USTA Missouri Valley     Teams Have More  Success At League National Championships

The women’s tennis team from Chesterfield, Mo., representing the USTA Missouri Valley Section, wound up as co-champions with three other teams for the national title at the USTA League Adult 18 & Over Women’s 2.5 National Championships held at the Mobile Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama.

The Chesterfield team was scheduled to play in the semifinal rounds on Sunday morning against Jacksonville, Fla. But that match, along with the other semifinal pitting Bellevue, Wash., against Memphis was rained out. As a result, all four teams were named co-champions.

Chesterfield is captained by Britney Coffey and features Alison Drain, Emily Perez, Maria Nerissalene Perez, Maya Horsford, Megan Lynch, Sandy Lyons, and Tracy Abernathy, and plays at the Chesterfield Racquet Club.

The 4.5 women’s team from Oklahoma City captained by Laura Grooms also tied for 3rd place as the 3rd and 4th playoff could not take place in Mobile, due to weather.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year, to over 915,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.

USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels.  Players participate on teams in a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 Sections.  The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced).  USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older. 

The 2017 USTA League season will be the fifth season with the updated structure and format which offers four age categories (Adult 18 & Over, Adult 40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. The Mixed 40 & Over division also celebrated its fourth anniversary.  The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.

Head Penn Racquet Sports is in its 30th year as official ball of USTA League.