TOURNAMENT
OVERVIEW
2026
Combo Doubles Championships
Gulf
Shores, AL
This tournament overview provides
players with all relevant information pertaining to this championship.
Players should become well-versed with the Tournament Overview and Championship
Procedures prior to arrival to a championship. The tournament overview
and championship procedures can be found at http://www.alabamachampionships.com/ by clicking on the
appropriate championship link. Please note that either document may be
amended at any time at the discretion of the Championship Committee.
USTA Alabama would like to thank
each and every captain for their volunteerism and dedication to our league
programs. We recognize the amount of work in captaining and your work and
commitment is much appreciated. This championship event would not be
possible without each of you. Thank you!
ALL 18 & Over and 9.5 INVITATIONAL COMBO PLAYERS MUST BE REGISTERED
IN TENNISLINK BY OCTOBER 11TH, TO BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE AT THE TOURNAMENT.
Tournament Dates:
Combo Doubles 40 and 55 & Over: October 23-25
Combo Doubles 18 & Over: November 6-8
Main Tournament Site: George Meyer Tennis Center 2049 W. 2nd
Street, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
Captain’s
Bag: Captains Bags will be located at the site of your first
scheduled match and will be handed out during team introductions by the staff
worker.
Captain’s
Checklist: A check list will be sent to all Captains (one per team)
registered in the tournament. All
checklists must be submitted by the stated deadline or the team will be removed
from the draw. This checklist is
mandatory,
In order to give captains more time to arrive
to the host city, there will be no captain’s meeting. However, an email
with tournament details will be sent to ALL players registered in the
tournament. It is the captains as well
as the players responsibility to read these emails and know what is expected
throughout the tournament. The code of
conduct, Championship Procedures, Tournament Overview and scoring conversion
can be found on the Championship Website alabamachampionships.com.
Player
Lunch: A lunch voucher will be provided for each player in the tournament
to be used at The Cove restaurant located at 131 Cove Avenue, Gulf Shores, AL
36542. The voucher can be used for food
only (no alcohol). Only one voucher per
player can be remitted. The voucher is
good during business hours Friday and Saturday of the tournament.
Championship Tournament Staff:
Combo Doubles 40 and 55 & Over:
Meg Edwards, USTA Alabama Director of Adult Leagues,
Championship Tournament Director
Referee: Jeff Burns
Sean Merchant
Greg Edwards
Dakota Harris
India Woods
Lisa Warren
Dawn Brouillet
Tournament Committee: Greg Edwards, Jeff Burns, Dawn Brouillet, Lisa Warren,
Bernie Gilliam, Jana Porter and Sean Merchant
Tournament Facilitator: Jana Porter
Championship Tournament Staff:
Combo Doubles 18 & Over:
Meg Edwards, USTA Alabama Director of Adult Leagues,
Championship Tournament Director
Referee: Reggie
Carney
Greg Edwards
Lisa Warren
Dawn Brouillet
Rodney Harris
Cecilia Harris
Tournament Committee: Greg Edwards, Reggie Carney, Dawn Brouillet, Lisa Warren,
Bernie Gilliam, Jana Porter.
Tournament Facilitator: Jana Porter
Championship Contacts
Meg Edwards, USTA AL
Director of Adult Leagues meg.al.tennis@gmail.com 205-454-5533 *For any questions, captains only may reach
out to championship contacts. Players should go to captains with all questions.
Championship Facilities:
George Meyer Tennis Center at Johnnie Sims
Park
2049 W 2nd Street
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
Additional
Sites:
Peninsula Golf & Racquet Club
30 Peninsula Blvd.
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-968-4164
Beach Club
925 Beach Club Trail
Gulf Shores, AL 36542
251-224-3355
Orange Beach Tennis Center, 8 hardcourts
4851 Wilson Blvd.
Orange Beach, AL 36561
251-974-6387
Melvin Roberts Park (Foley Tennis Courts)
901 N. Cedar Street
Foley, AL 36535
In the event of inclement weather, play may be
on hard courts, under lights as well as a change to the format or site.
Practice
Courts
Players will be expected to vacate any warm up on hard courts 30 min prior to
the start of the tournament so matches can get started. Match play could
begin as early as 7:30 am. NO warm up on
soft courts and NO warming up once the tournament has started. Warm ups will be with your opponents only
once a court has been assigned.
Relevant Rules and Information
·
On your captain sheet, you will find the roster list.
- All teams should arrive to their site 30 minutes prior
to match time ready to play.
·
Lineups will be submitted through Match Tennis Team. Our
staff will be inputting results into TennisLink after each round. Please
make sure to hit update and then submit when you are ready to turn in your
lineup. If you submit a wrong scorecard,
we cannot give it back.
·
Site desk workers will have the balls ready at the site desk to be
handed out. All players assigned a court
must report to the tournament desk to be handed balls and paired with
opponents.
- Staying on schedule is contingent on getting players on
and off the court as quickly as possible. Therefore, one person from
each match is to report scores into Match Tennis Team immediately after
each individual match. At the end of the team match, captains can
review scores in Match Tennis Team and sign off on the scorecard. If the scorecard is not signed off on in
a reasonable amount of time, it will be signed off by administration. At any time however, a captain can
dispute a score. - Teams are expected to complete all individual
courts/matches as scheduled.
