Granite State Kids Junior Team Tennis
League Rules and Regulations

Important: Some rules mentioned below override national rules for local league play. The rest of the national rules that do not conflict with local league rules, apply to both local league play and the national championships.

USTA National Rules and Regulations

Granite State Kids Rules and Regulations

Prior to playing a match a player must be registered on Tennis Link and on a participating Junior Team Tennis roster. Tennis Link

• Round Robin Modified World Team Tennis formats. This would include one boy's singles match, one girl's singles match, one boys' doubles match, one girls' doubles match, and one mixed doubles. 
• The team that is listed as the "home" team on the Tennis Link schedule shall supply new USTA approved tennis balls for the match.  These balls may be used in subsequent matches on the same day with agreement from both team coaches. 
• A 5-minute warm-up must precede all matches.  Official USTA rules and regulations will be in effect for all league matches as is the Code of Conduct. 
• Coaching is allowed from outside the fenced area, or outside the courts boundaries, but only during the 90-second odd-game changeover.  Coaching is not permitted when a player or players change ends during a tie break.  Only the designated coach/captain will be permitted to coach during the coaching period.  Teams with more than one coach/captain must designate a "Head Coach/Captain" to last throughout the duration of the match. 
• The substitution of players may not be made once the individual match has begun. 
• A match will consist of 2 out of 3 four game sets, no-ad scoring with a 7 point tiebreak at 3 games all and a 10 point tie-break in lieu of a third set. 
• In No-Ad scoring at deuce, the receiver has the choice of court (ad or deuce) in which to receive serve.  In mixed doubles, gender serves to same gender. 
• The winner of the match will be determined by total games won, in the event of a tie, head to head results will break the tie.  At season end and at state, sectional, and regional, or national championships an additional tie break is used if three or more teams are tied - least number of sets lost, then least number of games lost, then finally, a spin of the racquet. 
• Minimum of 3 girls and 3 boys on team for matches, if there is less than this number a match will have to be forfeited and will be scored as 8 games for the team with the appropriate number of players and zero games for the non-compliant team.
• The order of play shall be all Singles, Boys and Girls Doubles and Mixed Doubles?Default order of play will be Boys and Girls Doubles, Mixed Doubles, and Boys and Girls Singles.

*It is recommended that there are anywhere from 10 to 14 players on a team during the regular season so as to account for vacations, illness, etc.

Age Categories Eligibility

The Junior Team Tennis (Y) Championship Series age categories are defined as 18 & under and 14 & under. Players must remain age eligible through August 31 of the Championship year to be eligible for advancement opportunities to Regional and National Championships.

Players can only play on One Team in each Age Group per league season.

Players rated 3.5 and higher or with 1000 or more USTA New England tournament points at the end of the previous calender year can only play at the Advanced Division level. Players found to be playing below their level in the Intermediate Division will be moved up to the Advanced Division.

A member of a 14-and-under Advanced Team may also play for an 18-and-under Advanced Team at the local league level.

A member of a 14-and-under Intermediate Team may also play for an 18-and-under team in either the Intermediate or Advanced divisions at the local league level.

Prior to an advancing championship, the player must declare which team he or she will participate on in such championship.

Players are only allowed to play on one team at any championship level.

STATE, SECTIONAL OR NATIONAL PLAY REQUIREMENTS

Scores must be recorded in TennisLink Team Tennis to meet the local play history eligibility requirements of three team matches (said matches may not come from a one day event at the local level) prior to advancement to the championship levels.

A player is eligible to progress to championship level competition, including National Championships, if that player has played on the same team in at least three team matches during its local USTA Jr. Team Tennis season and has the results of said three matches recorded in TennisLink Team Tennis.

Only one match result may be the product of a defaulted or forfeited match by the opposing team to count to-wards advancing for all players involved. A retired match shall count toward advancing for all players involved.All team players must be registered as a participant in the Junior Team Tennis program on Tennislink

For a complete set of rules and regulations please click here. 

State Championships

State Championships will be held on August 5, 2010. Winners in each Division of the State Championships will be invited to play in the Sectional Championships August 17-18, 2010 in Springfield, MA.

Sectional and National Championship

Winners at the Sectionals will have the opportunity to play in the National Championships. Once a team has advanced from Sectionals, players may not be added to that team. That way players are restricted from being added to teams that have already advanced to championships. Minimum 6 to players on a team at Sectional Championships with a minimum 3 Boys & 3 Girls per team.

Interpretation/Clarification: This rule is not to be construed to permit additions to a team’s roster, but only to permit substitutions for a player unable to progress to the next level of competition. Only players having met the local play requirements with at least two matches entered in TennisLink below the sectional championship level can be submitted as substitutes. Since teams are required to qualify out of their respective Local Programs/Leagues (as defined by the sectional association) and follow the national format of requiring 3 boys and 3 girls to qualify for the next level of championships, this issue should only arise because of the unavailability of an original member of the team’s roster

Substitutions: If a player on a qualifying team advancing to National Championship competition is, for whatever reason, unable to participate after the Sectional championships, a substitute player may be added to the qualifying team’s roster from the same local league (as defined by the sectional association) in order to meet the minimum team size requirement. In no event can more than two substitutes be added to a team’s roster for competition above the sectional championship level. Any substitutions must be submitted to and approved by the sectional USA Team Tennis Coordinator. If the qualifying team cannot field the minimum number of qualifying players, the sectional USA Team Tennis Coordinator may select the second place team for such further competition.