No more Early Start Ratings, how will captains recruit and form their rosters? New info from the PNW section

If you are a regular reader of this blog, this is not news to you, I've written before that Early Start Ratings are gone for 2017 leagues and the PNW section elected to not allow bumped up players to play at their early start level at Sectionals.  Southern on the other hand is allowing players to play through Sectionals at their early start level even though they can't play at Nationals at that level.

What is new is that in another PNW newsletter today, they provided a link to a page saying more about the subject and going so far as to suggest teams think about the implications of bump ups and make sure they have players of appropriate levels to accommodate potential bumps.

For example, an 8.0 Mixed team may have a roster full of 4.0 men and women.  If any of those players were to be bumped up to 4.5, they would be ineligible to play at Sectionals as they would have to play with a 3.5.  So the suggestion is to have a 3.5 or two on the roster so the bumped up 4.5 can still play.  Now the 3.5 still has to have played their two matches to be eligible for Sectionals, so they may have to play as a "7.5" pair or the team needs to have a corresponding 4.5 for them to play with.  Note that if a 4.5 were to be bumped up, they could not play at all going forward as a 5.0/3.0 combination is not valid for 8.0 Mixed.

This can lead to some interesting recruiting and team formation.  Do you get strong players for their level and risk them being bumped up at year-end and wreaking havoc on the roster?  Do you avoid having just just players at one level to give some flexibility?  Or do you avoid having only the "best" players to try to ensure you don't have problems?

To try to help players with this, I've been publishing some hypothetical early start lists for several different areas, and will likely publish more, and folks can use these to see if I project players to be bumped up at this point.  You probably wouldn't want to get a complete roster of players projected to be bumped up!

But the early start lists I publish don't show the players that may be just a hundredth or so away and could be bumped up at year-end, nor can you tell how close a player is that is going to Sectionals and could have their rating go up.  So if you'd like more information on a player or list of players, contact me and I can help with recruiting, player lists, team reports, or just regular individual reports to help you see where players are likely to be rated and their risk of being bumped up at year-end.

How are you going to form your early start team?

Earlier 2017 Manhattan Early Start List now for entire Metropolitan Region

I just updated the Early Start List I created for the Manhattan area in the Metro Region of the Eastern section to be for the whole Metro Region.  So many players cross over that adding the other three areas only made the list a little longer.

Enjoy!

Hypothetical USTA Eastern Metropolitan Region 2017 Early Start List

I've written about the USTA doing away with Early Start Lists and as a service have decided to publish some hypothetical Early Start Lists of my own.  I already published a list for Seattle, Southern Oregon, and Eastern Washington, and I thought I'd branch outside the Pacific Northwest so here is the Metropolitan Region district in the Eastern section.

Update: This was originally just the Manhattan area in the district, but I went ahead and made it the whole district given how many players cross-over to play in multiple areas.

But before you take a look at the list, the same comments and caveats as before still apply.

1. The list is based on my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings.  This is not a list from the USTA and is not to be used for registering for Early Start Leagues.  It is only hypothetical.
2. While my ratings are very accurate for the vast majority of players, they are not perfect and may be a few hundredths off in which case I could have a player at 3.52 and an early start 4.0 while their real rating is 3.49 which would be a 3.5.
3. Early Start Ratings do not necessarily tell you what your year-end rating will be, even if you don't play any more matches.  Year-end calculations factoring in playoffs and how your area/district/section did in playoffs can move player's ratings up or down from the Early Start level.
4. If you don't see your name and you expected a bump up/down, or you see your name and are surprised and want to know why, contact me at ratings@teravation.net and I can give you details on how to get an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Rating Report that will give all the background on why your estimated rating is where it is.
5. Note that I'm publishing this list a bit early.  I think the Early Start List for this area was published in August last year, but folks were interested so I'm doing it now.

With that said, on to the list!  The below shows only those players that I estimate would be bumped up or down on the Early Start List and I simply show a name, city, and the hypothetical Early Start level.  If your name isn't shown, I estimate your rating to be unchanged.

