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JTT Summer State Rules & Regulations

2016 Mississippi Jr Team Tennis Regulations

Sectional and National Highlights Included

National Rule 1.04E(4) Team Coaches/Managers

Each team captain registered in Tennislink must have completed the USTA Jr Team Tennis Background Check and safeplay requirements located on www.usta.com/safeplay

Player Participation

National Rule 2.01 G (5a) More Than One Team

Players may play on more than one team in the same local league in our state, as long as they are in different age divisions.  For example, a player can play on a 14 and under team and an 18 and under team.  That player can only play on one of those teams though if advancing to ANY championship.  A player may play in the same age division in SEPARATE local leagues, but must choose only one team to play with at the state tournament.

National Rule 2.01 G (5b) More Than One Match

One boy and one girl can play twice in a team match.  (Most leagues mandate that the 2nd match be Mixed Doubles locally, but that is up to the local league.)

At the championship level, one boy and one girl may play twice in each team match, but the second match they play must be Mixed Doubles.

(i.e. Sally may play Girls Singles OR Girls Doubles, but her “rollover match” must be MXD)

National Rule 2.01 B  Team Composition

Teams must have at least 3 boys and 3 girls on the original roster to be eligible for advancement.  Teams cannot sign up for State if they do not have at least 6 players on the original roster  IF teams have 6 players on the original roster but all of the players can’t come to State, that team may THEN use the substitution rule, but must have 6 players committed to sign up for State.

National Rule 2.01 G (6) Coaching

In our state and section, coaching is allowed by one person during a match (whomever is designated the coach or captain for that match, although that may be a different person each match, it doesn’t have to be the captain).  Coaching is only allowed during changeovers.  It is not allowed during tiebreaks, after the first game of a set, or by hand signals during play. Local leagues should put coaching rules/guidelines into their local rules and clarify what is and what is not allowed.

National Rule 2.03 A Eligibility for Progression

In order to advance to the summer championship in 2016, a player must have played in TWO separate team matches with the team they are advancing with, and NO defaults can count towards this total.

***If a 10 and Under team is the ONLY team registered locally, they may advance straight to State without local play, so they won’t have to “play up” in another age division in order to qualify.  10 and Under teams that do have another team to play against locally must get the 2 local matches.***

***JTT ADVANCED DIVISION ELIGIBILITY FOR PROGRESSION***

If a team that has declared that they want to play in the “Advanced” division, those teams may come straight to State without having to qualify locally, assuming there are no other local teams signed up to play Advanced in their division.  If more than one Advanced team is signed up locally in a particular division, then those teams will play one another locally.

Advanced teams need to have team numbers declared and created LOCALLY by July 1 to see if there are other teams locally that the teams would have to “play off” against.

National Rule 2.03B  Substitutions

After local play is complete and you are advancing to state or sectionals, you can only substitute one player that wasn’t on your local roster.  You can only substitute one player if you drop below the minimum required to participate (6), so if you have 3 boys and girls from the original roster that are planning on advancing with your team, then you cannot add a player from another team.

Substitutes or players added (in INT) have to have qualified by playing 2 matches with their team

State Rule: Advanced vs Intermediate

If a team uses an advanced player locally in the INT league, that team CANNOT drop that player and come to State in Intermediate (since the advanced player would’ve helped them win locally).  Once you use an advanced player locally, even if your team is playing in the Intermediate Division locally, your team can only come to State in the Advanced Division.

Teams Considered Advanced

3.5 or above players should be considered advanced, and 1 advanced player on a team makes that entire team “Advanced.” Coaches are required to use their judgment on players’ levels as well as which division (ADV or INT) they enter their team in.  IF a player has an official Adult League rating of 3.5 or higher and is signed up on an adult league team at those levels, those players will be considered advanced and must only participate on Advanced level JTT teams.

Also, players that have a Sectional standing of 1-300 in the 12’s, 14’s 16’s, or 18’s as of July 31, 2015 must play Advanced no matter what JTT age division they are in.

Players that have a top 100 Sectional standing in the 10&U division must play JTT 10U Advanced, but may play JTT 12U, 14U, or 18U Intermediate.

State Rule: Age Eligibility

All JTT local seasons that will have teams advance to the summer championship level must be “Age Eligible” leagues.  Players must remain age eligible through August 31. (i.e. If Jim turns 13 on August 20, he will have to play 14 and under locally, EVEN if he is still 12 during the local league and the state championships).

Team Roster Makeup/ Out of Area Participation (**New State Rule)

At least 50% of a local JTT roster must be made up of players that list their home address on their USTA membership as being from within that local league’s area.  It is up to the captain of the team to check the roster and ensure that their team complies with the rule. 

