Opportunities Arise for 5.0-Level Men’s Competitors

Progress is underway with 5.0 men’s participants gathering once a month to play. Twelve men are registered for a Sunday league featuring two courts of doubles and one court of singles. The league will transition from indoor to outdoor in time for Sectionals in St. Louis the first week of August. One of the league captains, Nick Jannett, said there’s a solid core of men participating.

“Any time we can get everybody together and actually playing again is good,” Jannett said. “It’s good to hit again. Even though it’s only two teams, it kind of makes it fun.”

Huchet hopes to double up this effort in the fall with matches occurring every other Sunday. With a smaller pool to pull from at the 5.0 level, Huchet organized her 4.5 males to have a bye week once per month. That bye coincides with the 5.0s competing, so willing 4.5s can jump into the 5.0 league during their off Sundays.

Additionally, Huchet has created a tri-level plus non-advancing flex league that launches on April 6. This eight-week offering features three courts of doubles — one each for 4.0s, 4.5s and 5.0s — as well as singles opportunities. The league occurs Wednesday nights from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Dwight Davis Tennis Center. And if paired with a 4.0 player, 5.0s can join the outdoor mixed tri-level 9.0 combo league that begins March 20.

Players interested in registering for these options can contact Huchet via email at leagues@ustastl.com

Huchet noted in the past, one or two 5.0 captains attempted to organize five to six outdoor matches in June to be eligible for Sectional action. The USTA St. Louis team would compete against one other squad at Sectionals or even qualify directly for USTA Nationals with the USTA Missouri Valley pool being slim.

“I don’t want to lose them 11 months of the year and just have them interested for five weeks,” Huchet said. “I want them to play not every Sunday — I’m being realistic here — but maybe every other Sunday or at least once every month.”

Huchet has already seen her strategy pay off. John Black, head coach of the Webster University men’s and women’s tennis teams and a 5.0 who moved to St. Louis last year, contacted Huchet months ago. She had no solution for him then. But Black is now looped into the 5.0 winter league and playing USTA in St. Louis for the first time.

“I am very excited for them because they are the best of the best,” Huchet said. “It’s fun to watch them play on Sundays. They shouldn’t disappear. We like to have them also for One Night Mixed Doubles tournaments, which we run every month. We make those open or 10.0 so they can participate.”

With some of the groundwork laid, Huchet next hopes to expand her efforts to reach Kansas City and Oklahoma City. She has talked with USTA district league coordinators in those areas about a “Battle of the Districts” in which 5.0s travel to face fresh competition in participating Missouri Valley cities. It’s just one more piece of Huchet’s gameplan to provide 5.0s additional opportunities.

“We want to recruit more college students or previous college students,” Huchet said. “We have big universities around here that have tennis teams, and then we don’t see those players anymore. We want to keep them. We want to recruit and see them play. They love tennis obviously. They have spent so many hours on a tennis court to arrive where they are at. You don’t arrive at 5.0 playing once a week here and there. There should be room for them.”

To view the full calendar of USTA St. Louis indoor and outdoor adult league options, click here.