ITF and Youth Tennis Grading

[TennisBro]

Dear all,

I would like to understand the grading system of the young tennis tournaments.

From reading the ITF regulations, I am not clear about what the grades from 1-5 in boys' category mean there.

The regulations for age limit are yet another confusing to me issue as I have gone over the official ITF site somewhat puzzled whether a 2008 born kid could participate in any tournaments at all; see below and englihten me please

other events (including Games) for players who are 12 and under:

• There shall be no 11 and under, no 10 and under and no 9 and under (or younger) age category international or regional individual or team competitions or Games.
• In any calendar year players may only compete in a maximum of ten tournaments for 12 and under events sanctioned by the ITF, or by a Regional Association or by the *USTA and Tennis Canada.
• Players under the age of 10 shall not be eligible for entry into any international individual tournament, team competition, or Games sanctioned by a Regional Association, a National Association and/or any other national or international organisation. In accordance with the ITF Junior Age Eligibility Rule, the player’s age as of the first day of the tournament Main Draw shall be used. Players are allowed to play in a 12 and under event from the year they turn 10 years of age, and have reached their 10th birthday on or before the start of the Singles Main Draw, until the year the player turns 12 years of age.
• Players are eligible to compete in tournaments for players aged 14 and under sanctioned by the ITF, or by a Regional Association or by the *USTA and Tennis Canada in the year they turn 11 years of age, if they have reached their 11th birthday on or before the start of the Singles Main Draw, until the year the player turns 14 years of age, but participation in such tournaments will count towards the maximum of ten events permitted;
• Competition for players aged 12 and under organised by a Regional Association must be a team competition;
• Players aged 12 and under shall not compete in 16 and under international or regional individual or team competitions.
• There shall be no international or regional rankings for players aged 12 and under;

• No international competition may be organised for players aged 12 and under and the title ‘World Champion’(or any similar title) shall not be awarded to a player

https://www.itftennis.com/juniors/team-competitions/rules-regulations.aspx

I look forward to your replies.

Regards,
Bro

 

[TennisBro]

Sad to see none of all of the hall of fame/GOT posters have any interest in the kid tournaments grading system and ages debate on.

Cheers
Bro

 

[WalterSlovotsky]

This doesn't seem that confusing. A 2008 born would be 10 years old at the start of 2019. So they would be eligible for any 12 and under tournament in 2019:

Players are allowed to play in a 12 and under event from the year they turn 10 years of age, and have reached their 10th birthday on or before the start of the Singles Main Draw, until the year the player turns 12 years of age.

At some point in 2019, they would turn 11. At that point they would be eligible for any 14 and under tournament as well:

Players are eligible to compete in tournaments for players aged 14 and under sanctioned by the ITF, or by a Regional Association or by the *USTA and Tennis Canada in the year they turn 11 years of age, if they have reached their 11th birthday on or before the start of the Singles Main Draw

So they can compete against 12 and unders, and after they turn 11 they can also compete against 14 and unders. Unfortunately, there are no sanctioned 10 and under tournaments allowed by these rules, so they will likely be competing against kids who are a couple of years older.

 

[TennisBro]

This doesn't seem that confusing. A 2008 born would be 10 years old at the start of 2019. So they would be eligible for any 12 and under tournament in 2019

Thanx for clearing that part for me. I am having a hard time to find tournaments in Asia, particularly in China for this U12 age group this year. Last year, there were a few Nike sponsored tournaments out of which one was in Shenzhen, one in Wuhan, one in Shanghai in 2018 but this year Shenzhen has had on U14, other cities the same and the one in Shanghai in 5 months under the ITF seems to lack much of the info now. Today, I wasn't even able to find it on the site which I had a link for a couple weeks back. Anyway, last year I had choices for U12 around China with the Nike competitions but those are not available this year in China. Sorry, I don't mean to be whining; just searching for competitions for my boy here in near vicinity of China.

By the way, what's the grading like? The youth tournaments are with G1-G5 I see on the ITF site.