Rankings

2008 Alabama Junior Ranking Requirements

The USTA Alabama is please to announce the elevation of  2 more of our Junior tournaments to Southern Level 3 events for Alabama in 2008. They are the Spring Clay-court Championship in Huntsville and the Spring Hard-court Open held in Birmingham. We now have Southern level 3 events held in 4 Alabama cities across the state. We are excited as this will give our juniors the ability to reduce travel costs and to afford them more opportunities without having to travel as much out of state. It is extremely important that all our top players support these events as each event is judged each year on its level of players participating and we want to make sure we continue to have these level events in the future. The Alabama Junior Competition Committee will continue to evaluate annually the appropriate levels of events considered for Alabama Junior Standings and Rankings. It will also do everything it can to try and spread these appropriate level events throughout the state. Any event at any level for 2008 is not guaranteed to be so in the next year. All players must have a current USTA membership to be eligible for rankings. New this year we are including in the tournament name, the level event that it is approved to be. New for 2008 will be the combined rankings/standings in which Doubles results of your 8 best events will be added to your singles results at a percentage of 15% of the doubles points earned. All level 1-3 events must utilize a Full Feed-in format unless draw size is less than 6, then round robins or full feed in thru the semis should be used. Level 4 events are encouraged to use Full feed-in but alternative USTA approved draw types are authorized. Level 5 our Challenger or Novice events may use 4 game, 6 game or 8 game prosets and they may use the short court format as well, play in these events will be included in challenger standings/rankings only and will not count toward our other standings/rankings or that of Southern or National.

Level 1: Alabama Junior Qualifier, Alabama Junior Closed, Southern Closed, National Claycourts and the Summer National Hardcourts.

Level 2: Alabama Junior State Spring Clay court Open(Huntsville), Alabama Junior State Spring Hard-court Open(Birmingham), Alabama Junior State Fall Hard-court Open(Mobile), National Opens, Other National Championships, Southern Opens, Southern Spring Championship, Fall Southern Closed, Alabama 10’s Zone Team Championship, National Zonal and Junior Davis Cup events, Bull Frog's and Blue/Gray Junior.

Level 3: Designed to be Alabama's regional level circuit. Level will be shown in tournament title on usta.com

Level 4: Is Alabama's general events throughout the State. Level will be shown in tournament title on usta.com

Level 5: Designed to be for the entry level circuit and these events will be included in a separate Challenger Ranking/Standing results and not in the regular standings/rankings. Play in this level event is designed for players who did not have a year end ranking in our regular ranked list in the previous year.

Alabama Junior Spring Claycourt Open: (Huntsville) is open to any junior player from the Southern Section who is a current member of the USTA. It is a level 2 event for Alabama ranking/standing and level 3(NEW) for Southern Rankings. This event follows the STA guidelines for STA Level 3 events.

Alabama Junior Spring Hardcourt Open: (Birmingham) is open to any junior player from the Southern Section who is a current member of the USTA. It is a level 2 event for Alabama ranking/standing and level 3(NEW) for Southern Rankings. This event follows the STA guidelines for STA Level 3 events.

Alabama Junior Qualifying Championships: (Montgomery) This event is the Qualifying Tournament to determine who will represent Alabama in the Southern Closed Championships play in this event is restricted to Alabama residents. It is mandatory that players play in the Alabama Junior State Qualifying Championships to be considered for the Southern Closed. To be on Alabama’s list of endorsed players does not guarantee entry into the Closed.  It is all players’ responsibility to enter the Southern Closed prior to the deadline to be considered. (In special circumstances, the Alabama Junior Competition Committee may grant a waiver, said waiver request must be made at the earliest time possible and let it be known in advance that the Committee has a long history of not granting said waivers, as it feels the importance of participating in our Qualifier is top priority.). With that said it is Alabama's responsibility to send the strongest quota of players in each age division, based on the results in the qualifier we will select players on the following criteria; for the B/G 14-18's the 4 semi finalist in the main and the 4 semi finalist in the back draw are selected automatically, for the B/G 12's the 4 Semi Finalist in the main draw and the 2 finalist in the back draw are automatically selected, for the B/G 10's the 2 Finalist in the main draw are automatically selected and the remaining quota spots in each age division will be determined by the Alabama Junior Competition Committee based on all USTA National, Sectional and District ranking/standing information available, as well as recent head to head results.

