What effect has COVID had on PNW Seattle area USTA League?

I wrote a few weeks ago about some initial statistics and observations about how much USTA League play is taking place in 2021 compared to 2020 and by and large, play was down in nearly every section.

With the Seattle area 40 & Over league getting going, albeit a bit late, in a couple weeks, we can now take a look at some specifics from the same league in 2020 and 2021, giving us a good idea of the impact of COVID-19 on league play in a specific league.

In 2020, league play began before we had any idea there would be a pandemic and so the number of teams should have been fully indicative of a normal season.  2021 has the same league and so in theory should be the same, and even arguably show growth given the recent trends in the area, so what the numbers show can logically be attributed to the pandemic and player's willingness to come back and play league.

Here are the team counts by gender/level.  While play has not started yet, the teams are set so these number will not be changing.

• 2.5 Men - New for 2021, 2 teams so a change of +2
• 2.5 Women - 16 in 2020 to 14 in 2021, change of -2
• 3.0 Men - 37 to 23, change of -14
• 3.0 Women - 46 to 38, change of -8
• 3.5 Men - 43 to 26, change of -17
• 3.5 Women - 39 to 34, change of -5
• 4.0 Men - 33 to 17, change of -16
• 4.0 Women - 30 to 22, change of -8
• 4.5 Men - 17 to 11, change of -6
• 4.5 Women - 13 to 9, change of -4
• 5.0 Men - New for 2021, 3 teams, change of +3
• 5.0 Women - 3 teams for both 2020 and 2021

Note, in 2020, the 4.5 levels were plus leagues so this isn't a perfect one-to-one comparison, but it is close.

In general we see a significant drop, with the women going from 147 teams to 120, an 18% drop, and the men from 130 to 82, a whopping 37% drop.

For the men, the 2.5 and 5.0 levels are new and bring a change of 5 new teams, but some huge losses at the 3.0-4.5 levels completely offsets that.

The women have more modest drops across the board.

Note, I have not looked at player counts as players may still sign-up so comparing this stat would be a little preliminary.

Why might this be?  Clearly, COVID is the big factor, with

• some players perhaps not coming back and playing at all yet
• some perhaps playing but just not ready for league play, and
• others willing and able to play, but wanting to do so only within their own "bubble" of players and not with outsiders from other clubs
• some refuse to play in a mask (which is required at least at the start of the season)

I know that at least one team at my club couldn't get enough players to sign up, I think primarily for the 1st and 3rd reasons.  But the 4.0 level having just over half the teams as last year, and 3.5s having around 60% of the teams, are remarkable drops.

I don't think anyone is surprised by there being a drop, but does the size of the drop surprise you?  And why is the drop more severe for the men?