2005 USA League Tennis Anniversary Celebration
Yes folks, 2005 is the 25th Anniversary of USA League Tennis! There may be a few of you out there who remember playing the early days of league tennis in Wyoming. We would like to have a few special activities and fun at the Adult League Playoffs this summer in Laramie. If any of you have any suggestions for the player party, photos from the old days, memories from Wyoming Sectional and National championship teams, or would like to honor long-term participants, please contact me at 307-745-3410 (evenings please) or juljulief@aol.com.
2.5 Incentives
ITA is offering some outstanding financial incentives to non-USPTA instructors to recruit beginning players (2.5) to USA League Tennis! You, your community tennis association, or other group can earn up to $200 for each new 2.5 team or $5 for every new 2.5 player. More information is available on the WYOTA website. What a great way to recruit new players, make new friends, and have a lot of fun!!!
Super Seniors
And for those of you who have come of age in Wyoming tennis, we will offer a Super Seniors league (60 ) this year. The format is similar to Senior leagues - three doubles matches. However, we will offer a combined format - levels of 6.0, 7.0, and 8.0. The NTRP difference between members of an individual doubles pair may not exceed 1.0. Our playoff will be July 30 and 31 in Casper.
USA Mixed Doubles News
For you mixed doubles maniacs, the Wyoming District USA Mixed Doubles championship (combined format 6.0, 7.0, 8.0) will be in Cheyenne this year - June 11-12. Winners qualify for sectional championships July 7-10 in Boulder. Sectional winners advance to the Western Regional championships in Waikola, Hawaii, November 18-20. Get your team together and start practicing now!! This could be your chance to play tennis in Hawaii!! Also, to make it easier to fill out teams, there has been an ITA by-law change for mixed doubles only - a player may play on more than one team at different NTRP levels in the same league season.
ITA Fall Mixed
This will also now be a combined format - only at 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 levels! According to other districts, this format is a lot of fun!!
DNTRP News
Players will still be able to self-rate in 2005. However, when players without an NTRP rating on the computer go to register on TennisLink, they will be prompted to answer some questions about their tennis history. Individuals who have had a national or sectional ranking, played college tennis, have taught tennis, or played professional tennis will be asked to fill out a player history form. Based upon national criteria, these elite players will be assigned an NTRP rating. The reason for this is to prevent someone like Andre Agassi from registering on a men’s 3.5 team. I do not anticipate that this will affect many players in Wyoming at all. Captains should help self-rated players through the registration process and we will include some player history forms in Captains packets.
With new formats and more opportunities for play, 2005 promises to be a great year for USA League Tennis! Start getting your teams together now, and if you need help finding some players, we’ll do our best to help you out. Most importantly, bring a friend to the courts so they can join in the fun too!!!