2009

USTA KENTUCKY TRI-LEVEL REGULATIONS

USTA Kentucky has appointed the Kentucky State League Coordinator (SLC) to organize, coordinate and supervise the Tri-Level League at the state level. The SLC, in conjunction with the Kentucky Adult League Committee, has the authority to interpret the Tri-Level League Tennis Regulations.

A.        STATE REGULATIONS COMMITTEE

            The Kentucky Adult League Committee, through recommendations from the Local League Coordinators, establishes the Kentucky Tri-Level League Regulations. The Kentucky Adult League Committee and USTA Kentucky Board of Directors grants final approval of the USTA Tri-Level League Tennis Kentucky Regulations.

B.        LOCAL LEAGUES

1.         Local Leagues shall be approved by USTA Kentucky to administer USTA Tri-Level League Tennis.

2.         Local League administrators, including Local League Coordinators and Community Tennis Associations, are responsible for the administration and the promotion of the USTA Tri-Level League Tennis Program in their Local League area.

3.         Local League Appointments

a.         Local League Committees shall submit the name of a candidate for Local League Coordinator to the State League Coordinator.

b.         The State League Coordinator shall forward the name along with the recommendation to the Kentucky Adult League Committee.

c.         The Local League Coordinator shall be appointed for a period of one year and is subject to a yearly renewal as well as entering into a service contract with USTA Kentucky. USTA Kentucky may remove the Local League Coordinator at any time during their contract period.

4.         Local League Coordinators are required to follow the current job description, which is subject to change each league year.

5.         Local Leagues are required and have the authority to compose regulations that preside over local play. Local League regulations shall not conflict with any existing National, Southern, or Kentucky regulation.

6.         Prior to the start of the Local League Season, the Kentucky Adult League Committee must approve the Local League Rules and Regulations. Local League Rules and Regulations must be distributed to Team Captains before the league season begins, preferably during the Captain’s meeting. Copies of such regulations may also be available on Local League websites and by email to team captains.

7.         Local League Coordinators and/or Schedulers may not captain any USTA League Tennis team. Local League Coordinators and/or Schedulers may be a non-playing captain, as long as it is at a different division than they are playing.

8.                  A CTA may add a nominal fee to their existing league fee, but the fee must first be approved by the SLC and the Kentucky Adult League Committee. The CTA must request in writing prior to the registration being opened for each league and/or season that it intends to add a nominal fee, specifying the amount, which must be approved by the SLC and the Kentucky Adult League Committee. Once approved, the amount of the nominal fee as well as how the funds will be used will be published in the CTA’s Local League Rules and Regulations. At year end, an accountability form must be submitted to the SLC to document how the funds were spent.

9.                  All Local League teams must play a minimum of three matches.  All teams must participate in the same number of round robins as every team in the flight.

10.              Each Local League is required to have a minimum of two teams in a division, if there is only one team signed up for a division, they will be required to join another league that has team(s) of that same division.

11.              All teams participating in the 2009 USTA Tri-Level League Tennis season must be registered in TennisLink by their Local League registration deadline. A team shall consist of a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 12 players of the same gender eligible to compete at a specific level of competition. Team members shall not have a higher NTRP rating than the maximum NTRP rating of the division in which they are competing.  The following divisions are available for the 2009 Championship Year.

1. Adult Division I, Women Only              2.5, 3.0, 3.5
2. Adult Division II, Men & Women                     3.0, 3.5, 4.0
3. Adult Division III, Men & Women                    3.5, 4.0, 4.5
4. Senior Division, Men & Women                       3.0, 3.5, 4.0
5. Super Senior Division, Men & Women 3.0, 3.5, 4.0

C.        USTA MEMBERSHIP

1.         All players participating in USTA Tri-Level League Tennis must be a current member of the USTA for the entire league season.

2.         Participants competing in State Championships are required to have a current USTA membership throughout the entire event.

D.        SELF-RATING

The process of self-rating shall be administered by TennisLink and the Southern Sectional office. Players who do not have a computer rating on file in TennisLink shall self-rate in accordance with the National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) Guidelines and declare their self-rating on TennisLink when registering for a team. Omission of information regarding a player’s tennis history will subject the player, the captain and/or others who condoned inaccurate self-rating to sanctions and disqualification. STA 3.01D(2)

E.         FEES

1.         State and Local League fees, as well as Championship fees, shall be reviewed prior to each league year and may change due to increased/decreased cost. Final fees shall be established by the USTA Kentucky Management Committee acting upon the recommendation of the SLC and the Kentucky Adult League Committee.

2.         2009 Minimum Fees:

a.  Local USTA Tri-Level League Tennis                      $17.00 (KY Head Tax $8.00)

b.  State Championship Tri-Level League Tennis           $22.00 (Entry Fee)

F.         LOCAL TEAM ENTRIES/PLAYER PARTICIPATION

1.         Local Leagues may limit the maximum number of players on a roster to less than 12 which is the state maximum. This number must be published in the Local League Regulations. STA 3.01 B

2.         Each local league shall accept entry to teams of which the majority of the players are comprised of team members from another area. A local league cannot reject a player from another area.

3.         The team winning the majority of individual matches shall be awarded one team point. STA 3.01 H (2)

4.         Any Local League divided into flights must establish playoff regulations and the format for determination of local league winners. Playoff regulations must be published prior to start of the league season.

5.         Local leagues shall determine the procedures and/or penalties if a team forfeits an entire team match during local league play and must be included in Local League Regulations. STA 3.01 H (2)

6.         Local leagues shall determine the procedures for rescheduling of team matches including inclement weather procedures.

