Flex league question

[beernutz]

I decided to play flex league 4.0 singles for the first time back in December and went ahead and signed up. The league is supposed to start 1/13 and registration ends 1/12 at midnight. I'm a little concerned that when I check tennislink it appears I am the only one registered for it so far.

For you flex league veterans, is this normal? I looked at some previous flex league season standings here for that level and there were generally about 6 to 10 players in them and the winter of 2013 had 9.

 

[mikeler]

Have fun playing with yourself while the USTA greedily steals your money.

 

[beernutz]

Have fun playing with yourself while the USTA greedily steals your money.

You are probably right! When I checked the flex league website just now I noticed for the first time that some of the fees I paid were non-refundable. I guess the USTA makes money whether any other players sign up or not.

 

[sobzJM]

Yeah I attempted to sign up for a flex singles and flex doubles league last Fall with a friend of mine. Both were canceled and we each lost the $3 processing fee for each league.

I've started paying for tournaments directly to the facility to altogether avoid this.

 

[dgoran]

I decided to play flex league 4.0 singles for the first time back in December and went ahead and signed up. The league is supposed to start 1/13 and registration ends 1/12 at midnight. I'm a little concerned that when I check tennislink it appears I am the only one registered for it so far.

For you flex league veterans, is this normal? I looked at some previous flex league season standings here for that level and there were generally about 6 to 10 players in them and the winter of 2013 had 9.

I play league called ten cap but I use it as Rolodex of good players to call and have someone to play when I get a chance, since I only am able to play about 5-6 matches per season (2month long season) due to work and family but others play 10-12 matches and there are 40 players in the league...as a matter of fact it was so overwhelming that they had to split it in 4 divisions to make it manageable... You just got to find a better league manager

 

[sobzJM]

Ten cap exists in Atlanta as Big Fish, but not really sure where the OP is from. It seems to be limited to a handful of cities.

 

[beernutz]

Ten cap exists in Atlanta as Big Fish, but not really sure where the OP is from. It seems to be limited to a handful of cities.

No Ten Cap here in LA (lower Alabama) unfortunately.

 

[GlennK]

No Ten Cap here in LA (lower Alabama) unfortunately.

When the flex league I signed up for never materialized, I was given the entire entry fee back.

They then did get one the next season but only 4 guys signed up. We played each other twice. That was the last time I signed up for it.

 

[beernutz]

Does anyone know if it is possible to see on tennislink or on the USTA flex league page who else has signed up for a flex league season before the season starts?

 

[sobzJM]

The only thing I can recommend is email with the Flex League coordinator. I wish I had done this previously. They were very informative after the fact.

 

[wrxinsc]

I don't know about your local league rules, but we refund all registration fees paid if a league doesn't make in our local league.

 

[beernutz]

The only thing I can recommend is email with the Flex League coordinator. I wish I had done this previously. They were very informative after the fact.

Good idea because that is exactly what I did except I called him. He was very nice and informative and in fact I'd actually played him once before about a year ago in a USTA league 4.0 singles match.

He said that he won't publish the names of the people who have signed up for a flex league until Saturday the 11th even though signup ends at midnight on the 12th. However, he knew already that enough players (himself included) had signed up for us to have a 4.0 flex league so that really answered most of my question. I will just check back on Sunday to see who the other players actually are.

I just wish I'd noticed the link on the flex league pages for local league organizer before and I would never have started this thread in the first place.

 

[TNE_Admin]

Being the admin at Tennis League Network, it is so hard to read this thread.

How dare does an organization connect someone with 4 players and call it a season. Or take $3 when they can't provide the product.

Sadly we deal with all the burnt people who have participated with poor USTA Flex programs.

Our product is solely based around trying to give the customer their FULL value for the money they pay for a quality flex program.

-Steve Chagnon
TennisLeagueNetwork.com

 

[TNE_Admin]

Thomas,

Certainly wish you all the best with your program.

 

[beernutz]

Have fun playing with yourself while the USTA greedily steals your money.

Your prediction may actually come true. It is now over 3 weeks into the flex league season and I have yet to play a single match. In fact when I check the results page I see that not one of our seven players has yet recorded a single match.

My first week's opponent was injured but for some reason signed up for flex anyway thinking he'd be better by the time the league started. He wasn't so we didn't play.

My next week's opponent was the flex league coordinator and since I was home I emailed him a week before we were scheduled to play and he never replied. On the last day we were to play he emails me and says he never got my original email. We schedule a match but get rained out.

Now the suggested deadline for my third week's away opponent has come and gone and I haven't heard from him yet at all.

At least the USTA will only steal my flex league fees once as I'm pretty sure this will be the last time I sign up for it.

 

[SwankPeRFection]

Do yourself a favor and just go through your phone looking for matches. There you go... Free Flex league if you will. Lol

Flex is a joke if you ask me. Half the time it's bad enough getting people to show up for normal matches, let alone Flex ones. Who are they trying to kid?