First the women:

Name	City	Level
Alma Weinstein	Bardonia	3.5
Amanda Meyer	Baltimore	3.5
andrea hamar	Bronx	4.0
Ann Marie Collins	New York	3.0
Anne Kelly	New York	3.5
Annette C Borst	New York	3.5
Antonella Karlin	East Rockaway	5.0
Ayako Minatodani	New York	4.5
Beth L. Mercante	Lido Beach	4.0
Blair Brzeski	New York	4.0
Cari Harewood	Forest Hills	2.5
Carol Ann Myers	Armonk	3.5
Catherine Donovan	New York	3.0
Catherine Jackson	New York	3.5
Catherine Tharin	New York	3.5
Charlotte Ganberg	Bronx	3.5
Chelsea Maeda	New York	3.0
Cindy Lacqua	Staten Island	3.5
Daisy Siemon	New York	4.0
Debra R. Bricker	New York	3.5
Denise A. Fiallo	New York	3.0
Denise K. Cohen	Ossining	4.0
Denise McDonald	Manasquan	3.0
Devon Carroll	Cold Spring Harbor	4.0
Donna Healy	Freeport	3.5
Dorsey W. Montenecourt	New York	3.0
Edna T Diolata	Brooklyn	3.0
Eileen Pollack	New York	3.0
Elaine Philis	New York	3.5
Elena Apostolides	New York	4.0
Elisabeth deBourbon	New York	3.5
Elizabeth Roesch	Brooklyn	3.0
Ellie Wang	Syosset	3.5
Esther Hong	New York	3.0
Evadne E. Bennia	New York	3.5
Evelyn Lamb	Brooklyn	4.0
Halina T. Pavels	New York	4.0
Heide Marie Bliss	Yonkers	4.0
Helene G. Messilaty	Hewlett	3.5
Hilary Finn	Brooklyn	2.5
Hyungran Lee	Fresh meadows	4.0
Inaya Assal	Bronx	4.0
Iris Shih	New York	3.0
Jane Beal	New York	4.0
jill deborah seelig	New York	3.0
Joy E. Tegtmeyer	New York	4.0
Julia Kates	New York	3.0
Justine Cooper	Brooklyn	3.5
Katarzyna Skalska	Middle Village	3.0
Katherine Hamilton	Long Island City	3.5
katie Leanne Walker	Forest Hills	3.5
Kayoko Ito	Eastchester	4.0
Kei Imanishi	Pennington	4.5
Kelly Henson	New York	3.5
Kimberly Pang	New York	3.5
Laura Parcell	Brooklyn	3.5
lauren savoy	New York	3.0
Leonila Jewell	Jamaica	3.0
Lily Tang	Brooklyn	3.5
Linda Eichenbaum	New York	4.0
Lorena Salgado	Ozone Park	3.5
lori grunsfeld	Staten Island	3.0
Luzan Moore	Long Beach	4.0
Margaret Gorman	Brooklyn	4.0
MARIJA CUTURIC	New York	3.0
Marina E. Galeano	Pleasantville	4.0
Mary Jane Reisinger	New York	3.5
Mary Keough	WHITE PLAINS	3.5
mehves sucato	Astoria	4.0
Melissa A. Murphy	New York	3.0
Michele D. Miller	Dobbs Ferry	4.5
Misha Monticciolo	Coram	4.0
Monika Granata	New York	3.5
Nancy Aranow	Hartsdale	3.5
Nesta George	Brooklyn	4.0
Nicola Chiba	New York	3.5
Patricia McNamara	New York	3.5
Rachael S Ellenbogen	Slingerlands	3.5
Randi Ann Coppola	Harrison	4.0
Rebecca L. Danchik	New York	3.5
Rebecca Wehrle	Haledon	3.5
Rezan C. Graf	Pound Ridge	4.0
Robin Brady	Bronx	3.5
Robin L. Breuer	Hackensack	3.0
Salpi Cooperstone	Merrick	3.5
Sara C Willett	New York	3.5
Sarah Ann Mannion	New York	4.5
Sarah Liddle	White Plains	4.5
Sondra Glueck	Great Neck	4.0
Stephanie Vogt	New York	3.5
Susan A. Bacey	Dix Hills	4.5
Susan A. Robichek	Haworth	3.5
Susan M. Peck	New York	3.5
Susan Smey	Putnam Valley	4.5
Susie Choi	New York	3.5
Suzanne Prezorski	Deer Park	3.0
Suzanne R. Shapiro	Long Is City	3.5
Tammy Caress	New York	3.5
Venus Jones	Bronx	4.0
Wanda P. Nadal	Glen Rock	3.5
Wendy Johnson	New York	3.0
Yelena Korolikova	Staten Island	2.5
Yimei He	Forest Hills	4.0

