USTA Junior Tennis--Maybe Adoption Is An Option...

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Just finished a day working the 16 year old boys in a USTA tournament--and what a day it was!  Only gave one code for racket abuse but had to caution a Dad about coaching and then the other official had to remove the Dad from the center for screaming at his son after the match was over.  Overall, a good day though.

I was very impressed with the good behavior of the boys.  They were all very respectful and very competitive at the same time.  Of course with 16 year olds there is an excess of testosterone everywhere.

I did find it interesting that the following sign was posted in the hallway:

ONE 15 YEAR OLD MALE AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

We have a 15 year old male human that is available for immediate adoption.  Today would be best but we could wait until tomorrow.  Here are his statistics:

*  Eats constantly and drinks a gallon of milk a day.

*  Has an allergy to bath water.

*  Has all his shots and has been wormed.

*  Bites but not often.

*  Has an allergic reaction to any advice given by his Father.

*  Has very large feet. 

*  Tends to pass gas in public on a regular basis. 

*  Has good clean teeth. 

*  Plays well with others as long as he is winning. 

*  Will download porn if not watched carefully. 

If interested, please contact the parents at 000-0000.  We would love to give him to a good home (and the sooner, the better.)

Chair Training Begins August 26th

Cameron Nash of Dallas on his first day of training.

For those who are interested, chair training will begin next Tuesday (August 26) at 4:00 p.m. at Highland Park High School.  The training program is offered to any certified official who would like to be trained in doing chair work.  The only requirement is that the official be a certified official.

The training will be conducted during live match play and will feature chair work the entire time.  There will be an instructor nearby for all matches.

Here is the training schedule:

August 26        4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
September 9    4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
September 20  9:00 a.m.       Highland Park HS
September 23  4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
September 30  4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
October 3        4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
October 8        8:30 a.m.       Highland Park HS
October 9        4:00 p.m.       Highland Park HS
November 7     TBD             SMU Women's collegiate tournament
November 8     TBD             SMU Women's collegiate tournament
November 9     TBD             SMU Women's collegiate tournament

If you are interested, please contact Randy McDonald at 214 796 7402 or rmtennis@yahoo.com

When You Gotta Go, You Gotta Go!

This little tennis story is hard to believe but it comes first hand from a friend of mine who had this happen to him recently on a court at the Highpoint Tennis Center in Plano, Texas...

Seems that my friend (who is 55) was playing doubles with three even older guys.  He was preparing to serve and noticed there was a puddle of water up at the net right in front of his doubles partner.

He told him "the court has a wet place so watch out."  The older gentleman replied, "It was me.  I had to go."

Such is tennis life in the fast lane...

(Don't be offended--just enjoy the humor of the moment.)

Dictator or "Friend at Court". You Decide What You Will Be...

Quote from the 2014 Friend at Court:

Q.  What is a tennis official?

A.  A person who helps ensure that any given tennis match is conducted under the fairest possible conditions.  So, ideally, the official is a "friend at court," helpful to the players and the spectators.

Quite an interesting quote and perhaps one that should be given to some of our USTA referees around the country.  Now that the summer season is in full swing, we hear constant reports of bad (and good) referees all over everywhere.  Not that all reports are bad or untrue, but the sad fact exists that we have some referees who have trouble distinguishing between being a "friend at court" and being an inflexible referee who wreaks havoc of players and spectators alike.

Consider the following examples from around Texas:

*  A well known lady referee in Texas has the nickname "feminazi" among players and spectators for her aggressive and dominant officiating style.

*  A referee chased a dad into the parking lot to chastise him for disobeying rules.  When asked about his behavior, the referee said, "I had to show him who was boss."

*  In a ZAT tournament the parents of both players were sitting next to the sideline fence watching the match.  Noone was coaching or causing any problems but the referee strutted up and said, "You have to move.  There is a three foot rule regarding parents sitting next to a fence."

*  In a women's doubles match both teams were putting their equipment and supplies down in a shaded patio that adjoined their court and had open and free access from the court.  Both teams agreed to do so and were having a great match.  The referee quickly came to court and said they could not use the shaded area and made all four of them sit out on the court in the sun with no shade available.  He told the players that there was a rule forbidding what they were doing.

These are just a few of the accounts that come from tournaments every week--and its time for some of our referee to reign in their behavior.  It is beyond this writer to understand why a tournament director would hire a referee that shows such utter disregard for players and spectators alike.  The saddest thing to witness is a referee who is constantly abusive and rude to everyone in the tournament.  Some simply seem to labor under the need to assert their authority and penalize anyone who questions them.

What is the solution?  More training?  If that were so, some of the greatest offenders should have been cured years ago.  More pay?  Money won't change a thing.  Having lunch provided?  Not hardly.  Most of these referees already have their lunch provided by the tournament director.

Basically the best solution would be for the tournaments not to hire them...  We (and the tournament directors) know who the worst referees are and its time to change it--for the betterment of the game and the players and spectators.

Here are some helpful hints for a referee with a dictator complex:

*  Remember you are there to facilitate fair play and help the players and spectators have an enjoyable experience.
*  You aren't king (or queen) of anything so don't act that way.
*  Remember that you aren't always right.
*  The people  you deal with are fellow humans and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
*  Don't run around just looking for something or someone to code for something real or imagined.
*  Don't make up rules to suit your own agenda.  Lots of people have a Friend at Court and can check your accuracy and integrity.
*  Just be nice.

Rule Changes For 2015

Just read this article this morning:

DI Tennis Committee recommends changes to reduce length of matches

The Division I Men’s and Women’s Tennis Committee, in collaboration with the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and the United States Tennis Association, is recommending several changes to reduce the length of championship matches.

The ITA is also adopting these format changes for its regular-season matches. All recommendations made by the committee must be approved by the Division I Championships/Sports Management Cabinet, which is scheduled to meet Sept. 9.

David Benjamin, the executive director of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, was pleased that a collaborative approach was taken with the goal of enhancing the sport.

“The ITA has worked closely with the NCAA tennis committee and the USTA on this most important issue,” Benjamin said. “We look forward to continuing to work together to promote and grow the sport of college tennis.”

In the team championships, three doubles matches will be played with no-ad scoring, with each match consisting of one set to six games. A tie-break will be played at 6-all.

Following a 10-minute intermission, six singles matches will be played with no-ad scoring, with each match consisting of a best two-out-of-three with tiebreakers at 6-all. In addition, there will be no warm-up with an opponent once the players have been called to the court for the start of the match.

As in the past, the matches will be played “clinch/clinch” -- when the doubles point is clinched, the remaining doubles match is stopped. And in singles, once the team match has been clinched, any remaining singles matches will be stopped.

For the individual singles and doubles championships, all matches will be played utilizing no-ad scoring. In doubles, matches will consist of the best two-out-of-three sets, with a match tiebreak in lieu of the third set.

To read the article in its entirety please go to:

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=508348