I have been playing since 2012 and have played in various tournaments within two hours of home, playing in the lone tournament hosted in my city as much as I can. I am using that local tournament as my example here. When I first started playing, there were over 130 people entered in the tournament and there were people to play at all levels, even 3.5 doubles and mixed 7.0 doubles. The second year, it was still over 100 and there were opportunities to play in all brackets. Third year there was a decline again and there were no longer any 3.5 doubles, maybe 6 3.5 singles but still 4-6 entries in mixed 7.0 doubles. Fourth year, it dropped to the 80's, there was no 3.0, a handful of 3.5 singles players and 3 entries mixed 7.
Fast forward to 2019, same tournament. There are 39 entries now. There is no 3.0, 3.5, or 4.5 men's singles. All you can do is 4.0 or open. There are no mixed entries at all, which doesn't matter to me since I stopped playing that when my partner moved away. There is no 4.0 men's doubles so if you want to play you have to play open which still has a lot of fantastic entries, i.e. you will get bageled. There are only 7 players in my 4.0 singles bracket when even three years ago it would have 16 or more.
It really seems to me, at least in my area, that interest in tournament play is very low except for high level players who can handle open. People who may want to play at a lower level look at the entrants, see there aren't any and don't make the first move to establish a bracket to attract others. I feel bad for people who are playing 3.0/3.5 because there is virtually no opportunity so people don't even bother to check back in yearly and probably don't even check in on other upcoming tournaments in the state because they all seem to dwindle every single year at the same rate as my local one. When I first started playing in tournaments it was exciting because I could feel like I could be competitive even as a beginner and it made me feel good about my game. I felt like a real tennis player and there were people to play. In 2019, I am just glad my game advanced so I still have some opportunities to play in tournaments. If I was a rookie right now, tournament play wouldn't be an option.
Honestly, I really only remembered to enter the tournament this weekend because a friend said he was playing. There is no marketing anywhere and no mention of it at all at the lone tennis club even though they are the host at the city courts. Sad.
We've brought this up several times on here, bunch of threads about it. Its been happening over the last 20 years essentially. Been a year or two since I have commented, but here are my takes on it with some new perspective:
-Tennis boom has been on the decline since the mid 1990's. This is driven by a large decrease in American players in the top levels of the pro game, so less interest from the American public
-USTA leagues have taken over much of peoples competitive tennis time. In some cases it has made it easier for people to work and compete without committing to a tournament, but in other cases it is so poorly operated it has also turned off people completely from playing at all
-The local leagues, such as ALTA in Atlanta, used to drive much of the competition, tournament play and other events. Outside of a handful here or there, they have all been folded and the USTA is the dominant association. And the ones that exist basically are allowed to keep operating as long as they drive some adult tennis and stay away from Jr tennis...The problem with this is the local level volunteers who cared about driving tennis are gone, chased off, and mostly filled with a volunteer group that is not as impassioned about the game. For instance in my local area there were a group of ex D-1 players from the 60's and 70's that drove much of the tennis activity through the local tennis association. They managed JR programs, helped get a pro tournament to the area, worked on sponsorships, held several tournaments throughout the years, and had a passion for tennis in the area. Now, the Jr programs are all USTA driven through the competing clubs, and the adult tennis has been filled with some USTA 3.0 rec players who just don't have the experience or resources to know how to get people involved, and essentially don't mind dealing with the rec. player gripes at the meetings. You could look at any city in the US and see this same sort of tennis history fold....
-The public tennis center operation is almost non-existent today. This has been manuevered out by clubs charging memberships and asking for reserved courts. The "pick up a game" at the local park days is over, it is much more expensive and time consuming today to arrange a match or play. I would also note that for Jr. players this concept doesn't even exist, which IMO is a reason for the decline in great American players....but thats for another thread
-Traditional tournaments in the past were pressured to abide by USTA rules, certifications, and other silly things, so the tournament directors handed them over to people who had less ownership in them; thus many of these tournaments folded. The USTA National Sr. tournaments are a perfect example of this. Most of them are just held at whatever club can get them, anyone can enter, and the traditions of a tournament are lost. There used to be a local Clay Court tournament that everyone aspired to play in and win, but the tournament director who had been in charge for 20 years was forced to change the scoring, age groups, and types of event she had. It was too much effort to abide by all those rules and the tournament folded after like 40 years of being around....Nothing took its place...And there are still people who say "remember that tournament?"....No one cares about rankings, they care about winning a gold ball, money, or the notoriety of winning the local tournament
-There is absolutely nothing for young adults to play. Everything is Sr. and super Sr. driven. If you are under 45 good luck playing anything except mens open. If you look at 50+ draws at tournaments they are full....below that hardly anyone, even at the National tournaments. College players and Jr players have nothing set up to transition them from Jr tennis to staying with the game. I know so many players that just drop tennis after Jr's or college, its a whole generation of players not playing, not volunteering, not going to pro tournaments....
-on that note: Millenials, basically a quarter of the tennis playing population, are a population that 1) rent more then they own, and pay more renting (because 88% live in metropolitan areas) and their home owner ship is 8% less then Gen X 2) have 160% more student debt then generation X 3) have had less income increase then previous generations mostly driven by the recession in 2008. So, less money to spend. What this means is that they are less likely to buy tennis good, club memberships, or spend money and time on tournament play
-No longer is tennis played anywhere outside of metro areas...enhancing the money and participation problem. Consider that there are states bigger then the countries the top pro's come from, and the states have no champions?
-Some cultural things have happened over time such as more adults working, and less availability to dedicate to a tennis tournament. However, I think a tournament locally could be run around these things if people cared enough about it, but they just don't right now
-Gambling industry is taking over pro-tennis...how is this affecting adult rec. tennis? Changing the scoring, changing where the USTA effort goes, on and on....Its fundamentally changing everything about the game which trickles down to all levels
So what do we do about it?
I think it starts with the USTA and how they manage tennis. Amazingly it is an association, and considered a non-profit. So I think it needs to run as non-profit, supporting and helping the sport succeed, and stay away from how a Jr player develops, how many certifications a pro must have, how a tournament has to run, or how a club has to run. USTA also has a mission to support American tennis, so they should be empowering the local communities, pushing for American players in college tennis, and keeping tournaments together. Apparently the Connecticut open is heading to China after 25 years in the US, one less WTA tournament event here...
Local organizations should be allowed to thrive again, and the volunteerism of local pros affiliated with the community should be applauded
Former college and Jr players need to have an easier pathway to keep them in the game, and then get them involved in their local tennis communities
Needs to be a concentrated improvement in American pro success
High School tennis needs to be better organized, states with even a small emphasis on HS tennis produce some of the best players out there