And the men:

Name	City	Level
Adam Gerber	New York	4.5
Adam J. Finkelstein	Greenwich	4.5
Alan M Friedman	New York	3.0
Albert Cousins	Long Island City	2.5
Amit Bafna	Englewood Cliffs	4.0
Andreas Berner	New York	4.0
Arthur Kell	Brooklyn	4.5
Bartosz Sikora	Ramsey	4.0
Blake Spahn	New York	4.5
Brad Dunn	Saugerties	3.0
Brady Bartlett	North Bergen	5.0
Brendan Alan Moser	Kew Gardens	3.5
Brett Cornell	Astoria	3.5
Cesar Gonzalez	Yonkers	3.5
Chau Khuong	Forest Hills	4.5
Chris McGee	Brooklyn	4.5
Christopher Daniels	New York	4.0
Christopher Walther	New York	4.5
Cidric Trinidad	Forest Hills	4.5
Dan Jones	North Merrick	4.5
Daniel Bindler	Merrick	3.5
Darcy Mitchell	New York	4.5
David Schwartz	Lyndhurst	5.0
David Seidner	Roslyn Heights	4.5
Devang Madhu Parmar	auburndale	5.0
Douglas Brian Savino	Chappaqua	4.0
eric shvartser	Brooklyn	3.0
Eric Yong Jin	Staten Island	4.5
Fungseng Mui	Brooklyn	3.0
Georgio A Dano	Staten Island	4.5
GowriShankar Vembu	Scotch Plains	4.0
H Steve Kim	New York	4.5
Han Bo	Middle Village	3.0
Horst Steinsdoerfer	Levittown	4.0
HSIAOPIN LIU	Farmingdale	4.0
Ian Katz	New York	4.5
Isaac Halpern	New York	3.5
Ivor Chan	Rosedale	3.5
Jason T Willinger	Beverly Hills	4.0
Jaspreet Singh	Hicksville	4.0
Javinne McCoy	Briarwood	3.5
Jeff R. Cunningham	New York	4.0
Jeremy Mindich	New York	4.0
Jodi Nainggolan	Levittown	4.5
Julien Morel	Astoria	5.0
JUNG HOON PARK	Little Neck	4.0
Ken wong	Brooklyn	4.0
Kevin carlyle Robinson	New York	3.5
Kevine Masuka	Hempstead	3.5
Koray Yilmaz	Brooklyn	3.5
Kuo Hung Wu	Bronx	4.0
Laurent Nguyen Ngoc	New York	4.0
Luc M Demortier	New York	3.5
Marc Spencer Werner	New York	4.5
Marcel Heinrichs	New York	3.5
Mariusz Jaskowski	Malverne	3.5
Mark E Daly	Forest Hills	4.0
Mark H Goldman	Port Washington	4.0
Matthew Spindler	Roslyn	4.5
Michael Joseph Casamassima	Smithtown	4.5
Michael T. Peterson	Brooklyn	3.5
Michael Tarlow	New York	3.0
Mikel Maurolagoitia	New York	4.5
Neil Torpey	New York	4.0
Nick Bridoy	New York	4.5
Nickola Ristic	New York	5.0
Ninad Shah	Whitestone	2.5
Nishad Deshpande	Astoria	3.5
omar stanley bailey	Brooklyn	3.0
Patrick Smollen	New York	4.5
Paul Zuffa	New York	4.0
Paulo Guilherme de Souza	Astoria	4.0
Randall Smalley	New York	5.5
Rick Y. Chen	Fresh Meadows	4.0
Roger S. Freed	Brooklyn	3.5
Rusty Wright	Pelham	4.5
Sadik Sendich	Staten Island	4.5
Scott Dainton	Forest Hills	3.0
Scott Rader	New York	4.0
Sean Hartley	New York	3.0
Seth Nelson	Kansas City	4.5
Seth Sarelson	New York	4.0
Stephane Aknin	New York	4.0
Stephen Reich	New York	4.0
Thibault Ducarme	New York	5.5
Thomas B. Bishop	Piscataway	3.5
Tim Shan	New York	4.0
Tongkun Liu	Forest Hills	3.5
Victor M. Mercado	Floral Park	4.5
Waihong Ho	Brooklyn	4.0
walter baker	New York	3.5
Wayne Freeman	Port Jefferson Station	3.5
Xavier Poutas	New York	4.0
Yixuan Ma	Long Island City	4.0
Yoshi Kobari	Brooklyn	4.5

