2024 USTA League Nationals schedule is availalble - Only 4 weekends this year!

Calendar year 2024 is just getting started, and many sections have league play underway, but some areas had early start leagues and local league play is already over.  In both cases teams are progressing towards USTA League Nationals typically held in October and November.

For those teams aspiring to get to Nationals, knowing the schedule and locations can be useful and there is a PDF of the schedule here.

The summary is that there will be four sites for 2024:

• Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego, CA
• Scottsdale Ranch Park & Indian School Park in Scottsdale, AZ
• Surprise Tennis and Racquet Complex in Surprise, AZ
• USTA National Campus in Orlando, FL

A significant change is that Nationals don't start until mid-October, where they have typically started the first weekend of October, even starting late in September on occasion including last year.  This means just four weekends of Nationals compared with seven in 2023.  Here are the dates and events:

• October 18-20
• 18 & Over 2.5 women - Scottsdale
• 18 & Over 5.0 - Scottsdale
• 18 & Over 4.0 - Surprise
• 18 & Over 3.0 - San Diego
• 40 & Over 3.5 - Orlando
• October 25-27
• 18 & Over 3.5 - San Diego
• 40 & Over 3.0 - Scottsdale
• 40 & Over 4.0 - Orlando
• 40 & Over 4.5 - Surprise
• November 1-3
• Mixed 18 & Over 6.0 / 8.0 / 10.0 - Surprise
• Mixed 18 & Over 7.0 / 9.0 - Orlando
• 55 & Over 7.0 / 9.0 - Scottsdale
• November 8-10
• 18 & Over 4.5 - Surprise
• Mixed 40 & Over 6.0 / 8.0 - San Diego
• Mixed 40 & Over 7.0 / 9.0 - Orlando
• 55 & Over 6.0 / 8.0 - Scottsdale

We see that every location is used each week except for San Diego skipping the third weekend.  And we see events are much more compressed with four to seven events each weekend.  In 2023, there were just two to four most weekends.

This means that some players that would go to multiple Nationals will have a lot harder time doing it this year.  Someone can still go to 18 & Over and 40 & Over at the same level as there is no overlap there (but they are nearly all consecutive weekends), but the schedule for Mixed makes it nearly impossible for someone to go at two levels in the same age division.  For example, in 2023, if you were a 4.0, you could have played 7.0 and 8.0 Mixed at either 18 & Over or 40 & Over as they were on different weekends.  That is no longer possible.

The main 18 & Over and 40 & Over Adult divisions are typically first and that remains the case, but are compressed down into nearly just two weekends (18 & Over 4.5 oddly is now the last weekend) instead of the typical four to five weekends.

Why was this done?  I'm not sure, but can guess the following contributed:

• USTA staff having to cover seven consecutive weekends of Nationals is a lot.
• Surprise was used for six consecutive weekends last year and may have wanted a reduced commitment.
• The USTA may have wanted to spread the Nationals experience around by reducing the ability for the same players to go to many events.
• The USTA wanted Orlando used every weekend of Nationals and it is hard to do so early in October with the chance of hurricanes.
• The USTA wanted to make it harder on me to get all my simulations and predictions done each weekend (just kidding).

Seriously, this will make it harder to follow along with many more events going on simultaneously.  I certainly will be busier if I try to pull of previews, simulations, and updates for all the events.

What do you think of this change?  Were Nationals too drawn out before and getting it all done in four weeks is better?  Or did you prefer the prior schedule?

It is 2024! What is going on with the 40 & Over format?

For my first post of 2024, I thought I'd take a look at how things are playing out with the court format in the 40 & Over division.

For those paying close attention or that read my post on the subject, you know that the National format for 40 & Over for 2024 is changing back to a 5-court format after several years of a 4-court format.  The 4-court format had some challenges, dealing with 2-2 ties for one, and was not very popular with many players, so the change back to 5-courts is welcome.

However, the change back did not just revert to the prior 2-singles / 3-doubles format, but instead is a 1-singles / 4-doubles format.  This is perhaps good for getting players matches, 9 line-up spots instead of 8, but doesn't address those wanting to play more singles.

Now, this change may not really be a change where you are.  Sections/districts/areas have always had the ability to run local leagues using alternate formats, and many do, and some planned to stick with 4-court or other formats for 2024.  It is still very early in 2024, but I thought I'd take an early look at what formats are being used.

Keep in mind that some leagues haven't started yet and I'm only looking at those that have started or at least have schedules up.  Also keep in mind that a given league may have multiple formats as sometimes lower or higher level flights will use a 3-court format to require fewer players.

With that said, as of today, there are 104 leagues that have flights continuing to use the 1-singles / 3-doubles format and just 42 that are using the National 1-singles / 4-doubles format.  There are even 9 choosing to use 2-singles / 3-doubles.  Still the 4-court format is far and away the most common.

And this isn't something where different sections have standardized on a format.  As of right now, only Eastern is using a single format (1-singles / 3- doubles) and there are others not using 1-singles / 4-doubles at all including Intermountain, Mid-Atlantic, Middle States, Midwest, Northern California, Pacific Northwest, Southern California, and Southwest, but all other than Eastern are using multiple formats.

I think this is an indication that the change in the regulations to a 4-court format was done late enough that many areas had already planned on continuing the format from 2023, or facilities prefer to not dedicate as many courts to USTA play keeping more available for other use.

What this means to players and teams is that as you progress through the season and advance in playoffs, the format used may change.  Local playoffs will likely use what was used in local league play, but come Districts, States, or Sectionals, you may need to field a line-up requiring more players, and certainly those that go to Nationals will have to use the 1-singles / 4-doubles format.  Keep that in mind as you recruiting players and get them matches to be qualified for post-season play.

What are you seeing in your area?  What reason have you been given for the format being used?