By Joan Marcinko, Senior Day Leagues Vice President
We had a most enjoyable spring season in the Senior Day Leagues, and we are looking forward to organizing a successful fall schedule. What makes playing senior tennis such a great experience? YOU!
In the many years I’ve been involved with senior tennis, there have been few reported incidents of poor behavior, cheating, and rule infractions. In fact, the Senior Day League has the lowest percentage (about 3%) of defaults and forfeits in all of ALTA. Maybe because it’s difficult to mess up a lineup with just three lines, or maybe it’s just a level of maturity being over 55. Whatever the reason, I hope it continues.
ALTA has been watching a current trend within all our leagues. We are seeing about the same number of players registering each season but a lower number of teams. Fewer teams usually means more travel. A Senior Day League team has three lines of doubles (six players per day), so in one season your schedule could include six or seven matches; that’s 6×6=36 or 7×6=42 slots to fill per season. We require a minimum of 10 players in our league.
If everyone played equally, that’s three or four matches for every player. But, if you have a big roster, say 15-18 players, then you can understand how it is stressful for a captain to play everyone even twice to qualify each player for playoffs. My thought to our senior captains is to consider splitting a large team into two teams. We will even help you recruit players if needed.
My second thought for our senior captains is if you do not enjoy being in a division of four teams (we do this mostly to help with traveling), please let us know when submitting your fall roster. During the roster submission, you have the capability in the “request for review” to make us aware of your concerns as we do the leveling and mapping process. We will try to honor your requests, I promise!
The last thought I have is about defaulting in ALTA. Even though our default percentage is low in the Senior Day League, it does happen. If your team needs to default say the third line, please do your best to let the opposing team know before match time. Players sometimes drive long distances to play only to find out they are not playing at all. Be courteous!
Roster deadline for the Senior Day League is July 11, 2024. Enjoy the remainder of your summer and plan ahead to join us for Senior Day League tennis.