Hypothetical USTA Pacific Northwest Eastern Washington 2017 Early Start List

I've written about the USTA doing away with Early Start Lists and as a service have decided to publish some hypothetical Early Start Lists of my own.  I already published a list for Seattle and Southern Oregon, here is another for Eastern Washington.

But before you take a look at the list, the same comments and caveats as before still apply.

1. The list is based on my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings.  This is not a list from the USTA and is not to be used for registering for Early Start Leagues.  It is only hypothetical.
2. While my ratings are very accurate for the vast majority of players, they are not perfect and may be a few hundredths off in which case I could have a player at 3.52 and an early start 4.0 while their real rating is 3.49 which would be a 3.5.
3. Early Start Ratings do not necessarily tell you what your year-end rating will be, even if you don't play any more matches.  Year-end calculations factoring in playoffs and how your area/district/section did in playoffs can move player's ratings up or down from the Early Start level.  And in the PNW section, our One Doubles league does count towards year-end ratings so those results can change a player's rating.
4. If you don't see your name and you expected a bump up/down, or you see your name and are surprised and want to know why, contact me at ratings@teravation.net and I can give you details on how to get an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Rating Report that will give all the background on why your estimated rating is where it is.

With that said, on to the list!  The below shows only those players that I estimate would be bumped up or down on the Early Start List and I simply show a name, city, and the hypothetical Early Start level.  If your name isn't shown, I estimate your rating to be unchanged.

First the women:

Name	City	Level
Angela Gibbar	Coeur D Alene	3.5
April Denike	Spokane	4.0
Ashley Michelle Macias	Yakima	4.0
Barbara J Seatter	Hood River	3.5
Barbara J. Umbdenstock	Spokane	3.0
Beth Orgain	Hood River	3.0
Bonnie J Osborne	Depoe Bay	3.0
Brenda Windsor	Hood River	4.0
Bridget Horner	Athol	4.0
Candace Kay Wing	Goldendale	3.5
Carol Ann Furman	Hayden	2.5
Carrie Engle	Portland	4.0
Cathi A. Lannon	Hood River	4.0
Charity Dawn Rose	Spokane	3.5
Chris Reitz	Hood River	3.0
Claire Griffin	Hood River	3.5
Courtenay Dey	Hood River	4.0
Crystal Eddy	Fairchild Air Force Base	3.0
Cyndie Lempesis	Post Falls	3.5
Dawn Marie Degrasse	Yakima	3.5
Debbie Lynne Fuller	Hood River	3.5
Diane L. Carey	Yakima	4.0
Gina Joleen Bryan	Spokane	3.5
Ginny Mahl	Otis Orchards	3.5
Iris Harrison	Sandpoint	3.5
Jackie Maryann Andrewjeski	Wenatchee	4.0
Jaime Morrison	Spokane Valley	4.0
Jaime Nicole Borton	Yakima	3.5
Jan L. Hodgson	Wenatchee	3.5
Jenessa Reid	West Richland	3.0
Jenifer M Christensen	Coeur D Alene	3.5
JENNIFER BELOY	White Salmon	3.5
Jennifer Joyce Senske	Spokane	3.0
Jeralyn Snellgrove	Mosier	3.0
Joani Roller	Wenatchee	3.0
Joanne Heyamoto	Spokane	3.0
Jody lee Davey	Richland	3.5
Judi M. Brown	Yakima	3.5
Julie Lubbe	Spokane	3.5
Karen Belzer	Kennewick	4.0
Katherine Bechtel Karlson	White Salmon	4.0
Kathleen E. Burns	Spokane	5.0
Kathryn Carlsen	Spokane	3.5
kathy pauline dinwiddie	East Wenatchee	3.0
Katie Laura Kinsfogel	Hood River	4.5
Kellee Ann Bates	Chattaroy	4.0
Kelley Aagesen	Dalton Gardens	3.5
Kiersten Shelby	Spokane Valley	3.5
Kimberley A Pierret	Pasco	3.5
Kimberly A. Bayley	Spokane	3.5
Kristina M P. Fager	Spokane	4.0
Kristina Van Breda Kolff	Spokane	3.5
Laura Stewart	Selah	3.0
Laurie Stanley	Spokane Valley	3.0
Lea Williams	Coeur D Alene	4.5
Leanne McEachern	Newport	3.0
Leslie Jones	Hood River	3.0
Liberty C. Andis	Yakima	3.0
Lindy Bentley	Kennewick	3.5
Lisa Ann Hagen	Spokane	3.5
Lisa Jane Dumais	Veradale	3.5
Lisa K Volle	Portland	4.0
Lorena Mayuga	Kennewick	3.5
loretta k gohd	Kennewick	4.0
Maria Alexandrovna Kostina	Hayden Lake	4.0
Maria Martin	Yakima	3.5
Marian L Menke	Spokane	3.0
Marjorie Byrne	Mt Hood Prkdl	4.0
Mary Pierce	The Dalles	2.5
Mary Robbins-Wenker	Yakima	3.0
Michele Yvette Ladd	Yakima	4.0
Minou Anh Thu Chau	Camas	4.5
Nancy Foley	Hood River	4.0
Nancy Lauck	Hermiston	3.0
Rachelle Janna Kershaw	Yakima	3.5
Rathini Woodworth	Richland	3.5
ReNae Michelle Sevigny	Yakima	3.5
Renee Goodman	Yakima	2.5
Sally J. Anderson	Hood River	4.0
Sandra Andrews	Newport Beach	4.0
Sarah Hamilton	Liberty Lake	3.5
Sharon Pataky	Liberty Lake	2.5
Stephanie Butler	Spokane	3.0
Susan C. Morrison	Zillah	4.0
Susan K. Servick	Coeur D Alene	4.0
tamey phillips	Dalton Gardens	3.0
Tammy Hutchison	Kennewick	3.5
Tracy Lea vanHalderen	Spokane	3.5
tracy lynn carlsen	Coeur d Alene	4.0
Valerie Whitman	Spokane	3.0
Xia Suter	West Richland	4.5

