TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW
2025 55 & Over
Huntsville, 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 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 program. 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 PLAYERS MUST BE
REGISTERED IN TENNISLINK BY April 29th, 2025, TO BE ELIGIBLE TO COMPETE AT THE
TOURNAMENT.
Tournament Dates: May 16-18, 2025.
Main Tournament Site:
Huntsville Tennis Center, 2305 Airport Road SW, Huntsville, AL 35805
Captain’s bag
deadline:
All bags must be picked up no later
than May 17th, 2025 12:00 PM at the main tournament site. Any bag not picked up after the deadline will
be forfeited and T-shirts will be included in size trades and late
registrations as well as sales. There
will be no guarantee of the size ordered by players. Bags are located at the Main Tournament site
(See address above)
Bag pick-up times: Do not ask for your
bag prior to 8:30 AM as we are getting matches on the courts.
Thursday: 3:30-5:30
PM
Friday: 8:30 AM-3:30
PM
Saturday: 8:30 AM-12:00 PM
Any bags not picked
up by the team after this time will no longer be guaranteed their T-shirt and/or
size.
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: Player
Lunch: Friday and Saturday 10:30-2:30.
All players must present a ticket.
Championship Tournament Staff:
Meg Edwards, USTA Alabama
Director of Adult Leagues, Championship Tournament Director
Referee: Jeff Burns
Greg Edwards, JTT Coordinator
Ruth Anne Bendall, Birmingham Local
League Coordinator
Tournament Facilitator: Joc
Simmons
Tournament Committee: Greg Edwards, Jeff Burns, Joc
Simmons, Ruth Anne Bendall
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:
Tournament Headquarters:
Huntsville Tennis Center
2305 Airport Road SW
Huntsville, AL 35805
Additional Sites:
Athletic Club of Alabama
Leeman Ferry Road SW
Huntsville, AL 35805
Hard courts may be used in case of inclement weather, play
may be under lights and on indoor courts if available.
Official Ball: Penn
Practice Courts
Players can warm up prior to the start of the tournament but
will be expected to vacate any warm up on hard courts at 45 min prior to the
start of the tournament so courts can be assigned. There is no warm up at any time on any hard courts once the tournament
has started for the day.
Relevant Rules and Information
·
On
the website, you will find the code of conduct, Tournament Overview and the
scoring conversion chart in the event of format changes due to inclement
weather.
- 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 for the home team to pick up. When you are assigned your court, come to the
desk and pickup the can of balls with your assigned court number.
- Staying
on schedule is contingent on getting players on and off the court as
quickly as possible. Therefore, one person from each team 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 2025 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
·
Pay
close attention to the parking directions at any facility as your car could be
towed if parked in an area where parking is not allowed!
- Award
presentations will be at the Huntsville Tennis Center 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 teams will be eligible to advance to the 55
& Over sectional tournament hosted by Auburn, AL surface: Hard and Clay. Dates can be found at https://preview.usta.com/content/dam/usta/sections/southern/pdf/2025-26-southern-league-event-calendar-11-14-24.pdf
- Player
Lunch: Friday and Saturday 10:30-2:30.
All players must present a ticket.
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.