Southern section changing rules regarding tournaments and NTRP ratings

The USTA allows sections some flexibility in determining the matches from which leagues/tournaments get included in NTRP rating calculations.  Generally, all matches from what are considered advancing leagues, i.e. those that can advance on to Nationals, are included, but a section can elect to include (or not) matches from other leagues like Tri-Level, One Doubles, Combo, or other singles/doubles leagues that may be run during the year.

Similarly, sections can elect to include tournaments in year-end calculations and some do and some don't.  See my FAQ question 40 where I describe this.

In the past, Southern has been a section that only included advancing leagues and did not include tournaments.  While I have not found an official regulation document stating this change, I have learned that some communications have gone out announcing a change for the 2019 year.  Specifically, sanctioned NTRP tournaments will be included in year-end calculations.  Along with this change, players playing in sanctioned NTRP tournaments must hold a valid and current rating, or self-rate per the guidelines.

What this means is that players that play only tournaments will now get a 'T' rating where in the past they would not get a year-end rating.  This also means that players that play USTA League as well as sanctioned NTRP tournaments will have their tournament results included in year-end calculations.

My section, Pacific Northwest, also used to not count tournaments but changed for 2018 to include them.  The primary reason for the change in PNW was due to the requirements for NTRP Nationals.

NTRP Nationals is an event that was held for the first time in 2018 for NTRP tournament players to advance to so that this group of players will have a Nationals similar to USTA League players.  Players advance by playing in tournaments within their section and qualifying based on points either directly or to play at a Sectionals event where players/pairs to advance are determined.

The NTRP Nationals event does require that a player have a calculated NTRP rating, they cannot be a self-rated player, and as such, someone that plays only tournaments in a section that doesn't include them in year-end calculations would not have a rating and not be eligible.  So my section changed the rule so these players would get a rating and be eligible, and my guess is Southern is changing their rule, at least in part, for the same reason.

In general, I think this is a good move.  I believe ratings are more accurate when more match play is included in the calculations.  And having tournament players get rated and be required to have a rating should help clean up any issues with players playing at the wrong level in tournaments which should improve the experience for all.

Of course, there are some players that will see tournaments as an opportunity to tank matches to manage their rating down so they can play USTA League at what is perhaps a lower level than they should be at.  Getting enough tournament matches in to really affect a rating may be a pricey endeavor, as tanking means losing so only getting one (or two with a losers bracket) match in per event, so I hope this discourages players from doing so.  Better, it would be great if the USTA had provisions in the year-end calculations to weed out what appear to be tanked matches so such players are not rewarded from doing so.

But what do you think?  Is including tournaments in ratings calculations the right move for Southern?  Has there been a problem with tournaments and will having players be rated improve the experience and cause more players to play tournaments?

For those that play tournaments, whether you play USTA League or not, I can include tournament matches in the reports I do.  This is a great way to see how you are doing and get feedback so you can know what is/isn't working and measure your improvement.  Contact me if interested.