(Letter to the Editor - Graphic Illustration/MetroCreativeConnection)

I recently attended both the A/AA WV regional tennis tournament in Morgantown and A/AA state tennis tournament in Charleston. The format for these and the AAA tournaments changed this year to a Universal Tennis Ratings (UTR) driven format with every state player and team seeded by an ever-changing ranking based on individual matches won or lost prior to regionals. According to the WVSSAC, there were claims that under the old format the regionals and state tournament never looked like the regular season.

All during the regular season #1 single players only play #1 single players from the other team, #2 singles vs #2 etc., clear through all doubles matches so you are always playing at the same level with everyone having a chance for a state championship in their respective class at regionals and state tournaments. That opportunity all ended this year with the new UTR format.

After a team competition the first day of regionals, the next day brought a singles tournament where every singles player was placed in a single bracket based on their UTR rating. You suddenly can have a player who played all year at #4 singles going up against a #1 player from another team (or even worse your own #1 teammate). Only the top 4 players advance to the state. The next day brought the doubles tournament where every doubles team was placed in a single bracket based on their UTR rating with only the top 2 teams advancing to state. NEITHER of these single or doubles formats match the regular season, which is one of the reasons claimed to make this change.

I saw players at the regional in tears as they eliminated their own teammates from a chance to compete at all in the state tournament. Fans watched awkwardly as this happened unable to cheer or root for either player or doubles team. Coaches refused to coach their players under these circumstances. The thrill of cheering all day for your team was replaced by the empty gut feeling of watching somebody’s hope of playing in the state tournament erased by their own teammate.

If this change was made as stated because somebody felt the old format looked nothing like the regular season, I would argue that the new format looks even less like the regular season and will discourage participation in the sport for all but the elite players.

Jerry Thorne

Vienna