USTA South Carolina Adult Tournament Sanction and Scheduling Regulations

Purpose: To establish minimum requirements to be met by tournament directors and/or member organizations in order for their tournaments to be sanctioned by USTA SC. In addition, this Regulation states the requirements and guidelines to be used by the Adult Sanction and Scheduling Working Group with regard to scheduling tournaments in South Carolina.

Sanction & Schedule Regulations:

1. Applications for tournament sanctions must be submitted using the Tennislinkonline application. Failure to submit a complete application within established timelines may result in denial of sanction.

2. If it is desired to have both junior and adult competition at the same time, a separate sanction request must be made for each competition.

3. USTA SC tournament sanctions are held by the member organizations. The tournament director is the authorized agent for the member organization and, as such, is responsible for meeting all the requirements listed below.

4. A tournament director, acting individually or as agent for the member organization, who violates anysanction requirement, listed below in Paragraph 6, may cause the member organization and/or tournament director to be considered ineligible for a sanctioned tournament the following year.Such violations include failure to meetdeadlines for publication of tournament results and failure to pay head taxes.

5. Tournament levels are determined by the Adult Competition Committeeand are reviewed each year. Individual tournaments are not guaranteed the same level for the next year.

6. Tournament Requirements:

  1. USTA Membership

i.The host member organization and tournament director must be current members of the USTA. These memberships must be valid through the last day of the sanctioned tournament.

ii. All players allowed into sanctioned tournaments must be current USTA members.

  1. Tournament Data Manager System (TDM)

i. Tournament Data Manager System (TDM) must be used for all USTA SC sanctioned tournaments. Results must be uploaded daily during the tournament.

ii. All final results must be published within 24 hours of the last day of the sanction in order to meet the weekly standings update schedule. Any delays must be approved by the Adult Competition Coordinator.

iii. TDM default codes must have a reason listed. Codes are available in Friend at Court (FAC).

iv. Corrections to published tournament results must be entered into TDM and uploaded by the Tournament Director/Referee. If the tournament has already been calculated into the published standings, any corrections will not be reflected in the player record or standings list until the next scheduled update.

v. Online registration must be offered by all tournaments.

  1. Entry Deadlines

i. Entries can not be closed prior to the deadline.

ii. Tournament directors may extend entry deadlinesby only one day. Any extension beyond that must be approved by the Adult Competition Coordinator.

  1. Additional Requirements
  1. There shall be no changes in Sanctioned Divisions unless approved in advance by the Adult Competition Coordinator or Adult Competition Committee.
  2. Tournamentsmust be held within the sanctioned dates.
  3. Tournaments must have a specified tournament director, a specified USTA-certified referee AND a specified tournament committee.
  4. Thetournament director must have attended a USTA SC Tournament Directors Workshop within the past 12 months.
  5. Areferee, or deputy referee, must be present at the tournament site for the entire duration of the tournament and should be dressed in either the approved USTA uniform for certified officials or in a tournament specific uniform such that he/she is readily identifiable to the players.
  6. Atournament committee of at least three (3) persons shall be appointed. The tournament director and referee shall be members.
  7. Thetournament committee must appoint a tournament appeals committee of at least two members to decide player appeals of the referee’s disqualification or unilateral default of a player. The referee, deputy referee and umpires may not be a part of this committee.
  8. Awards must be awarded to first and second place players, main draw only, if four or more players are in the draw.
  9. First match times must be published to the website/tournament homepage at least two daysbefore the first day of play.
  10. The Point Penalty System must be in effect and adhered to for all sanctioned adult tournaments.
  11. The minimum age to play NTRP in tournaments is 19years of age by year-end. Younger players may participate in the Open or Family divisions.
  12. Ratings received from USTA League Tennis are valid for NTRP tournaments. All self rated players must follow the same guidelines as the Leagues on self rating. (See the USTA SC website for more information.)
  13. NTRP ratings may not be separated by more than 1.0 to participate in a mixed doubles event. (Ex. 2.5 + 3.5 or 4.0 + 5.0)
  14. A player may participate at a higher level than his/her current NTRP rating, but NEVER at a LOWER level. For doubles, the team must play at the level of the HIGHEST rated player, except for Combo divisions.
  15. Any player disqualified from playing a NTRP level in the USTA League Tennis Program is also disqualified from playing that level in NTRP tournaments for the remainder of the year. The newly assignedlevel shall be considered the most current NTRP computer rating for tournament competition.
  16. Head taxes must be paid according to USTA SC Policy.
  17. New USTA-approved balls, suitable to the playing surface, must be used at the beginning of all matches.
  18. Information on the tournament homepage and brochures or entry forms must be in compliance with the requirements listed in FAC.
  19. FAC will govern all sanctioned tournament play.
  1. Officials

(1) Referees

(a.) The referee and the tournament director may not be the same person.

(b.) The referee must be confirmed before the tournament is submitted for sanction approval.

(c.) Any change in referee from the original sanction form must be approved in advance by the USTA SC Adult Competition Coordinator.

(d.) Contact information for the referee must be listed on the home page of the tournament.

(e.) The referee or the tournament committee shall appoint a USTA Certified Deputy Referee to act as the referee whenever the referee is not present. The referee or deputy referee must be present at all times when play is in progress.

(f.) The referee or deputy referee will make the draw using TDM along with at least one other tournament committee member.

(h.) Seedings must be established in accordance with the guidelines in Friend at Court (FAC) as adjusted by the latest national, sectional, and state standings lists with particular attention to head-to-head results.

(i.) In case of inclement weather, the referee must follow the USTA South Carolina Policy on Inclement Weather when modifying scoring and/or canceling specific events within the tournament.

(2) Umpires and Monitors

(a.) At least one USTA certified official must be present at each site.

(b.) Requirements established by the Officials Committee, in coordination with Adult Competition Committee and approved by the USTA SC Board of Directors, must be followed.

  1. Facility Requirements

(1)Courts and lighting must comply with USTA regulations

(2)Courts must be clean and free of debris

(3)Water removal devices must be available at all sites

(4)Clean restroom facilitiesmust be available at all sites

(5)Drinking water and ice must be available at all sites

(6)Chairs or benches must be provided on court forplayers

(7)Adequate first aid supplies must be available at each site. Provision of an athletic trainer is highly desirable.

7. Tournament Scheduling:

  1. The Adult Sanction and ScheduleWorking Groupshall use the criteria listed below to determine the adult tournament schedule for any given calendar year.

(1) Member organizations are limited to two adult tournamentsper calendar year.

Note:National Championships, Southern Championships, and one-day tournaments do not count towards the allotted number of tournaments.

(2) All tournaments to be held on the same datesmust be separated by at least 100 miles. As an exception, a junior and an adult tournament may be scheduled within the 100 mile limit.

(3) When two or more tournaments within 100 miles request overlapping dates, the tournament in good standing with a history on those dates shall be given priority.

(4) Adult state closed tournaments shall have priority on available dates. There shall be no other USTA SC sanctioned tournaments offering the same divisions as astate closed tournament on the same date.

(5) The cancellation ofa sanctioned tournament must be approved by the Adult Competition Coordinator. Requests for cancellation must be submitted with as much advance notice as possible. Cancelled events will not receive priority for the same dates the following year.

USTA SC Adult Tournament Sanction & Schedule Regulations

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