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The New Year is bringing new changes to the USTA junior competitive structure.

Beginning in January of 2021, the USTA is implementing a simplified nationwide structure in hopes of creating a standardized system and greater consistency for players, parents, coaches, tournament directors and officials.

The new structure will utilize seven levels of events, ranging from Level 7 (intermediate) to Level 1 (national championships), and a universal ranking system that will distribute points consistently across the country. Instead of 17 sectional structures, the entire country will be operating on the same level structure for points.

The nationwide system will provide consistent tournament levels and standardized tournament operations for all events - regardless of location. The old system was largely dependent upon the region. In the new system, players can compete across sections more easily.

The impetus behind the changes stemmed from USTA junior tournaments witnessing a decrease in participation and player retention over the last decade, with events losing more than 5,000 players in 2018 alone. USTA evaluated the youth competitive pathway, looking at various data and research, including a study led by the University of Central Florida, to find ways to reserve the trend and keep kids participating.

Level 7 USTA tournaments will be one-day events that feature a variety of non-elimination formats and shortened scoring. They will provide more play opportunities and flexible scheduling with less time commitment.

“There were studies showing a lot of kids were quitting tennis saying it was not fun because the tournament structure was so complicated,” said Maria Cercone, the Director of Junior Tennis & Player Development at USTA Southern. “These changes are trying to simplify the system and not have as much confusion. I think the open borders is great, especially for our section because some states are closer to other sections than our section.”

At least monthly, the USTA will publish National Standings Lists (NSLs) using the same Best of 6 singles and Best of 6 doubles results system, with 15 percent of a player’s double results counting toward a player’s standing. The lists will be filtered by section or district when they are used for selection into closed tournaments and team competitions.

There will be no more endorsement requirements for Nationals, and sections will no longer impose minimum requirements to appear on a section’s endorsement list. Sections will continue to get a minimum quota number of players into USTA National Championships, but these lists will all have the same criteria and be published on a monthly basis so players better understand their chances of making nationals.

The criteria provides an incentive for players to compete in-section: In the Boys and Girls 18, 16 and 14 divisions, no more than three singles and three doubles results can be from tournaments sanctioned by any entity other than the sectional association. For Boys and Girls 12s, it’s no more than two singles and two doubles results.

In advance of the changes, USTA featured Shadow Rankings for 2020 to better inform players about the impending changes. The Shadow Rankings were an unofficial National Standing List (NSL) based on 2020 results using the 2021 ranking tables. But because the coronavirus pandemic upended the tournament schedule, there was limited data to use for many players.

Rankings for the 10-and-under age groups have been eliminated in the new structure.

“The most we have heard from people is about the shadow rankings. That is a big change, especially with how Covid has impacted that so far,” Cercone said. “But once we start playing the first tournaments in January is when we will really know how everything is going to play out. Hopefully all these changes turn out to be a good thing.”

To find out more about the changes, visit the USTA site. To find specific tournament information, go directly to the USTA tournament search page.

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About Rhiannon Potkey

Rhiannon Potkey is a veteran sportswriter with more than two decades of experience in journalism. Potkey has covered many sports at many levels and has a passion for finding great stories. Potkey has covered the U.S. Open, junior sectional and national events, college conference championships and Davis Cup matches. Potkey is currently Content Strategist for Tennis Recruiting. You can reach Rhiannon by email at [email protected].