Tree_All_Day
New User
Hey everyone I am new to the forum and I had to make an account to show everyone how so cal is screwed by the new usta changes. I’m a competitive aspiring division 1 collegiate tennis player and after reading the debate between Hannity and Dr. Russel and various other threads I realized that these changes will dramatically affect the So Cal section. I have some insight on how the USTA can still improve the things they want fixed without making extreme radical changes.
This was actually an email that I wanted to send to Dr. Russel or whoever wanted to read it in the USTA and quite frankly I haven’t got around to sending it to the head of the SCTA so I thought I would post it on here
If you read this entire email, you will understand why so many people are fed up with USTA even though you feel you are making proper steps to improve it, you are missing a few pieces of the puzzle and need to make a some changes. You will also understand why I will never be able to experience the excitement that comes from competing at the national stage at tournaments like Kalamazoo, Clay Courts or even National Opens. Since my tennis career is almost over, it’s too late to salvage my national tournament career but I figure I could help out hundreds of kids who will be in the same position as me in the future.
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After reading all the attacks and replies in the Hannity debate it became clear to me that the USTA has the best intent for the players but they have no idea how to run a successful national competition tournament schedule. Certain sections have many players worthy of competing at the national stage but they never exit their section due to lack of opportunities to collect a decent amount of national points. Southern California, being arguably the strongest section in the United States, has many players who play at the current level to be a tough competitor at the national stage. And because it only holds a 6% voting portion of the USTA there are few spots for kids to break out of the Southern California tennis scene and make it to the national stage. We (many so cal players) feel we need to travel to other sections like (nor cal, Arizona, Nevada) to prove our skill and earn national points. But we all know by now that that is completely frowned upon by the USTA and we can no longer do that due to section “grid-locking” which restricts out of section play. Many sections don’t want players from other sections coming in and “stealing” their kids points, but if the USTA truly wants juniors to get better, why would they discourage high level competition in smaller national tournaments? Why wouldn’t you want to #1 player in Idaho to get the opportunity to play other top Juniors? Don’t you want them to be competing against better players? So basically, many Southern California competitors like me are completely screwed.
Current System:
There are about 12 So Cal tournaments a year that count for National Points (not including regional and national opens) and in order to get sufficient points in these tournaments, you have to make it to about the Quarters/Semis. In order to make it to the Semis, you will have had to run into at least 2 high seeds which are probably top 200 in the nation or way higher if based on their graduation year (tennisrecruiting). And you have to do that about 8 out of 12 times if you want a decent national record. Then once you get a decent national ranking you can try to compete in Regionals across the US and if you have success then National Opens and so on.
New System:
Regionals and National Opens opportunities will be shrunk, so in order to be able to compete in these tournaments you would probably have to win at least one Designated and make it to the Semis or Finals in multiple if you even want a shot to play in Regional or National Open. Therefore even less So Cal players will be able to compete at the national stage.
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Most all other sectional designateds are usually weak compared to So Cal Designateds. So in weaker sections, if you are a mid/high level player you will have a good shot at making it to the Semis. And if you have maybe one solid victory, you could even win the entire tournament. But So Cal players and Small Sections alike are awarded the same amount of points even though the quality of play is so different!
Dr. Russel said that only the best players should be playing the best players which I agree and disagree with, I agree that the best players playing the best players will make American tennis a powerhouse once again. But the way to do this isn’t by shrinking draw sizes, but rather to give more opportunities to players in stronger sections.
Unfortunately under the current system, being a player from Southern California and having a late June birthday, it is nearly impossible for me to play in National tournaments even though I am better than a portion who compete in them, I just never get a chance to show it because out of section play is completely frowned upon by the USTA and it is extremely hard to rack up enough points sectionally to compete in National Opens or regionals.
Dr. Russell complained about how in the early rounds of national tournaments, players were losing badly which should not happen in national competition. When I pull up the draws for the national tournaments and look up some of the lower players who lose first round, I see players who I and many other Southern California players are better than. These assumptions are based off of Tennis Recruiting rankings which gives a much better insight/understanding to how good a player is in which I have never seen play in person.
-Let me try to make this clear from my point of view which will help you understand the frustrations of many:
So Cal holds about half of the spots in the top 15 in the country (boys 18s). But players in So Cal between the rankings of 10-50 are still great players because the section is so deep. Unfortunately many of these players will never compete in a high national level tournament. And since the amount of national tournaments is shrinking, many other players including me will almost never have a chance to compete at the national stage. Rather, a player who wins all the main tournaments in a smaller section will get a spot to compete in Nationals when the player from so cal who is a better player is denied a spot to compete at the national level.
I currently train at Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine California and am ranked about 150 in the nation per tennis recruiting for rising juniors even though due to more recent success many think I should be higher but I am about 1000 in USTA nationally because I just aged up. Every once in a while a player comes from another section comes to the academy thinking they are really good because they are top 5 in their section, and even though I am ranked about 45 in so cal we always have a good match. No matter if I win or lose, when we discuss tournaments like Kalamazoo and Clay Courts, they seem shocked when I tell them that I have never competed at that level.
The USTA has to develop a better way to judge how good a player is rather than how well he/she does in sectional matches because the quality of play in different sectional matches is very different. If they do this, they can truly have national tournaments in which the best are playing against the best. Once again, someone who makes it to the Semi Finals of a small section designated are not nearly as good as the players who make the round of 16 in a So Cal designated. If you make it to the RD.16 in a So Cal designated, that means you are most likely competing against guys like George Goldhoff, Robbie Bellamy, Deiton Baughman, Tyler Lu (some of the best players in the country) yet we do not nearly get rewarded enough national points. In my opinion, a tournament in So Cal that counts for national points should be worth way more points than a tournament in many other sections because So Cal is so strong overall. I am sure there are a few sections similar to So Cal that has similar problems but, at times, it seems as if USTA just doesn’t get it.
USTA SOLUTION MADE EASY:
Instead of shrinking draw sizes to increase the amount of competitive play at the national level, find a way to figure out what sections are the deepest and has the best players. Then, increase the amount of players from that section who compete at the national stage, which in return will increase the amount of quality competitive play at major tournaments.
This was actually an email that I wanted to send to Dr. Russel or whoever wanted to read it in the USTA and quite frankly I haven’t got around to sending it to the head of the SCTA so I thought I would post it on here
If you read this entire email, you will understand why so many people are fed up with USTA even though you feel you are making proper steps to improve it, you are missing a few pieces of the puzzle and need to make a some changes. You will also understand why I will never be able to experience the excitement that comes from competing at the national stage at tournaments like Kalamazoo, Clay Courts or even National Opens. Since my tennis career is almost over, it’s too late to salvage my national tournament career but I figure I could help out hundreds of kids who will be in the same position as me in the future.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
After reading all the attacks and replies in the Hannity debate it became clear to me that the USTA has the best intent for the players but they have no idea how to run a successful national competition tournament schedule. Certain sections have many players worthy of competing at the national stage but they never exit their section due to lack of opportunities to collect a decent amount of national points. Southern California, being arguably the strongest section in the United States, has many players who play at the current level to be a tough competitor at the national stage. And because it only holds a 6% voting portion of the USTA there are few spots for kids to break out of the Southern California tennis scene and make it to the national stage. We (many so cal players) feel we need to travel to other sections like (nor cal, Arizona, Nevada) to prove our skill and earn national points. But we all know by now that that is completely frowned upon by the USTA and we can no longer do that due to section “grid-locking” which restricts out of section play. Many sections don’t want players from other sections coming in and “stealing” their kids points, but if the USTA truly wants juniors to get better, why would they discourage high level competition in smaller national tournaments? Why wouldn’t you want to #1 player in Idaho to get the opportunity to play other top Juniors? Don’t you want them to be competing against better players? So basically, many Southern California competitors like me are completely screwed.