And the men:

Name	City	Level
andrew mesler	Wenatchee	3.5
Ariana Soroush Entezari	Spokane	4.0
Bart Keller Munson	Kennewick	3.5
Brad Teeter	Mount Vernon	4.0
Brett Alan Kaiser	Spokane	4.5
Bruce R. Johnson	Liberty Lake	3.0
Bryan G Osborn	Spokane Valley	3.5
Carlos Olivares	Yakima	3.0
Chris D. Andrus	Richland	3.5
Chris Dupont	Spokane	3.5
Christopher Osborn	Spokane Valley	4.0
Daniel Foster	Yakima	5.0
Daniel Higgins	Juliaetta	4.0
David A. Roth	Newman Lake	3.5
David Wallace Donaldson	Zillah	3.5
Dean M Stuart	Hayden	3.5
Derek John Peacock	Richland	4.0
Dillon Delabarre	Seattle	4.5
Duane Wilson	Liberty Lake	3.5
Duke D. Dixon	Coeur D Alene	5.0
eors markos	Twisp	3.0
Erle Furbeyre	Spokane	3.5
Gary Lackey	Yakima	3.0
James L. Degrasse	Yakima	3.5
Jason Ladum	Spokane	4.0
Jason Martin	Spokane	4.0
Jason Rubright	Yakima	3.5
Jeff Barker	Rathdrum	4.0
Jeong Lee	Auburn	4.5
Jepson West	White Salmon	4.0
Jesus Bravo	Richland	3.5
John Hooper Landefeld	Kennewick	2.5
John L Smoot	Kennewick	2.5
John Williams	Coeur D Alene	4.5
Jonathan Peacock	Richland	3.5
Joshua C Shoemaker	Richland	3.0
Keith D. Koch	Leavenworth	4.0
Keith M Metully	Spokane	4.0
Ken F. Burgess	Spokane	2.5
Kristofer Ramos	Tieton	3.5
Kristofer Wright	Spokane	4.0
Kyle Smithgall	Spokane Valley	4.5
Landon Martin	Cashmere	3.5
Mark Norman	Cheney	3.0
Mark Robitaille	Coeur D Alene	3.5
Marty Munson	Spokane Valley	3.0
Matthew Crusselle	Richland	4.0
Michael Rudick	Yakima	3.5
Mike Dean West	Spokane Valley	3.5
Mike L Christianson	Selah	2.5
Mike V. Aagesen	Dalton Gardens	3.5
Mitchell J Roach	Kennewick	2.5
Nathan Lipton	Richland	3.5
Nicholas Almeida	Frederick	3.5
Owen B. Suagee	Chelan	4.5
Patrick D DeMars	Spokane	3.5
Paul Bernard	Hayden	4.0
Paul Trotter	Yakima	4.0
Peter David Rayner	Spokane	4.0
Rahul Sharma	Greenacres	4.0
Richard Splichal	Spokane	4.0
Robert Kransberger	Yakima	2.5
Robert P. Cox	Selah	4.0
Ruben Garcia	Coeur D Alene	3.5
Scott D. Anderson	Spokane	4.5
Scott Dowson	West Richland	3.5
Scott Jacky	Yakima	3.5
Shaun Michael Whitney	Hayden	4.5
Terry A. Marden	Prosser	4.5
Terry J. McHugh	Post Falls	3.5
Tim Kast	Coeur D Alene	3.5
Timothy Miller	Ellensburg	4.0
Tyler Charles Van Horn	Yakima	4.5
Vincent Daniel Lopes	Snohomish	3.5
Vincent Paul Hood	Yakima	2.5
Wes Haynes	The Dalles	3.5

Hypothetical USTA Pacific Northwest Southern Oregon 2017 Early Start List

I've written about the USTA doing away with Early Start Lists and as a service have decided to publish some hypothetical Early Start Lists of my own.  I already published a list for Seattle, and had a request for Southern Oregon, so here that is.

But before you take a look at the list, the same comments and caveats as before still apply.

1. The list is based on my Estimated Dynamic NTRP Ratings.  This is not a list from the USTA and is not to be used for registering for Early Start Leagues.  It is only hypothetical.
2. While my ratings are very accurate for the vast majority of players, they are not perfect and may be a few hundredths off in which case I could have a player at 3.52 and an early start 4.0 while their real rating is 3.49 which would be a 3.5.
3. Early Start Ratings do not necessarily tell you what your year-end rating will be, even if you don't play any more matches.  Year-end calculations factoring in playoffs and how your area/district/section did in playoffs can move player's ratings up or down from the Early Start level.  And in the PNW section, our One Doubles league does count towards year-end ratings so those results can change a player's rating.
4. If you don't see your name and you expected a bump up/down, or you see your name and are surprised and want to know why, contact me at ratings@teravation.net and I can give you details on how to get an Estimated Dynamic NTRP Rating Report that will give all the background on why your estimated rating is where it is.

With that said, on to the list!  The below shows only those players that I estimate would be bumped up or down on the Early Start List and I simply show a name, city, and the hypothetical Early Start level.  If your name isn't shown, I estimate your rating to be unchanged.

First the women:

Name	City	Level
Alejandra Clemens	Woodburn	4.0
Amanda Marie Ahern	Bend	3.5
Amy Kirk Eklund	Eugene	2.5
Amy Patton	Ashland	3.5
Angela Mischelle Hamilton	Eugene	3.0
Ann B. Yost	Albany	3.5
Ann M. Frischkorn	Bend	3.0
Ann Martin	Salem	3.0
Anne Dean	Eugene	3.5
Annette Hatley	Keizer	3.0
Annette R. Henderson	Bend	3.5
Annette Thompson	Bend	4.5
Ashley Fear	Salem	4.0
Ayako Y James	Chicago	3.5
BARBARA GABRIELA GHIO	Salem	3.0
Barbara Vasquez	Ashland	3.0
Blanche P. Sabo	Canby	3.5
Bonnie J Osborne	Depoe Bay	3.0
Brigitte Doris Hamilton	Salem	2.5
Cara Cain	Salem	3.5
Catherine Frischmann	Corvallis	4.0
Catherine L. Muensterman	Bend	3.5
Charlotte A. Rieder	Salem	3.0
Cheryl B. Hunt	Eugene	3.0
Cheryl Yoder	Winchester	2.5
Christin Hinds	Salem	3.0
Christina Michelle Chapman	Salem	2.5
Dana Leigh Richardson	Salem	3.5
Diane Guthrie	North Bend	2.5
Edith Moerschell	Eugene	3.0
Elise Crum	Eugene	4.0
Elizabeth Harn	Eugene	3.0
Esther Celis	Eugene	3.0
Evangeline Laurie	Eugene	3.5
Gale Peterson	Sutherlin	3.5
Hildur Ragnarsson Schmidt	Bend	3.0
ILIMA ANN AIU	Bend	2.5
Jane Brass Barth	Corvallis	3.5
Jane Ingle	Eugene	3.5
Janet D. Wells	Central Point	3.5
Jeanne K. Haskell	Carmichael	4.5
Jennifer Ablow	Eugene	3.0
Jennifer Snelling	Eugene	3.0
Jerita Osmin	Bend	3.0
Judy Conroy	Corvallis	3.0
Judy Rowan	Redmond	3.0
Julie Flager	Aumsville	4.0
Julie S Duvall	Eugene	3.0
Karen S. Osuna	Eugene	4.5
Karin Hamm	Salem	3.5
Karin Main	Corvallis	2.5
Kathleen H. Lee	Philomath	2.5
Kay Riedl	Salem	2.5
kelli von maur	Eugene	3.0
kelly j morales	Salem	3.0
Kerry Moyer	Salem	3.5
Kim M Herber	Salem	3.0
Kimberly A. Quach	Portland	4.5
Kirsten Collins	Salem	2.5
krissi martes	Jasper	3.0
Kristen B. Wehrman	Bend	3.5
Kristin Lynn Nelson-Sick	Eugene	3.5
Kristina Ann Parker	Eugene	3.5
Laura Irene Steinwand	Roseburg	3.5
Laurel P Ewing	Bend	3.0
Laurie Hammill	Grants Pass	3.5
Leanne McEachern	Newport	3.0
Leslie A. Hofferd	Bend	4.0
Linda Campbell	Salem	3.5
Linh-Phuong Nguyen Nguyen	Salem	3.0
LISA VILSTRUP WITNAUER	Ashland	3.0
Liz O'Donnell	Corvallis	4.5
Lucy Skjegstad	Roseburg	3.0
Lynn R. Goeke	Salem	3.5
Lynne Lenker	Gleneden Beach	3.0
Margaret Swadener	Keizer	3.0
Marianne P Bradshaw	Salem	3.5
Marlene G. Enos	Eugene	3.5
Mary Anderson	Lake Oswego	4.5
Mary J. Hummel	Lincoln City	3.0
Maryclaire Collis	Bend	3.5
Nancy Walz	Ashland	3.5
Olivia Steele	Bend	4.0
Pam Tice Smith	Bend	3.0
raquel eleanor hecht	Eugene	4.0
Renee Elizabeth LaFrance	Eugene	3.0
Rhonda Caroline Lawson	Eugene	3.5
Robin Beckwith	Newport	3.0
Robyn Roark Morley	Salem	2.5
Ruby Marine	Bend	4.0
Saeko Kasai	Springfield	4.0
Sammi Lehmann	Corvallis	2.5
Sandra Berge	Bend	3.0
Sarah Medary	Eugene	3.5
Shelby Kristine Roth	Roseburg	4.5
Sheri L. Ambrose	Lincoln City	3.0
stacey clouse	Medford	3.0
Stacey Nyman	Bend	3.0
Stacia Hammond	Salem	3.5
Stephanie Rene Foreman	Salem	3.0
Susan A. Manganaro	Sunriver	3.5
Susan G. Massey	Bend	4.5
Susan J Wilson	Albany	3.0
Susan Shafroth Macomson	DuPont	3.0
Susanna R. Ross	Bend	3.0
Suzanne Algara	Eugene	3.0
Taylor Brook Root	Roseburg	4.0
Tracy Victoria L'Etoile	Bend	4.0

And the men:

Name	City	Level
Alan Karam	Salem	4.0
Anthony Losco	Eugene	3.0
Brian Whalen	Eugene	4.0
Bruce J. Brubeck	Eugene	3.0
bruce mckay	Eugene	4.0
Cole Eibel	Roseburg	4.5
Cory Frazer	Springfield	4.5
David Clark	Salem	3.5
Duy Nguyen	Salem	3.0
Erik Fernandez	Bend	4.5
George Owens	Jefferson	3.0
Hoang Nguyen	Portland	4.0
Jason Bradford	Corvallis	4.0
jerry a trapp	Junction City	3.5
Joaquin Peralta	Salem	3.5
John Bartell	Eugene	3.5
John Follett	Eugene	3.5
Kenneth Pierce	Grapevine	4.0
Michael L. Hughes	Klamath Falls	4.0
Rick S. Yurk	Salem	4.0
Robert Stevens	Salem	4.0
Ron P. Saunders	Bend	4.5
Stacy Chance	Eugene	4.0
Stan K. Ihori	Sherwood	3.0
Stephen Victor Robinson	Eugene	3.0
Steve Smith	Eugene	3.5
Travis Holz	Eugene	4.0
Warren Sablosky	Eugene	3.5
Will Calkin	Eugene	3.5
Zachary Leininger	Klamath Falls	4.5

USTA Pacific Northwest publishes rule for handling bumped up players playing on Early Start League teams

I received my latest newsletter from the Pacific Northwest section today and the decision on how to handle players playing on an Early Start League team that are bumped up at year-end seems to have been made.

As you may recall, the USTA is not publishing Early Start Ratings this year.  Since there will still be Early Start Leagues, players will simply register for these teams using their current year-end rating.  The question then becomes, do these players remain eligible to play at that level if they are bumped up at year-end?

From the newsletter, the PNW has decided no, bumped up players will not be able to continue playing at their lower level, specifically, they will not be able to play at their lower level at Sectionals.  Here is the specific language:

Players and captains need to be very mindful when a player is suspected of being very strong at the current rating. If the player bumps up in rating at year-end, s/he is not eligible to continue to Sectionals at that rating. The player may play on the team if there is a partner available at the appropriate rating.

What does this mean?  Say a 4.0 lady is playing on an 8.0 Mixed team (league starts in August/September) and is bumped up to 4.5 at year-end.  Should her team qualify to go to Sectionals, she would not be eligible to play as a 4.0 but could play as a 4.5, meaning she could continue to play but only if she now played with a 3.5 man instead of the 4.0 men she could play with during the regular season.

Why does the restriction to play at the new year-end level only kick in at Sectionals?  What about earlier rounds of playoffs or league play?  I think the reason is that most, perhaps all, Early Start Leagues in the PNW will complete their regular season during 2016, and those that have local playoffs will have those in November or early December.  Since year-end ratings are usually published after Thanksgiving, all or the majority of league play is complete before someone knows they are bumped up so that is a moot point.  And while local playoffs may be a week or two after ratings come out, I believe the logistics of informing teams who is/isn't eligible was considered difficult to do in the short period of time.

While I'd personally like to see the bumped up players have to play at their new level immediately, that is what is fair to the competing teams in my opinion, this approach seems reasonable.  It at least keeps players that would not be eligible at the lower level at Nationals from playing at that lower level at Sectionals.

Note that this approach is different, and in my opinion far better, than what the Southern section decided to do, which is to allow players to play at their lower level through Sectionals.  That means a team could win Sectionals and not be able to field a team at Nationals.  That is not fair to their competition at Sectionals that in effect had to play against an ineligible team and perhaps missed out on their chance at Nationals because of it.

What do you think?

The USTA is changing the rule regarding players 65+ being bumped up - No more discrimination!

A few years ago, the USTA instituted a rule saying that players age 65+ would not be bumped up an NTRP level at year-end, even if their rating indicated they should be.  I wrote about this in describing the appeal rules at the time and how such a player could appeal if they wanted to be bumped up, but also wrote how this was arguably discriminating against 65+ players as they couldn't be recognized for improving by being bumped up with the "A".

Well, enough of you complained that the USTA heard you, and apparently the rule is changing for 2016 year-end.  I was just learned that the language is changing to indicate that these players will be bumped up normally but can automatically appeal down should they not want to be bumped up.  This is exactly how I suggested the rule be changed as this would allow players to be recognized with their bump up, but those that felt they'd be overmatched at their age at the higher level could appeal down.

Thank you USTA for listening!