't believe that there are a different number of spots on college teams based on gender. Scholarship opportunities tend to favor girls, i.e. Div I max of 8 for girls vs. 4.5 for boys. Whether or not those spots are funded or not, I couldn't tell you.

 

[tennisjunky]

What are you getting at?

This question that can be answered in many ways depending upon the persons experience.
US(R)TA does keep track of these statistics; however not everyone goes the traditional USTA (money grabbing) path.

Recently at a tournament some parents were actually talking about this.
They were discussing that they had all noticed fewer juniors playing in the last couple of years.
Now, this is very subjective, however personally it doesn't surprise me at all.

Overall, my experience suggest participation is slightly more in boys versus girls, but not substantial enough to draw attention.

Of more interest to juniors is WHY do boys even play, (other than for recreational interest) considering the extremely low chance of getting a decent scholarship.

 

[MarTennis]

What are you getting at?

This question that can be answered in many ways depending upon the persons experience.
US(R)TA does keep track of these statistics; however not everyone goes the traditional USTA (money grabbing) path.

Recently at a tournament some parents were actually talking about this.
They were discussing that they had all noticed fewer juniors playing in the last couple of years.
Now, this is very subjective, however personally it doesn't surprise me at all.

Overall, my experience suggest participation is slightly more in boys versus girls, but not substantial enough to draw attention.

Of more interest to juniors is WHY do boys even play, (other than for recreational interest) considering the extremely low chance of getting a decent scholarship.

The boys that play like tennis. Also like individual sport. Got good before they could choose something else to get good at. Smart boys who are bored by team sports. Can't pitch.

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[Nacho]

Ummm, not sure how to phrase my thoughts. Just gathering information right now. It has to do with who learns as a kid and who learns as an adult and why.

J

Are you wondering if there is a focus on recreational play (adults, stay at home moms) and beginning Jr's? If so, I don't have the numbers to prove it (yet) but I would surmise that the tennis club community is focused on this type of tennis "learning" rather then development of good players, because it brings in the most stay income.

 

[jcgatennismom]

What are you getting at?

Of more interest to juniors is WHY do boys even play, (other than for recreational interest) considering the extremely low chance of getting a decent scholarship.

In answer to your why, smart boys and their parents have figured out how to play the sport they love in college in spite of the fact Power schools offer low athletic $ to US boys. In our state, 9 boys in 2017 were ranked in the top 100 in nation (TRN):
3 choose to play for Ivy (1), top 10 D3 (2)-they used their tennis to get in schools with an 8-20% acceptance ratio
1 got a full ride by going to a service academy
2 will play for in state public schools where between in state tuition and merit aid they can play at a ranked school for half the price or less of going to an out of state ranked school
3 are playing for midmajors so with merit and athletic, they are probably getting 50-80%+ in their package

None chose to play for out of state Power private or public schools though I am sure at least the three 5 stars had offers from ranked out of state schools. Many Power schools are based in states where tennis is popular so they can fill 5-10 with cheap in state players. However, there are some Power schools in states where the US pickings are slim. It will be interesting to see how they fill out #5-10 in the future as international players will not come without sizeable scholarships. Ivys without athletic scholarships are now getting blue chips and D3s are now getting 5 stars. If players are not going to get $ anyway, many will choose strong academic schools with need based aid and small classes.

 

[jcgatennismom]

The boys that play like tennis. Also like individual sport. Got good before they could choose something else to get good at. Smart boys who are bored by team sports. Can't pitch.

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There are a lot of US tennis players who also played soccer, basketball, and/or baseball before choosing tennis as their top sport-in particular a lot came from baseball. I think the players who choose tennis choose it because they liked the control; whether they win or lose, it is all on them (except for dubs). Now that is for the individualist junior tennis; those players will have to switch gears somewhat in college since tennis is a team sport.

 

[MarTennis]

In answer to your why, smart boys and their parents have figured out how to play the sport they love in college in spite of the fact Power schools offer low athletic $ to US boys. In our state, 9 boys in 2017 were ranked in the top 100 in nation (TRN):
3 choose to play for Ivy (1), top 10 D3 (2)-they used their tennis to get in schools with an 8-20% acceptance ratio
1 got a full ride by going to a service academy
2 will play for in state public schools where between in state tuition and merit aid they can play at a ranked school for half the price or less of going to an out of state ranked school
3 are playing for midmajors so with merit and athletic, they are probably getting 50-80%+ in their package

None chose to play for out of state private or public schools though I am sure at least the three 5 stars had offers from ranked out of state schools. Many Power schools are based in states where tennis is popular so they can fill 5-10 with cheap in state players. However, there are some Power schools in states where the US pickings are slim. It will be interesting to see how they fill out #5-10 in the future as international players will not come without sizeable scholarships. Ivys without athletic scholarships are now getting blue chips and D3s are now getting 5 stars. If players are not going to get $ anyway, many will choose strong academic schools with need based aid and small classes.

Nice breakdown. It's also the reason why college tennis will eventually merge divisions and the remainder will be club tennis.

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[MathGeek]

I'd go to the USTA site and look up the draws for some tourneys in the area of interest.

Near me, there tend to be more girls in the G10, G12, and G14 ranges, but more boys in the B16 and B18. But there is a heavy interplay with the local high schools and teens on HS teams tend to skip the USTA events.

 

[Bluefan75]

My coach has stated several times to me there seem to be no boys that are good enough. He's been coaching over 30 years, and has had several Canadian champions, but the past couple of years, the only boys there have been there for a few years. The girls graduate, go to college, and there are plenty to take their place, but fewer boys.

Likely due to the fact that you have to be so much better to get a men's scholarship than for women.

 

[Bluefan75]

My coach has stated several times to me there seem to be no boys that are good enough. He's been coaching over 30 years, and has had several Canadian champions, but the past couple of years, the only boys there have been there for a few years. The girls graduate, go to college, and there are plenty to take their place, but fewer boys.

Likely due to the fact that you have to be so much better to get a men's scholarship than for women.