Current System:
There are about 12 So Cal tournaments a year that count for National Points (not including regional and national opens) and in order to get sufficient points in these tournaments, you have to make it to about the Quarters/Semis. In order to make it to the Semis, you will have had to run into at least 2 high seeds which are probably top 200 in the nation or way higher if based on their graduation year (tennisrecruiting). And you have to do that about 8 out of 12 times if you want a decent national record. Then once you get a decent national ranking you can try to compete in Regionals across the US and if you have success then National Opens and so on.
New System:
Regionals and National Opens opportunities will be shrunk, so in order to be able to compete in these tournaments you would probably have to win at least one Designated and make it to the Semis or Finals in multiple if you even want a shot to play in Regional or National Open. Therefore even less So Cal players will be able to compete at the national stage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most all other sectional designateds are usually weak compared to So Cal Designateds. So in weaker sections, if you are a mid/high level player you will have a good shot at making it to the Semis. And if you have maybe one solid victory, you could even win the entire tournament. But So Cal players and Small Sections alike are awarded the same amount of points even though the quality of play is so different!
Dr. Russel said that only the best players should be playing the best players which I agree and disagree with, I agree that the best players playing the best players will make American tennis a powerhouse once again. But the way to do this isn’t by shrinking draw sizes, but rather to give more opportunities to players in stronger sections.
Unfortunately under the current system, being a player from Southern California and having a late June birthday, it is nearly impossible for me to play in National tournaments even though I am better than a portion who compete in them, I just never get a chance to show it because out of section play is completely frowned upon by the USTA and it is extremely hard to rack up enough points sectionally to compete in National Opens or regionals.
Dr. Russell complained about how in the early rounds of national tournaments, players were losing badly which should not happen in national competition. When I pull up the draws for the national tournaments and look up some of the lower players who lose first round, I see players who I and many other Southern California players are better than. These assumptions are based off of Tennis Recruiting rankings which gives a much better insight/understanding to how good a player is in which I have never seen play in person.
-Let me try to make this clear from my point of view which will help you understand the frustrations of many:
So Cal holds about half of the spots in the top 15 in the country (boys 18s). But players in So Cal between the rankings of 10-50 are still great players because the section is so deep. Unfortunately many of these players will never compete in a high national level tournament. And since the amount of national tournaments is shrinking, many other players including me will almost never have a chance to compete at the national stage. Rather, a player who wins all the main tournaments in a smaller section will get a spot to compete in Nationals when the player from so cal who is a better player is denied a spot to compete at the national level.
I currently train at Advantage Tennis Academy in Irvine California and am ranked about 150 in the nation per tennis recruiting for rising juniors even though due to more recent success many think I should be higher but I am about 1000 in USTA nationally because I just aged up. Every once in a while a player comes from another section comes to the academy thinking they are really good because they are top 5 in their section, and even though I am ranked about 45 in so cal we always have a good match. No matter if I win or lose, when we discuss tournaments like Kalamazoo and Clay Courts, they seem shocked when I tell them that I have never competed at that level.
The USTA has to develop a better way to judge how good a player is rather than how well he/she does in sectional matches because the quality of play in different sectional matches is very different. If they do this, they can truly have national tournaments in which the best are playing against the best. Once again, someone who makes it to the Semi Finals of a small section designated are not nearly as good as the players who make the round of 16 in a So Cal designated. If you make it to the RD.16 in a So Cal designated, that means you are most likely competing against guys like George Goldhoff, Robbie Bellamy, Deiton Baughman, Tyler Lu (some of the best players in the country) yet we do not nearly get rewarded enough national points. In my opinion, a tournament in So Cal that counts for national points should be worth way more points than a tournament in many other sections because So Cal is so strong overall. I am sure there are a few sections similar to So Cal that has similar problems but, at times, it seems as if USTA just doesn’t get it.
USTA SOLUTION MADE EASY:
Instead of shrinking draw sizes to increase the amount of competitive play at the national level, find a way to figure out what sections are the deepest and has the best players. Then, increase the amount of players from that section who compete at the national stage, which in return will increase the amount of quality competitive play at major tournaments.