Philadelphia Area Junior Team Tennis League Rules
Spring 2016
1. Dates, Time, Location
a. Matches will take place on Saturday afternoons
b. Match times are set at 1pm for all Saturday matches, unless otherwise requested
for home matches. Requested home match times cannot start later than 3pm or
earlier than 12pm. Requests must come in before schedule is made.
c. Coach/Captain’s are responsible for securing 2 courts for their match for 2 hours.
d. Home teams are responsible for providing new balls for the match. Each match
should require 2 NEW cans of balls.
e. Matches should be played at their scheduled time unless weather interferes, no
matter how many players a team has. If a team doesn’t have enough players to
play the match, the coach/captain can request from their opposing coach/captain
to reschedule the match for another time. However, both coach/captains must
agree. If the opposing captain says they cannot do this, then the match goes on as
scheduled with the remaining players.
i. Example: In an 18u Intermediate Match, John is Team A’s Coach, and
Joe is Team B’s coach. John only has 2 boys and 2 girls to play against
Team B, who has 3 boys and 3 girls to play, so he requests to reschedule
the match. Joe’s players are not available at any other time, and cannot
due so. Therefore, Team A plays Team B with 2 boys and 2 girls,
defaulting 1 court (see 3e)
2. Formats
a. All divisions will have 1 match per week.
b. It is up to the home team to determine the order of play, although they are
encouraged to work with the away team to maximize the number of matches that
go out.
c. Each 12u, 14u, and 18 and under match consists of one 8-game Pro Set (NO-AD
scoring) each of male singles, female singles, male doubles, female doubles, and
mixed doubles. It is suggested that you put the two doubles matches on two
courts first, and then singles, and then mixed doubles. A 12-point tiebreaker is to
be played at 7-7. In the mixed doubles, the Deuce Point is served Gender to
Gender.
d. Each 10 and under match consists of best 2 out of 3 4-game short set each of
Boys Singles, Girls Singles, Boys Doubles, and Girls Doubles and two Mixed
Doubles. These matches will use no-ad scoring with just a regular game played at
3-3. A tiebreaker will also be played in lieu of a 3rd set.
3. Scoring, Standings, and Players
a. The team that wins the most games in 18, 14, 12 and 10 and under wins the
match.
b. If the score is tied at the end, then the result is a tie.
c. Standings are based on games won. Below are tie-breaker scenarios if teams are
tied in games won:
i. Best Match win-loss record
ii. Most individual matches won
iii. Least games lost
d. In one team matches, a player may play in no more than 2 individual matches.
e. In all divisions, if a team only has 1 players of a certain gender and a full amount
(3-4) of the other gender, then that team MUST default that gender’s doubles
match.
f. Every player should be registered on TennisLink in order to play. If a player is
not registered on TennisLink, the player’s coach has until the Wednesday after
the match happens at 11:59pm to register the player. If that time has passed and
the player has still not registered, the opposing coach should put the score for the
player as a defaulted loss.
g. League winners in the Intermediate and Advanced Divisions win the right to
advance to the Philadelphia District Championships. Please consult USTA
Middle States for exact dates and locations. To play in these, each team must
pay a team registration fee and players participating must play in at least 2 team
matches. None of these can be defaulted wins. Coaches must also complete an
online course.
h. Home teams are responsible for reporting scores through TennisLink, although
away teams also have this ability to do so if they choose.
i. All matches scores MUST be entered by the Friday at 11:59pm after the match
has been scheduled to enter the score. Otherwise, the score will be entered as a
double default by the league coordinator. The only exceptions would be:
i. If a match has not been played due to weather or other circumstances.
However, it’s one of the coaches responsibility to notify the league
coordinator that the match has been rescheduled. Otherwise, it will be a
double-default.
ii. If the home team has the scorecard and the away team does not have the
scores or opposing players, then the away team must let the league
manager know. In this case, it will be a defaulted match for the away
team.
j. Each coach/captain should bring a scorecard for the match.
4. Communication and Weather
a. In the event of inclement weather, the home team coach/captain is responsible for
making the decision on a match. Matches due to weather should be called no
EARLIER than 3 hours beforehand. He or she can:
i. Book indoor courts to play the match at a nearby club. Note: Both teams
must agree to play the match indoors, and if so, cover the cost of the
courts. Either team can reschedule instead if they don’t want to deal with
the cost.
ii. Reschedule the match for another day and time (Sunday afternoons
might work well for rescheduled matches). Matches must be made up by
the end of June.
iii. Note: If the home team already plays their matches on indoor courts,
away teams are not responsible to share the cost of courts.
b. Coach/Captains should communicate with their opposing coach/captain at least
48 hours before the match to coordinate details such as directions, number of
players, etc.
c. Home coaches should also let Away coaches know of any special circumstances
about their home court. This could include dress codes at certain clubs in the
area.