FYI for State Tournament (Rules You Need to Know)

 

  1. Scoring:  Local format and scoring will be determined by the local league, and they may choose what they want.  In order to advance, the teams must be coed with 3 boys and 3 girls minimum.  There is no maximum number of players per team.

- The scoring format at the state tournament will be the best of 3 short sets (a set to 4 w/ a regular tiebreak at 3 games all) with a match tiebreak (tiebreak to 10) played in lieu of a 3rd set.

(We must play a best of 3 set format at state in order for players to receive ranking points.)

     

       2. The Pink Slip Rule:  You may play one boy and one girl twice per team match at a championship, but their second match played must be mixed doubles.  Also, you have to rotate which players you are playing twice each match.  For example, player A can’t play twice in consecutive matches or for the second time until player B and player C have played twice. 

Once your team advanced from its flight to a playoff match, you can play whomever you want twice in the match (the pink slip starts over once round robin play ends)

(Each player who has played in the tournament must play twice before you can start the rotation over)

 

       3.  **Levels:  If a player has a sectional standing of 1-300 in any age division (1-100 in the 10’s) on July 31 2015, he or she has to play advanced in ANY AGE DIVISION in the state, sectional, and national tournaments.  That player and team with advanced players MAY play in intermediate locally, but once they come to state, the team with that player has to play in the Advanced Division.

Please check your rosters before the local captains meeting so you will know if you have any advanced players as of last July 31.  If you end up unknowingly playing an Advanced player locally, your team will have to play Advanced at State.

(***If you have an advanced standing in 12’s, 14’s 16’s, or 18’s, you cannot play Intermediate even if you are playing UP a division.  If you have a 10’s advanced standing, you have to play 10’s Advanced, but may play 12’s, 14’s, or 18’s Intermediate)

 

      4.  Age Eligibility:  In order to play locally OR advance to the championship level, players will have to remain age eligible for that division through August 31.

 

       5.  Advancement: The following table will determine how many teams from each local league will advance to the state tournament on JULY 22-24 in JACKSON, MS.

                  10’s, 12’s, and 14’s table below

  • 1-3 teams in a division (1 team advances)
  • 4-6 teams in a division (2 teams advance)
  • 7-9 teams in a division (3 teams advance)
  • 10-12 teams in a division (4 teams advance)
  • There is always a possibility that wildcards will be invited in addition to the qualifying teams.

18&Under Table

  • 1-4 teams in a division (1 team advances)
  • 5-8 teams in a division (2 teams advance)
  • 9-12 teams in a division (3 teams advance)
  • 13-16 teams in a division (4 teams advance)

 

       6.  Scoring: Winners at state AND in local play will be determined by the following:

            1) The winner of the most games will be the winner of a match and a flight

            2)  If the total games won is tied, the following will be the tiebreaker:

           a) If two teams are tied, head to head results will determine the winner.

           b) If more than two teams are tied, the team with the most individual matches

               won will win, followed by the least amount of sets lost, and then games lost.

 

       7.  Ranking Points:  Players playing in the advanced division at the State Tournament will receive State Level 3 ranking points and Southern Level 4 points.

Players playing in the Intermediate Division at State will receive State Level 4 points and Southern Level 5 points.

-Players will earn points per round and will be awarded the same amount of points for each individual win.  For more information on the points system, visit www.mstennis.com

-Only players playing singles or doubles will receive points, MXD doubles will not receive individual ranking points.

 

      8.  10 and Under JTT Division:

The 10’s will play on a 60’ court with an orange low-compression ball.  10 and under players must use a racquet that is 25” or less.

 -Format

- The 10 and under format will be boys and girls singles, boys and girls doubles and mixed doubles.  The scoring will be short sets to 4 with a 10 point tiebreak in lieu of a 3rd set. (Regular Ad Scoring)

-Progression

10 and under teams will be able to advance to State and Sectional Championships in the Intermediate and Advanced divisions in 2015 and players must play in 2 local matches.  If 10&U divisions have only 1 team registered locally, that team may advance directly to State and get their “local” play at State.        

 

       9.  12 and Under INTERMEDIATE Division (NEW in 2016!!!)

The 12 and Under Intermediate Division will play with a green-dot ball starting in 2016.

 

2016 Mississippi Jr Team Tennis Regulations (pdf.)

Adult Programs

The 2024 Mississippi Rock & Roll Wheelchair Tournament, a Level 3 USTA Sanctioned Tournament, is set to take place April 26-28!