Is the Current United States Tennis Association's Adult League System Restrictive?
This research explores adapting the United States Tennis Association's (USTA) adult league program and rating system in order to draw more tennis players to league play. The USTA is the only organization currently in the United States that has installed a league whereby adults of all standards can compete in leagues starting locally with an opportunity to progress to national level play. With it being an individual sport however, rating each individual player becomes a difficult task with all new members wishing to participate in competitive play having to assess their own ability and award themselves a rating that best represents their level when registering for a membership. Therefore new members are required to give themselves a rating with the knowledge that by awarding themselves a higher rating, they are harming their chances of progressing through to regional or national level competition. Using qualitative collection methods and coding analysis techniques, this research explores the opinions of current members of the USTA as well as current players who participate in tennis activities but not competitively within the USTA programs. Though generalizing how creating and implementing a rating system that can please all can be difficult, the author believes the findings of this research will provide a useful framework for further research into this line of inquiry.
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