TOURNAMENT
OVERVIEW
2025
Tri-Level State 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 55 & OVER INVITATIONAL TRI-LEVEL PLAYERS MUST
BE REGISTERED IN TENNISLINK BY August 10, 2025, TO BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE AT
THE TOURNAMENT.
Tournament Dates: September 5-7, 2025.
Main Tournament Site: George Meyer Tennis Center 2049 W. 2nd
Street, Gulf Shores, AL 36542
Captain’s
bag
Pickup: There will be no Thursday
bag pickup. All bags will be located at
the site of your first match. The site
desk worker will hand out the bags to the captains as the teams are introduced
for their first match.
Lunch will be served Saturday at George Meyer
Tennis Complex 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM.
Championship Tournament Staff:
Meg Edwards, USTA Alabama Director of Adult Leagues,
Championship Tournament Director
Referee: Hans Laub
Greg Edwards, Tuscaloosa JTT Coordinator
Rodney Harris, staff worker
Cecelia Harris, staff worker
Lisa Warren, staff worker
Dawn Brouillet: staff
worker
Tournament Committee: Greg Edwards, Rodney Harris, Hans Laub, Cecilia Harris,
Rodney Harris, 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 at 7:00 am each
day 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 and player lunch tickets.
- 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 Tri-Level teams will be eligible to advance
to the Tri-Level Invitational Championships
- Lunch will be provided on Saturday from 10:30-2:30 and
will be served at Gulf Shores Tennis Complex.
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.