Alabama's quota is based on the number of junior USTA memberships in the state and will vary from year to year. It is a level 1 event for Alabama ranking/standing and level 4 for Southern Rankings.

Alabama Junior State Closed Championships: (Montgomery) is open to any Alabama Junior player who is a current member of the USTA. It is a level 1 event for Alabama ranking/standing and level 4 for Southern Rankings.

Alabama Junior Fall Hardcourt Open: (Mobile) is open to any Southern junior player who is a current member of the USTA. It is a level 2 event for Alabama ranking/standing and level 3 for Southern Rankings. This event follows the STA guidelines for STA Level 3 events.

Junior Davis /Federation Cup: The Junior Davis/Federation Cup is a team competition. The strongest players from Alabama team up to compete against the 8 other states in the Southern section. Each team consists of the 3 players in the age groups Girl's and Boy's 12, 14, 16 and 18's. The winner of the Alabama Qualifying Championships in the appropriate age group is an automatic member of the team in that age division, the other 2 players are selected by the USTA Alabama Junior Competition Committee based on all USTA ranking/standing information as well as recent head to head wins.  It is a level 2 event for Alabama ranking/standing

Alabama 10’s Indoor Team Competition (New for 2008) is a team event for our top ranked 10 and under. Players will be selected by the Junior Competition Committee based on most current standings in the Southern and Alabama 10 and under as well as recent head to head results.

Players must have 100 a minimum points to show up on the standings and 200 points to be included in the Final rankings. Play in the next higher age division will be included in the rolling standings only and will not be included in the year end rankings or any endorsement list used during the year.

USTA Player Development Programs:  The Player Development Program began in 1987 and was initiated by a special committee appointed by the USTA Board of Directors. Three goals of the program are:
(1) Attract more young people from every background to tennis and keep them playing.
(2) Help good players reach their maximum potential.
(3) Help out players win the Grand Slam events, the Davis Cup, Federation Cup and the Olympics. To achieve the second goal, USTA Competitive Training Centers have been established. The goal of the Alabama program is to help the players selected for each of the Area Training Centers to focus on achieving skills that will enable them to reach their maximum potential. The centers are to supplement the player's current programs and complement already acquired mental and physical skills. Being selected for any player development program is an honor. If a player chooses not to attend, with no explanation, then he or she jeopardizes their chances of being invited in the future.

Competitive Training Centers:  Competitive Training Center is located in Birmingham. The Head Coach will select the best players to attend the training center. Criteria include: player ranking and record, sportsmanship, attitude and all-court game.

The Challengers Circuit Tournaments:  A challenger tennis player should be a player not ranked in the previous years regular ranked list. The Challenger Circuit is currently offered in various cities in Alabama. It is a sanctioned level 5 event designed to introduce players 6 - 18 to "real match play". The goal of this "challenger" series of tournaments is to encourage and give opportunity to junior tennis players who have an interest and potential to play and enjoy the game. The Challenger series has its own separate standings/rankings calculated; these series will not count toward regular ranked players standings/rankings. USTA membership is required to participate.

Schools Program:  The USTA Schools Program helps schools introduce students K - 12 to the lifetime sport of tennis through their physical education curriculum. School systems have received free in-service training and curriculum materials. Many schools have kicked off their "tennis unit" with a fun-filled motivational assembly, conducted by a State Recreation Director.  School systems are being encouraged to develop after school programs to give every child an opportunity for a low-key competition.

National Junior Tennis League (NJTL):  NJTL provides entry-level tennis opportunities, which will capture the interest of all young athletes. Starting with beginners, ages 8 - 18, everyone belongs to a team, enjoying the fun of instant tennis and developing tennis skills. There are a number of chapters in Alabama offering free or low-cost summer programs. Equipment is provided to anyone who does not have a racket.

Junior Competition Committee:  The Junior Competition Committee is one branch of USTA Alabama. Its purpose is to propose policies to the USTA Alabama Board of Directors regarding any and all junior programs and to be of service to all Alabama junior tennis players. The Committee is in place to tackle all concerns of junior tennis, to answer questions regarding the Alabama junior programs, and to propose and adjust rules and guidelines, with approval of the USTA Alabama board.