5. Player Eligibility
a. Players on the list located at this link will be ineligible for INTERMEDIATE
divisions: For girls: http://www.phillyteamtennis.org/girls2016.pdf, For boys:
http://www.phillyteamtennis.org/boys2016.pdf. These players are ineligible
because of the ranking requirements for USTA Junior Team Tennis.
b. 18 year old players that play on USTA Adult League teams with a rating of 3.5
or higher MUST play on 18 and under Advanced teams.
c. High school players that advance to PIAA District AAA Quarterfinals or the
PIAA District AA Semifinals in the fall of 2014 (Girls) or the spring of 2015
(Boys) in either singles or doubles MUST player in the Advanced division. This
does not apply to PIAA Team Championships.
d. Players can play on two different teams in different divisions and/or flights, but a
maximum of 5 players may be shared between teams. For example if Club A has
an 18 and under Intermediate team and an 18 and under Advanced team team,
then no more than 5 players may be shared between these teams. Players are
NOT eligible to play on teams in the same division.
e. All teams must have at least 2 boys and 2 girls registered by the season’s team
registration deadline. The only exception to this are those that are being
penalized due to previous seasons default percentages.
6. Coaching Responsibilities
a. Coaching can be done at every changeover by assigned coaches only, and should
be no longer than 60 seconds. No other coaching may be done during the match.
b. Only the assigned coach there may coach during the match. This person may
change hands mid-match, but only one person should be communicating to their
opposing coach.
c. Home coaches are in charge of setting the order of play for individual matches.
They are encouraged to work with opposing coaches to determine the order of
play, sometimes even setting it and communicating it a couple days before a
match.
d. Coaches are in charge of their team and their team number. Players can always
be moved from team to team. However, if a player registers and then it turns out
that the player is not able to play after the fact, refunds from the league and
organization will NOT be granted.
e. The person at the match representing your team is in charge of your team and the
lineup. If last minutes changes need to be made, it is up to this person to make
the decision.
f. Coaches are to stand and watch outside of the court of play during a match. The
only exception would be if it’s not possible to view the match in attempts to
coach at changeovers OR if a match needs help with scoring or calling lines.
This may only be done with the approval of the other coach or person in charge
of that team.
7. Player/Parent Guidelines and Responsibilities
a. Parents should do all viewing outside the court of play, preferably outside the
fence. No parents are permitted to sit on benches or seats on the court or inside a
fenced-in area. The only exception would be with help of scoring in matches
with beginner players.
b. Cheering is acceptable in between points. Please do not cheer during points and
do so in a positive manner.
c. Players may sit on court, but may be requested to be removed if they cause a
distraction for matches.
8. OTHER
a. A Coaches and/or clubs total number of teams will be assessed for eligibility for
their next Spring or Fall season based on a percentage of their total defaulted
individual matches divided by total individual matches. Coaches should keep
these in mind when registering teams and players:
i. If they have a 17% or more default percentage, they must have 3 boys
and 3 girls registered by the team registration deadline (4 total players if
single-gender divisions).
ii. If they have a 25% or more default, they must have 4 boys and 4 girls
registered by the team registration deadline (5 total players if singlegender divisions).
iii. If they have a 33% or more default percentage (1 of every 3 individual
matches), they can only put 1 team in the next season they participate
AND must have 4 boys and 4 girls (5total players if single-gender
divisions) registered by the team registration deadline.
iv. Please note that these will not apply to the winter season as that season
uses different scoring formats and eligibility.
v. Coaches/Clubs that drop teams following the first week of the season
will be assessed defaulted matches for the remainder of that team’s
schedule.
b. Teams that won divisions this championship year already (seasons- Fall and
Winter) must play UP a division or have no more than 5 players from that team
be together on that current division.
c. All other guidelines will be put forth in the 2015 USTA Jr. Team Tennis
Regulations. Each team should get a regulations book. If there are any other
issues, do not hesitate to contact your Division Coordinator. He or she and the
Area League Coordinator will be the final decision maker on all other issues.