2026 Good Chase Sportsmanship Race begins third year

The Good Chase Sportsmanship Race continues with a trip for two to the US Open and four trips to ATP/WTA tournaments for great sportsmen. This is the third year of the program.

In addition to the Grand Prize of a trip for two to the US Open, there will be four other Mega Prizes with trips to four ATP and WTA tournaments in the South and adjoining states.

The “Good Chase” contest will take place from November 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026. USTA Southern and Match Tennis App have partnered to promote good behavior from players during tournaments.

The tiered reward system shall be as follows:

• Five Nominations Southern Section Selected Award: Bag Tag
• Quarterly Prizes: Each state will present quarterly awards to the boy and girl who receive the highest number of nominations. To ensure fairness, nominations for each state reset to zero at the start of a new quarter.
• Mega Prizes: The Good Chase Sportsmanship Race offers participants the opportunity to win Mega Prizes, which are premium tournament experiences at select 2026 professional tennis tournaments. These prizes are awarded based on accumulated nominations within specified periods leading up to each event After the nomination cutoff for each Mega Prize, known as the ''Freeze Selection Date," nomination counts for that specific prize will reset to zero. This allows participants who have not won a Mega Prize to compete afresh for the next Mega Prize. While a participant can only win one Mega Prize, they remain in contention for the Grand Prize.

Below are the details for each Mega Prize event:

Mega Prize - Delray Beach Open

• Nomination Open Date: Nov. 1, 2025
• Includes: Two tickets for Monday, February 16, 2025, providing access to Stadium Court Reserved Seating. Tickets are non-transferable and may not be resold.
• Event Dates: Feb. 13-22, 2026
• Freeze Selection Date: Jan. 12, 2026

Mega Prize - Credit One Charleston Open

• Nomination Open Date: January 13, 2026
• Includes: Two Tickets. Tickets are non-transferable and may not be resold.
• Event Dates: March 28-April 5, 2026
• Freeze Selection Date: March 2, 2026

Mega Prize - Cincinnati Open

• Nomination Open Date: March 3, 2026
• Includes: Two Tickets. Tickets are non-transferable and may not be resold.
• Event Dates: August 11-23, 2026
• Freeze Selection Date: July 13, 2026

Mega Prize – Winston-Salem Open

• Nomination Open Date: June 15, 2026
• Includes: Two tickets for two sessions, valid anytime from Monday-Thursday, Aug. 22-26, 2026. Tickets are non-transferable and may not be resold.
• Event Dates: Aug. 22-29, 2026
• Freeze Selection Date: July 27, 2026

In addition to the tiered awards, there shall be a Grand Prize Sportsmanship award given to the player with the highest number of nominations. The Grand Prize Sportsmanship award shall be awarded annually with the player who has the highest number of qualified nominations in the set time period being awarded the Grand Prize.

US Open Grand Prize

• Nomination Open Date: Nov. 15, 2025
• US Open Ground Pass Tickets $300.00 for 2 provided by USTA Southern
• Airfare $800 provided by Match Tennis App 
• Hotel $500 Grant provided by USTA Southern
• Event Dates: Aug. 30-Sept. 13, 2026
• Freeze Selection Date: July 31, 2026

Announcement will be made during the first week of August, after the July 31 cutoff.

Limitation on Points Allocation per Tournament

Pursuant to the regulations of this competition, participants shall be eligible for a maximum allocation of six (6) points/nominations for the individual designated as the nominations leader during a single tournament. All other participants shall be entitled to a maximum of five (5) points per tournament.

Voting Integrity

To maintain the integrity of the sportsmanship award system, several measures shall be implemented. The nomination process shall be monitored to ensure that nominations are valid and legitimate. The number of nominations that may be made by a single person shall be limited to prevent any one person from unfairly influencing the results. Parents or players who vote for themselves or their child shall be automatically voided. The technical system is designed to disallow such action. Additionally, each nomination shall require the nominator to fill in a text field listing the opponent of the match and why they are nominating the player, thereby encouraging votes for players who have earned it through action rather than simply for being friendly or popular. Participants can vote for a player as often as desired during the contest period, but only a maximum of three (3) nominations for any one person will be counted towards the contest standings. Finally, the nomination data shall be regularly reviewed and analyzed to identify any suspicious activity. Appropriate action shall be taken to ensure the integrity of the award system.

Violation of USTA

Violation of USTA Rules

1. If a player receives a code violation, 2x the number of code violation points will be deducted from their cumulative nomination points to date in conjunction with the removal of nominations received from the coded event.

2. If a player receives a 2nd code violation, they will be automatically removed from the Good Chase Sportsmanship Race.

Legal Disclaimers
The sportsmanship award system is an optional feature within the Match Tennis App and is not required for participation in USTA Tournaments. The USTA Southern Section and Match Tennis App shall not be held responsible for the conduct of individual players or the outcome of any matches. Awards are subject to availability and may be substituted with a similar item at the discretion of the Southern Section or sponsor. The USTA Southern Section and Match Tennis App reserve the right to modify or cancel the sportsmanship award system at any time without notice. By using the sportsmanship award system, users agree to be bound by these legal policies and disclaimers.

Rules and Regulations

1. All players must reside within the current USTA Southern section to be eligible for nominations towards the USTA Southern Good Chase Sportsmanship Race.

2. All nominations received are subject to validation by the Sportsmanship Committee.

3. Family members cannot vote for their own family.

4. Players cannot vote for themselves.

5. Each player, parent, coach, or tournament official may only nominate one player per tournament and may replace that vote at any time during the tournament up through the last day of the tournament.

6. For equity and fairness, each player will be capped at 5 nominations per tournament with an allowance of one additional nomination given to the player who received the most nominations in an event, for a possible total maximum of 6 nominations per event.

7. All players who accumulate a minimum of 5 approved nominations between November 1, 2025- July 31, 2026, will receive a sportsmanship bag tag in recognition of their exemplary sportsmanship.

8. The player who receives the most approved nominations between November 1 - July 31, 2026, will receive the Grand Prize Trip for two to the 2026 US Open.

9. If a player receives a code violation, 2x the number of code violation points will be deducted from their cumulative nomination points to date in conjunction with the removal of nominations received from the coded event.

10. If a player receives a 2nd code violation, they will be automatically removed from the Good Chase Sportsmanship Race for the year.

11. A player may not earn more than one Mega Prize per year and may only win the Grand Prize once.

Grand Prize Tie Break

If there is a tie for the Grand Prize, the winner will be selected based on the following  criteria–

1. A number will be computed by counting the number of tournaments where the player received the highest number of nominations. This count will be compared to other tied players to determine the winner.

2. The total number of nominations received by a player throughout the entire time period, exceeding the maximum limit of 5 nominations per tournament, will be considered if there is still a tie after the first criterion is evaluated.

ODDS

• The total number of nominations is calculated by multiplying the number of participants by the number of opportunities to participate and the number of nominations per opportunity–

  • 6500 participants x 12 opportunities x 5 nominations per opportunity = 390,000 total nominations

• To calculate the odds of winning, we divide the number of winning nominations by the total number of nominations–

  • 1 winning nomination / 390,000 total nominations = 0.0002564 or 0.02564%

• Therefore, the odds of winning the contest are approximately 0.02564%.

This document serves as the official guideline for the Good Chase Sportsmanship Race. Participants are advised to read and understand these terms before participating.