7.         Scores must be reported in TennisLink within 48 hours of the completed team match.  After match scores have been entered on TennisLink, they must be confirmed by the opposing team within 48 hours of the initial entry or the initial score will automatically be considered valid.  Local Leagues may determine any penalty for a team not adhering to these guidelines. USTA 1.05

8.         A player may play at their actual NTRP level and one NTRP level up in a local league provided his/her rating does not exceed the rating at that division. STA 3.01 H (5) b (ex. Player rated 3.5 may play 3.5 and 4.0, but not 4.5)

9.         A player may play on multiple teams as long as they are in different divisions.  Example:  Player A, 3.5 can play in Adult Division I 2.5, 3.0, 3.5 and Adult Division II 3.0, 3.5, 4.0  and Senior Division I 3.0, 3.5, 4.0.  Players who qualify for advancement to State Championships will be eligible to represent one adult and one senior team or one senior and one super senior team.  Players are not allowed to represent more than one division within the adult league at the State Championships.  There will be no concessions made for scheduling.

10.       Last day for local league match play for the USTA Tri-Level League Tennis season is August 8, 2009.

G.        NTRP RATINGS

2009 USTA Tri-Level League will not have any affect on NTRP ratings.

H.        TENNISLINK

1.         All players are required to register for Local League play in Kentucky on TennisLink. All players must self rate according to the NTRP guidelines. TennisLink and the Southern Sectional office administer the self-rating process.

2.         For any team in which a player is deleted from the roster more than 45 days after initial registration and requests a refund, the captain must submit the reason for removal in writing to the Local League Coordinator, who will then submit the statement to the SLC for approval. The SLC has the authority to deny reimbursement of registration fees to the Local League in question.

3.         Players promoted during any USTA Tri-Level League to the next level of play must play at the new level and if necessary join a new Tri-Level division.  Local League Coordinators will provide assistance in placing promoted players on existing teams.

I.          STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

1.                  A team cannot advance to the State Championships without playing a minimum of three local league matches

2.                  Local leagues with the following number of teams per local season may qualify to advance to the State Championships:

3.         The Tournament Committee will determine the number of teams needed to complete the draw. If it is determined that additional teams are needed to complete the draw in any division, a blind draw will be made to determine which local league area will receive the wildcard.

4.         The wildcard selection process is based on a draw, which operates as follows: all local areas are eligible to participate in the potential wildcard drawing and will receive one chance each to be drawn as the wildcard. The selected local area for the wildcard may go to the 1^st, 2^nd, or 3^rd place local league finishers, if none of these teams accepts, then the decision to offer a wild card for that area reverts back to the Tournament Committee.

5.         Teams should be expected to play on any USTA approved surface at the Kentucky Championships.

6.         Teams progressing to the Championships are determined by placement after local league play. Local leagues are expected to send their top finishers. A local league may send the next team in their local standings to represent their local league. Any deviation from this must be approved by the Kentucky Adult League Committee (ALC).

7.         A minimum of 6 team members who were on the final roster and at levels eligible to field each court in their division must be available to compete at the Kentucky Championships.

8.         A $100 deposit will be required of all teams at each Kentucky Championships.

9.         Any team forfeiting an entire team match will forfeit this deposit. Any team that withdraws from the tournament after the schedule is published shall forfeit their deposit and registration fees and a grievance will be filed against the entire team.

10.       A team forfeiting an entire team match during the Championships, without consent of the Tournament Committee, will be subject to a grievance being filed against the Captain by the State League Coordinator.

11.       All teams are expected to play all scheduled matches. Any team not complying will be subject to grievance procedures. In accordance with USTA League Tennis Regulations, any team forfeiting an entire team match for ANY REASON will result in all matches of that team previously played or to be played to be declared null and void. If all teams in contention for the Championship have already played the forfeiting team in good faith, the matches stand as played.

12.       All matches at the Championship will be the best of two sets and the Set Tiebreak shall be used at 6 – all in each set.  In lieu of the third set, a Match Tiebreak shall be played (the first to 10 winning by 2).  There will be a two minute set break at the end of each set with no coaching.  The Match Tiebreak shall be scored as 1 set for tiebreak procedures.

13.       Match winners shall be determined by the winner of most courts and shall receive 1 point for each match win.  In the event of a tie, the tie shall be broken by the first of the following procedures that does so:

            Individual Matches.  Winner of the most matches in the entire competition.

            Sets.   Loser of the fewest number of sets.

            Games.  Loser of the fewest number of games.

            Head to Head.  Winner of head-to-head match.

            A method to be determined by the Championships Committee.  Procedure to be announced prior to commencement of Championship competition.

14.       State Championship Dates: All dates and Locations are subject to change by the Tournament Committee

USTA Tri-Level League Tennis Championships:

August 28 – 30, 2009

Hopkinsville,  Kentucky

Championship entry deadline – August 17, 2009

J.  TRI-STATE CHAMPIONSHPS

1.  Tri-State Championships with Arkansas and Tennessee.  All dates and locations are subject to change by the Tournament Committee.  The winners from each division of the State Championship will advance to play winners from Arkansas and Tennessee.

USTA Tri-Level Tri-State Championships

October 2 – 4, 2009

Jackson, Tennessee

2009 KENTUCKY ADULT LEAGUE COMMITTEE

Richard Wimsatt, Chairperson - Hopkinsville

Jerry Groce, Past Chairperson - Ashland

Esther Hubbard – Purchase Area

Valarie DeSalvo - Louisville

Cleo Meaux - Louisville

Gerry Canter - Louisville

Jonathon Amlung - Louisville

Judy Anderson - Lexington

Russ Coffey - Lexington

Jill Smith - Lexington