Junior Ranking Requirements

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS
Only players who (1) have established a legal residency in Mississippi, (2) hold a current USTA membership assigned to Mississippi, (3) meet the U. S. citizenship or Domicile residency requirements and (4) age eligibility requirements are eligible to participate in Mississippi Closed tournaments and/or receive a ranking in Mississippi.

Players who meet any one of the following criteria can register their intent to participate in closed tournaments and/or receive a ranking in Mississippi.

• Juniors going to school/college outside Mississippi
• Juniors who spend time with joint custody parents
• Players who live in more than one location during the year
• Family members of the military.

The intent must be registered in writing to USTA Mississippi before the first closed tournament is held. In the event no request is made, it is assumed that the player will compete and/or be eligible for a ranking in the district that best describes their legal residence. The intent is that no player should be allowed to participate in closed tournaments or be ranked in more than one state during any single ranking year.

AGE ELIGIBILITY
The “month of birth age eligibility rule" applies to all junior players who participate in sanctioned tournaments. Junior players may continue to play in the 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18 age divisions until the month in which they turn 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, or 19, respectively. The starting date of a tournament should be used to determine eligibility when a tournament begins in one month and ends in the next.

MINIMUM RANKING REQUIREMENTS
Play a minimum of three (3) sanctioned tournaments and maximum of 6 sanctioned tournaments, one of which must be a Mississippi state championship, the other tournaments can be Mississippi District Tournaments, Section events, Sectional Championships, National Championships, National Team and Zonal Events, Super National Events and earn a minimum of 50 points in an age division.

SINGLES STANDINGS AND RANKING REGULATIONS
(For 10, 12, 14, 16 and 18’s. 8 year-olds will not receive a ranking, but will be listed alphabetically.)

• The published Standing Lists will be “combined”. This means that the singles play and doubles play will be combined using 100% of the singles points and 15% of the doubles points.
• Currently, 6 of the best singles tournaments and 6 of the best doubles tournaments count toward a standing. A player must accrue a minimum of 10 points in an age division in order to be included in the MTA standing list for that age group. Results for an older age division count towards the lower division in Singles and Doubles, if age eligible. However, a player may not play in more than 1 age division in the same tournament.
• A player’s final ranking will be based on the point values earned in his/her best 6 singles tournaments and best 6 doubles tournaments during the year. A player must have earned a minimum of 50 points in an age division in order to earn a MTA final ranking. Only results from the age division being ranked will be included; not the points earned from playing up in a higher division.
• Bonus points only apply to singles. Bonus points are based on the opponent’s standing in the previous month and are attached to the tournament in which they are earned. To be included, the tournament must be among the player’s best six (6) during the computation period.
• Byes do not count as wins until he/she wins a subsequent round.
• Withdrawals, defaults and walkovers will count as wins for the advancing player and earn round points, but no bonus points. If a player advances in the first round due to a default and then loses the next match, he/she will receive points for the first round.

EVENT LEVELS
The Mississippi Tennis Association Junior Tennis Council and the Ranking Committee will determine the appropriate levels of the events considered for MTA junior standings and rankings each year. Following are the event levels for 2014:

• Level 1: MS Cabot Lodge JR Qualifying Closed State Championship, Ridgeland
• Level 2: Aquafina MS Open Junior State Championship, Ridgeland, Southern Closed Championships, Designated tournaments, USTA Level 1 tournaments, Southern Junior Cup
• Level 3: All MS State Junior Championships, all STA Junior Level 3 tournaments USTA Level 2 and 3 Tournaments, Southern Level 2 and 3 tournaments.
• Level 4: All other MTA junior tournaments, section junior tournaments, except for Novice.
• Level 5: All Mississippi junior novice sanctioned tournaments

NOVICE RANKING REGULATIONS
Novice rankings will be computed on the Points Per Round System

• All novice and Grand Prix tournaments will be Level 5 events. (See Point Charts .pdf)
• To play in a 12-18 division novice tournament a Player must not have received a 1-40 Junior Competition Standing list rank in the month prior to entering the tournament. In the 12-18 age division, 1-40 standings list players may not play outside their age division.
• To play in a 10’s age division novice tournament a player must not have received a 1-20 Junior Competition Standing list rank in the month prior to entering the tournament.  In the 10’s age division, 1-20 standings list players may not play outside their age division. (No playing up a division)
• Green Dot non-compression tennis balls will be used in all 12 and under novice tournaments.
• Bonus points will not be awarded.
• There are no tie-break procedures for a year-end ranking.
• These regulations apply to both doubles and singles.
• Novice tournaments do not count toward a junior competition ranking.
• Year-end rankings will be calculated on a player’s best two (2) tournament results.
• Players must earn a minimum of two (2) ranking points during the calendar year for a final ranking.

The USTA Points Per Round information is at www.usta.com.

The USTA Southern Section Points Per Round information is at www.southern.usta.com.

Find complete information for all MTA sanctioned tournaments.

SPECIAL INTEREST TO JUNIORS

• Junior Scheduling Guidelines are published in 2017 Friend at Court (.pdf) and can be purchased at the MTA office.
• Juniors playing in the 10’s, 12’s, and 14’s divisions should be allowed if possible a minimum of twelve (12) hours from the end of their last match on a given day until the beginning of their first match on the following day. This is recommended for all ages and divisions but is not mandatory for referees and tournament directors.
• Players should never be required to begin matches before 7 a.m. or later than 10 p.m. In the 10’s, 12’s and 14’s divisions no match should start nor should a suspended match be resumed after 8 p.m. (whenever possible).

RANKINGS AND STANDINGS

• Junior Standings Lists will be updated least monthly.
• These lists will be based on the past twelve (12) months tournament play, and will consist of the players’ best 6 results.
• The standing lists should be checked against the player’s personal record and the MTA notified in writing of any errors or omissions.
• Corrections may not be reflected until the next update of standings.
• The year-end Final Rankings will be published when all results are available for the tournament year, and based on the results from January 1 through December 31. The lists will include only results in the age group in which the points were earned. The Final Rankings will be based on the six (6) best tournament results during the year and will include anyone who was age eligible at any time during the year and who met the required ranking requirements.
• There will be no appeal to rankings and standings except in the event of an error on the player record.