Captains are required
to submit a team deposit hold of $300.00 by the deadline set by the state
league coordinator. Deposit will be made
online via the Match Tennis Team app.
·
The
deposit will be held until the conclusion of the applicable 2024 USTA League
Alabama Championship. If the team successfully completes the championship
(e.g., no defaults), or if a team withdraws before the draw is published, the
deposit hold will be removed (not forfeited). If a team withdraws after the
draw is published, or if a team does not successfully complete the Alabama
championship, the deposit will be forfeited, or partially-forfeited. The
situations where the deposit hold will be forfeited, or partially forfeited, is
as follows:
If a team withdraws
after the draw is published, or if a team does not successfully complete the
Alabama championship, the entire deposit will be forfeited.
If a team defaults an
individual court/line during championship, an administrative fee of $100 per
individual court will be charged up to the full amount of the deposit. (For
example, a team defaults an individual line during its Saturday afternoon
match. $100 of the deposit will be charged by USTA Alabama within 30 days.)
Team captains with
deposit forfeiture and/or administrative fees for individual defaulted courts
may submit a waiver to be exempted from paying fees. Waiver requests will be
submitted to and reviewed by the Alabama Adult League Committee and must be
submitted within 7 days of the completion of the championship. Only cases of “extreme” circumstances will be accepted and/or
considered.
Note:
Collected monies will be donated to the Alabama Tennis Foundation.
- All communication will be through Match Tennis Team App
- Award presentations will be at Gulf Shores Tennis
Complex (George Meyer) for the winning team. - USTA Alabama maybe taking photos during and/or in
connection with this event, for promotion, commercial and/or any other
purposes. If either I (or any of my players) do not consent to all
such uses without any further compensation and/or other consideration
becoming due, I (or player) will notify Meg Edwards (meg.al.tennis@gmail.com) prior to the event. - The winning Combo teams will be eligible to advance to
the Combo Sectional Championships.
The sectional calendar can be found at southernchampionships.com
Reminders from the
Referee
· Cell Phone/Pager Warning: This is your
official warning. Please make sure all players have their cell phone and
pager off or on vibrate. If a cell phone or pager goes off in the middle
of a point, the opponent may claim the point. Friend at Court states the
following: While on court or during a match, a player may not receive
information via electronic devices capable of receiving communications such as
cell phones and smartwatches. All electronic devices should be on
airplane mode once the player(s) take the court.
· No coaching is allowed and spectators including
team captains should not be asked for their opinion.
· Scoring Format: All matches will be the
best 2 out of 3 sets with a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a full 3rd set.
The Coman Tiebreak Procedures will be used for all tiebreaks (including the
10-point match tiebreak).
· Changeovers: The rest time for all
changeovers is 90 seconds, except between sets which is limited to 2 minutes. There is no break after the first game of each set –
players simply change sides.
· Warm-Ups: Players are limited to a
10-minute warm-up including serves prior to match play. If players exceed the
10 minutes, the players may be told to play regardless of where they are in
warm-up, so it’s important to stay within time on your warm-up.
· Medical Time-Outs: The player in need of
the medical time-out should not leave the court. Immediately send someone
not involved in the match to get a referee. All medical time-outs will be
addressed in compliance with “Friend at Court.”
· Bathroom Breaks: A player can take a
bathroom break at any time but players should try to take breaks during
changeovers or between sets.
· Rain Procedures: If there is a rain delay,
players are not permitted to leave the tennis center unless otherwise released
by the Tournament Director and/or Tournament Referee. If pulled from the
courts due to rain, players must report their match scores in progress in the
app immediately after being pulled from the courts.
· Point Penalty System (PPS): The PPS will
be enforced. If a player is :01 to 5:00 minutes late, it is a loss of
toss and 1 game for that player. If a player is 5:01 to 10:00 minutes
late, it is a loss of toss and 2 games for that player. If a player is
10:01 to 15:00 minutes late, it is a loss of toss and 3 games for that
player. If a player is 15:01 minutes late, it is a default. The
Championship Referee is responsible for issuing defaults for failure to arrive
on time.
· Note: Matches are un-officiated and all issues
should be resolved on the court by the players involved. The Championship
Referee should only be requested if all players on the court cannot resolve the
problem on their own and if requested by the players on court. Spectators
are not permitted to request a Referee unless the players on court request it.
Social Media &
Marketing
· Like us on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/USTA-Alabama-804479939622609/
· Team photos will be taken after the final
or conclusion of round robin and posted on the ATA Championship Website, www.alabamata.usta.com, by clicking on the championship link.
Please be
nice to the site coordinators and other volunteers. They are giving up
their time to provide you with an outstanding championship experience.
Players who display inappropriate behavior to any of the site coordinators,
volunteers and/or tournament staff may be subject to a sportsmanship
grievance. This also includes any violation of the USTA Alabama League Code
of Conduct.