 

[J_R_B]

Do yourself a favor and just go through your phone looking for matches. There you go... Free Flex league if you will. Lol

Flex is a joke if you ask me. Half the time it's bad enough getting people to show up for normal matches, let alone Flex ones. Who are they trying to kid?

Flex leagues are only as good or bad as the people who sign up. If a bunch of people sign up who really want to play in a competitive environment, then the league will be great. OTOH, if a bunch of people sign up and never return emails or calls, then it will suck. But the problem isn't the league or the format, it's the people.

 

[SwankPeRFection]

Flex leagues are only as good or bad as the people who sign up. If a bunch of people sign up who really want to play in a competitive environment, then the league will be great. OTOH, if a bunch of people sign up and never return emails or calls, then it will suck. But the problem isn't the league or the format, it's the people.

No, the problem is the league and the format. There should be rules that if you sign up, you must accept any of the match challenges you get asked for and if you don't, you lose the match. It's crappy rules and a crappy league the USTA came up to allow people to play a more flexible play schedule while also making money off of it. The majority of the time, it's a waste. I played Flex Mixed one time and I'll never do it again... we'd end up playing two matches back to back to make up matches against the same opponents because the season was almost over and they hadn't played us the several times before when we asked. I don't mind being out there forever playing and usually play for at least 4 hours anyway, so it didn't matter to me, but generally speaking, it's a crap league format really.

 

[catfish]

Flex leagues are only as good or bad as the people who sign up. If a bunch of people sign up who really want to play in a competitive environment, then the league will be great. OTOH, if a bunch of people sign up and never return emails or calls, then it will suck. But the problem isn't the league or the format, it's the people.

Bingo! Coordinator can set rules and league formats but they can't control people's behavior. A lot of people don't care about rules or bother to read them. You can set a rule that requires people to respond to emails, but what are the consequences if they don't? All the LC can do is suspend them or not allow them to play again, but that doesn't solve the problem during the current season.

 

[West Coast Ace]

You are probably right! When I checked the flex league website just now I noticed for the first time that some of the fees I paid were non-refundable. I guess the USTA makes money whether any other players sign up or not.

You should have paid with a credit card. They can say 'non-refundable' all they want. But there's a contract - you paid to participate in a 'league' - that puts the onus on them to create said league - no players = no league. I'd call my credit card and refuse the charge - after a few minutes of explaining I'm sure they'd drop it.

Of course that could be a hollow victory - USTA could choose to not let you participate in future events.

 

[beernutz]

You should have paid with a credit card. They can say 'non-refundable' all they want. But there's a contract - you paid to participate in a 'league' - that puts the onus on them to create said league - no players = no league. I'd call my credit card and refuse the charge - after a few minutes of explaining I'm sure they'd drop it.

Of course that could be a hollow victory - USTA could choose to not let you participate in future events.

Well it is a moot point now as I played my first flex match against my week 3 opponent yesterday. He was a very nice guy and we had a good match. Coincidentally it was his first flex league match ever too and he also had trouble contacting the other players he was supposed to play in weeks 1 and 2. We are going to try to play singles again outside of flex league so that at least I made a contact with someone who plays right at my level and actually answers email and returns phone messages.

 

[mikeler]

Well it is a moot point now as I played my first flex match against my week 3 opponent yesterday. He was a very nice guy and we had a good match. Coincidentally it was his first flex league match ever too and he also had trouble contacting the other players he was supposed to play in weeks 1 and 2. We are going to try to play singles again outside of flex league so that at least I made a contact with someone who plays right at my level and actually answers email and returns phone messages.

It is worth the price of admission if you can find another reliable player at your level. Glad it worked out for ya.

 

[beernutz]

It is worth the price of admission if you can find another reliable player at your level. Glad it worked out for ya.

Thanks. I still find it weird that the flex season started on 1/13, 4 weeks ago today, with 6 uninjured players (7 total) and as of this morning my Saturday match is the only one yet played. We've had a few days of bad weather but mostly it has been very nice here. I worked outside all day yesterday in shorts, t-shirt, and flip-flops.

 

[prostaff_fan]

I had the same experience when I signed up for a flex league long time ago. Just made one good friend with whom I played tennis quite regularly later. Can't remember if I was refunded for the money.

 

[floridatennisdude]

the admin guy is a joke and so is his league. in oc he charges 35 every ten week season. he locks u into divisions with 12 players ten are the same guys over and over one will be a new guy who plays and number twelve is a guy who signs up but never plays, its the admin making fake accounts to falsify the participation in his league. once in his league if u win the championship you can only claim a max of two trophies so if you win the thing five times you don't get a trophy after the second championship but you still pay full price for his league. I play in a league on global tennis network for free. everyone should check it out!

I'm 50/50 on global. Played a challenge ladder of about 30 guys. I played 4 or 5 of them regularly and a couple others once. However, the guy that ended up winning played two total matches and won it, since he started at the top.

I'm playing Ultimate currently and I really like the format. You get points, win or lose and it gives a good reason to crown a winner.