I have kept track of the top-4 teams and champions for each level and division and doled out points for each placement, 4 points for first, 3 for second, and so on.
The USTA will probably be happy to know that every section did have at least one semi-finalist in the Adult divisions, although 6 sections had fewer than 10 points with Hawaii in last with just 3. Interestingly, you'd think Caribbean would be similar to Hawaii, but the latter finished fifth overall with a whopping 22 points!
Looking at the divisions rather than overall, in the 18 & over Southern Cal had one title but a big lead with 21 points, well ahead of Southern with 16. Florida, Northern Cal, and Pacific Northwest were tied with 12.
In the 40 & over division, it was a far more tight and balanced race with Texas leading the way with 11 points just ahead of Caribbean and Southern with 10 each.
The 55 & over division saw warm weather states in the lead with Florida, Southern Cal, Southern, and Southwest in the top-5 with Pacific Northwest spoiling the warm weather party tying for second.
Compared to last year where Texas, Southern Cal, Southern, Pacific Northwest, and Northern Cal led the way, the top teams are not all that different. The USTA did some significant adjustments to year-end ratings last year to "punish" some of the sections that did well so if their goal was to get other sections winning more, it didn't quite work, especially for Southern Cal which went from second to first. And Caribbean had a lot of bumps up but still came back strong this year. It will be interesting to see if Southern Cal get adjusted significantly this year or if the USTA leaves things as is. One can certainly see how there may be more bumps than normal for the 18 & over division there.
The end of Nationals also brings us the cut-off date for matches to count for year-end ratings. The USTA will no be doing their calculations to arrive at year-end ratings which are typically published the Monday after Thanksgiving. If you are impatient or want to know more than just a level, contact me and I can generate an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Rating Report for you showing you details on where your rating likely is and why. And captains are now scouting for teams for next year, my reports can help with that too.
Congratulations to all those that went to Nationals this year, looking forward to next year already.
When you aggregate in this fashion, with Women's and Men's and all ages and ratings lumped together, then you get this sense of evenness. But if you take a particular gender and rating, there can be some significant imbalance. In particular, at Men's 4.0, Texas won Nationals at 18 and 40 and, in both finals, would likely have been 5-0 if not for a hamstring injury to one of their players. I'd hope USTA would see that and make adjustments accordingly - not that Texas did anything wrong, but I'd think USTA is expecting tighter matches at the highest level.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, and any adjustments the USTA elects to make to rebalance things do look at level/gender/division I believe, so perhaps Texas 4.0s will see a larger and normal number of bumps up.
DeletePersonally instead of massive bump ups due to winning or placing well at Nationals, I would like to see a larger number of self rated double bumps for those who made it that far, and not as much as those who were along for the ride. It is tough to watch undeserving players get bumped simply because they were apart of a winning team. Fingers are crossed for the self rated players to sacrifice future seasons for a shot at nationals and be forced to play at or above their true level.. Either way, thanks to Kevin for providing valuable stats and caring report everything.
ReplyDeleteI know a guy that has played for Puerto Rico. He told me they just change their names after a few years and recycle their players. Why do you think there are so many hyphenated male names in the Caribbean Section? If you've been to 3.0 Nationals twice and play the Caribbean, you might experience de ja vu.
ReplyDeleteThe USTA can do very little to police them.
lol if true.
DeleteStill not sure why captains or players don't follow up against something like that, especially something that is so easy to prove. Too many players whining about competition cheating, but not willing to stand up and do something about it. The only way anything will change is if people make sure the USTA is aware of the players actions.
ReplyDeleteHow would one prove it if they don't live in their section? There's always allegations even at "weaker" sections but without factual proof.
DeletePersonally if its not my section, I wouldn't worry about it until they play my section. Most are tough to prove, but if you have actual proof a grievance or email to your league coordinator is well worth it for the integrity of the league. Changing names is extreme, but leaving college tennis off an application or key info like that is not hard to prove. Just be willing to stand up for the fairness of your teammates.
DeleteYes, that's what I was referring to (the allegations that Caribbean hyphenates their names etc). Difficult to prove.
DeleteIf you have proof, go ahead and file the grievance. Some of these name combinations are nearly impossible to track. Here in Normal we have the same types of problems with Asians.
DeleteThat is NorCal
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ReplyDeleteI'm in the difficult to prove camp. You have to find the name and then they have a lot of names that are very common there.
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's time the USTA attaches our social security number to the self rate form, or team photos of all players playing at sectionals, or our photo next to our USTA profile, or a LIFETIME ban from playing USTA(with that posted on your profile) if caught, or the captain faces the same ban for knowingly using the same player with a new name. Nothing is fool proof, but I think these ideas would definitely hinder it from happening, and more than likely even the playing field.
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