What Do You Do With A "Same Gender" Doubles Draw???

Married or not, its still men's doubles.

The most recent news coming out of the USTA is that we must now allow "same gender" doubles in our tournaments.  That's all well and good and so politically correct that it is breathtaking.  After all, our goal is life is to always be politically correct isn't it???

With the advent of this new division there are all kinds of questions that come to mind.  Without sounding like an outright bigot, I thought we might want to explore some of these questions before we jump wholeheartedly into this fiasco.  Here are some of the questions:

*  If we are going to have same gender doubles why not call it what we have always called it and that is "men's doubles" and "women's doubles."

*  How are you going to tell same gender doubles entrants that they have to be gay or lesbian and be married to play in this division without being accused of sexual harassment or worse?  They can't be just dating or having sex together--they have to be married just like straight people.

*  Are we going to try to get "same sex married people" to play in the husband/wife divisions?  Can't you just see that happening?  No man/woman married couple is going to stand for having to play two men who are married to each other.

*  If you are going to have "same gender doubles" then you must specify "same gender women's doubles" and "same gender men's doubles" because you sure can't mix the two.

*  We are told not to ask for proof that the teams are married to each other since we don't ask heterosexual couples for proof of their marriage.  That's all well and good but I see some huge problems on the horizon...

*  What do you do with a transgendered person wanting to play same gender doubles with the women?  I guarantee you that two women, whether they be lesbians or straight, are not going to put up with a "former man" playing in their division.

*  There will be a shout of joy among the men when a transgendered person who was formerly a woman wants to play in the men's same gender doubles division.

Now that I have probably offended most of America, here is my suggestion for the whole issue:

Throw the term "same gender doubles" out the window and just play men's and women's doubles.  Noone cares whether you are straight or gay.  Just play the game...

Of course this comes with one special thought and warning:  what are you going to do with the transgendered and in which draw are you going to place them?

That's a question for another day but one that deserves our thought and consideration...

Tournament Get Rained Out? What Should Be Done With Your Entry Fee?

The infamous "vanishing entry fee" after a tournament is cancelled.

I just returned from attending the Texas Section Tournament Director/Referee workshop (which is required for all tournament directors and referees of tournaments where the TD has not attended) and we had an interesting discussion about a prevailing question around the state of Texas:  If a tournament gets cancelled because of weather, what happens to your entry fee?

There is nothing more frustrating to a player or a player's parents to be told after a tournament has been cancelled that the tournament will be keeping their entry fees and there will be no refunds.  To say the least, this is not good for customer relations and customer satisfaction...

The discussion today involved a bunch of TD's and a bunch of referees so it was enlightening to say the least.  Throughout the discussion it was pointed out that the TD/tournament shouldn't lose money but then neither should the entrants see their entry fee simply disappear into the TD's pockets.  Since there was obviously no agreement on what should be done, here are some factors to consider when deciding this issue:

*  How much did the TD pay for balls, awards, and officials.  Of course they can always use the balls and there is no expense for officials if the tournament is cancelled in advance of the start time.  Judging from some of the awards that are given there isn't a lot of money expended on awards these days.

*  How much did the TD pay for renting courts for different sites.  This is a non-issue if the tournament is cancelled because of inclement weather.

*  How much should the TD be reimbursed for his time.

*  What was the amount of the entry fee?  Fees vary greatly throughout the state of Texas.

Here were some of the suggested remedies:

*  The TD should refund 50% of the entry fee to the entrant.

*  The TD should let the entrant enter the next tournament for free.

*  There should be no refund at all.

*  There should be a percentage of the entry fee returned directly to the entrant.  If this happens it would be good if the percentage was the same throughout the state.

*  The entrant should get a 50% discount at the next tournament sponsored by the same TD.

To say there is FOOD FOR THOUGHT would be a vast understatement!  Be sure to take the poll on the upper right of this page so we can check out what people think.

Welcome To The World Of UIL Tennis

Fall is the time for team tennis in the UIL and things are running fast and furious these days...

Consider the dual match from yesterday.  In UIL dual matches the teams play a total of 19 matches (6 boys singles, 6 girls singles, 3 boys doubles, 3 girls doubles, and 1 mixed doubles) with the first team to reach 10 declared the winner.  Yesterday's match began at 3:45 p.m. and concluded at 9:45 p.m. last night!  Seems that the match began at a site with no lights so when it got dark and they were only at 6-1 in the match, it was time to move to a lighted site--and that takes time!  Congratulations to the official and the site director that made the best of a lengthy situation...

At another match a parent met the official at the gate when he arrived and asked, "Have you measured the nets yet?  I have a great eye and can tell you from here that courts 1 and 2 and 3.5 inches too high and courts 3 and 4 are 2.5 inches too low."  The official graciously listened to the concerned parent and then said he would measure the nets.

In hindsight, I would say make the parent a "junior official" and then encourage the parent to get there early for every match and measure every net in sight...

UIL district tournaments continue this week and then there are area tournaments next week so the excitement and good tennis should continue.

Cat Fight City (aka Women's League Tennis)

CAT FIGHTS are a common sight in the feline world.

Sadly, cat fights are all too common on a tennis court.

There are a lot of valuable life experiences that we all have and we should try to learn as much from them as possible but there's one life experience everyone (especially tennis officials) should have before they die--and that is a WOMEN'S LEAGUE TENNIS MATCH!

Every Thursday morning in Dallas,  every court in town is booked for women's tennis and its quite a sight to see!  Arguments about everything under the sun abound on every hand so its no surprise that any experienced officials avoids women's league matches like the plague.  You can stand nearly anywhere in a tennis center and hear the arguments about the score, line calls, and whatever else they can think up.

I'm sure I will catch some heat for publishing this but its time for the women's leagues to clean up their act and quit fussing and feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys...