Seeing which sections did well, Southern, Pacific Northwest, Northern California, Texas, and Southern California in particular, leads one to wonder if there are particular districts/states/areas from those sections that are contributing to the domination.
Looking at those sections in order, Southern is made up of nine states, here is how they've done at Nationals the past four years. Reminder, this is for 18+ and 40+ divisions.
| State | Semi-finalists | Champions |
|---|---|---|
| North Carolina | 9 | 4 |
| Louisiana | 8 | 2 |
| Mississippi | 5 | 2 |
| Alabama | 5 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 4 | 2 |
| South Carolina | 3 | 2 |
| Kentucky | 2 | 1 |
| Arkansas | 1 | 1 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 |
The big surprise, to me at least, is that Georgia brings up the rear here with just one semi-final appearance. While a lot of tennis is played in Georgia, perhaps more emphasis really is put on ALTA than USTA. But all states are represented and North Carolina and Louisiana have done especially well.
Next, the Pacific Northwest technically has eight districts, but there are five that are active, but just three have made a mark on semis at Nationals the last four years.
| District | Semi-finalists | Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Northwest Washington | 28 | 8 |
| Northern Oregon | 5 | 0 |
| Eastern Washington | 1 | 0 |
The Seattle area (Northwest Washington) leads the way here by a wide margin, more than tripling the top state from Southern and accounting for 82% of the PNW section's semi-final appearances and all the championships. A lead makes sense, it is the largest district in PNW, but the margin is a bit of a surprise as well as how it ranks nationally. If Seattle were its own section, it would rank #4 on the overall list!
Next, Northern Cal which has a seventeen of areas distinguished by flight.
| Flight Area | Semi-finalists | Champions |
|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 7 | 4 |
| Diablo South | 7 | 0 |
| Sacramento | 3 | 0 |
| Diablo North | 3 | 0 |
| General | 3 | 0 |
| East Bay | 3 | 0 |
| Marin | 2 | 1 |
| Lower Peninsula | 2 | 0 |
| South Bay | 2 | 0 |
Pretty good distribution, but San Francisco and Diablo South lead the way. And note that the bulk of NorCal is effectively the greater Bay Area and removing Sacramento and the areas not bordering the Bay the total is 24, just behind Seattle, and a slightly broader definition has the total at 29, one ahead of Seattle.
Next, Texas splits things up by area of which there are 19.
| Flight Area | Semi-finalists | Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas | 15 | 7 |
| Houston | 5 | 2 |
| Austin | 3 | 0 |
| San Antonio | 2 | 0 |
| Amarillo | 1 | 0 |
| NOHO | 1 | 0 |
Dallas clearly leads the way in Texas, they are the second area so far in double digits, but Houston has made a good showing. Less than a third of the areas show up though.
Last, Southern Cal breaks things up by 11 areas and their showing at Nationals has been.
| Flight Area | Semi-finalists | Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Orange County | 12 | 4 |
| San Gabriel Valley | 8 | 1 |
| San Diego | 5 | 1 |
| Los Angeles | 1 | 0 |
Only four areas have made a showing, and Orange County leads the way, the third area in double digits, over San Gabriel Valley and San Diego.
Looking at the double digit semi appearance areas, we see that depending on how you define an area/district, Seattle and the San Francisco Bay Area are by far the ones most consistently making noise at Nationals. Given the population of the Bay Area is more than twice the greater Seattle area, it is safe to say Seattle takes the title for most semis appearances per capita for any area/district/state and with more championships than NorCal outright leads the area/district/state list there.
Dallas deserves an honorable mention with 15 appearances, but with a population for the greater Dallas area a lot higher than Seattle, their per capita number is lower. Orange County with a similar population to Seattle also deserves mention with 12 appearances.
While I am from Seattle, I did not set out on this analysis expecting Seattle to be the "winner", I was really more curious how Southern's numbers were split out. I am proud to see how well Seattle has done though, and makes me feel a bit better about any losses I have against players here now :)
Note this goes a long way to explaining why the PNW and Seattle were hit especially hard with bump ups a few years ago when a big adjustment was made. Is it possible the move of many Nationals to Alabama and Florida will increase other section's numbers and cause different adjustments in the future?
No comments:
Post a Comment