The USTA Missouri Valley staff and Junior Competition Committee (JCC) are happy to announce that all 17 USTA sections have come to a collective agreement as play commences. Leading into the 2021 unified junior tour, all 17 sections have agreed to terms that will help create consistent playing opportunities across the nation. The USTA Missouri Valley is dedicated to working with all sections to ensure unity in the sport’s junior competition.
Since all players will be operating off of the same ranking and tournament structure starting January 1, 2021, the USTA sections Junior agreement aims for equal section L3 and L4 point opportunities, consistent dates for district L5 tournaments, encouraging safe play, and adjusting to the new environment. Each USTA section has agreed to the following:
● Sanction one Level 3 tournament that will count for national points in the 2020 and 2021 rankings
● Sanction up to four Level 4 tournaments for the 2020 national rankings
● Sections can include up to eight Level 4 tournaments in the 2021 rankings
● In June, only levels 6 and 7 tournaments can count towards the 2021 rankings
● Starting July 1, levels 5, 6, and 7 tournaments can count towards the 2021 national rankings
● Starting July 25, levels 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 tournaments can count towards the 2021 national rankings
In the month of June, all USTA Missouri Valley district level 5 tournaments will be awarded level 5 points in the section junior standings list in 2020 rankings and level 6 points towards the 2021 rankings. The USTA Missouri Valley will be providing more information regarding resuming ranking in the coming weeks.
For sections that are not able to resume regular programming at the beginning of June, this agreement will limit competitive 2021 junior national standings advantages for players residing in areas less impacted by COVID-19. Players of all sections will not be harshly impacted if one chooses to ease back into competitive play. View the full USTA Missouri Valley announcement here.
With the agreement amongst sections complete, the USTA Missouri Valley is able to move forward with strategically rescheduling the section level 4 tournaments. For the remainder of 2020, the following are the dates for section level tournaments:
Sept 5-7
L4 USTA MV #4
September 19-21
L4 USTA MV #5
October 3-5
L4 USTA MV #6
November 7-9
L4 USTA MV #7
View the full schedule with locations and tournament ID numbers.
Please note that the USTA Missouri Valley has removed the October 24 and December 5 Level 4 events.
For the full USTA Junior Section agreement, please click here.
*The dates and tournaments are subject to change. Please contact Noah Bortnick at nbortnick@movalley.usta.com for up-to-date information.
