2013 Early Start Ratings for 2014 Early Start Leagues for the Pacific Northwest

At this time of year in the Pacific Northwest, USTA League players look forward to the Early Start Ratings coming out.  I've been told by one of the mixed doubles coordinators that they should be out in early July so it could be any day now.

What are Early Start Ratings?  Basically, they are ratings that are used to determine the level players should play at for Early Start Leagues.  What is an Early Start League?  It is a league that starts play before the USTA year begins (normal year is roughly November thru October).

The idea is that if a league starts play before year-end ratings are out, for example a 2014 mixed doubles league that starts in September, players that are well on their way to being bumped up or bumped down at year end should play in the Early Start League using their new rating instead of their old rating.  The Early Start Rating is basically a snapshot of the Dynamic Rating at a point in time.

How about an example.

Say a player is a 3.5 in 2012 year-end ratings and has had a great 2013 adult league season and improved their Dynamic Rating to 3.7.  This is well into the range for a 4.0 and indicates they are likely to be bumped up at the end of the year.  Because the 2014 mixed and senior leagues start play before 2013 year-end ratings come out, it wouldn't be fair to let this player enter those leagues and play well into 2014 as a 3.5.  So, because their Dynamic Rating at the time Early Start Ratings come out is 3.7, they are given an Early Start Rating of 4.0 and must play 2014 mixed and senior leagues as a 4.0.

Correspondingly, a player may have their rating go down and receive an Early Start Rating down a level and be permitted to play the Early Start Leagues at that level.

Note that an Early Start Rating does not guarantee that a player will stay bumped up or down in the year-end ratings.  Year-end ratings will include additional matches played after Early Start Ratings come out and also incorporate benchmark calculations which can move a rating up or down.

So stay tuned for the ratings to come out.  And if you want to know before or after why your rating ended up where it is, an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Report is a great way to find out.  Contact me to learn more.

Update: I just found out that the early start ratings should be out this evening (7/2) and will include matches played through 6/25.