USTA St. Louis Uses Bag Tags, QR Codes to Help Promote Sportsmanship

Huchet made a series of key moves to make the nomination process easier and therefore increase the number of participants. First, she located a nomination Google form USTA Missouri Valley had already created and an accompanying QR code that takes individuals directly to that form.

Then, Huchet printed the QR codes on laminated bag tags and dispersed them to captains and co-captains. She also printed flyers containing the QR code for tennis facilities to hang on bulletin boards and in locker rooms.

“We always had sportsmanship nominations in St. Louis; it was just never really pushed,” Huchet said. “We were like, ‘How can we make this more in the forefront so people will see it and want to nominate players?’ The QR code has been a very easy access for players.

“The idea is at the end of the match — if you’re reporting your score to your captain — you’re like, ‘Oh my God, I had such a nice match today. She was so nice.’ The captain is supposed to have their tennis bag with them or around them. You can easily snap the QR code right on the spot. As you’re waiting for other players to come from their courts, you can fill out the form. It’s very simple.”

After scanning the QR code, players fill out their team name, the nominee’s name, what level they compete in and then comment on why the individual deserves to earn a good sportsmanship award. Players can only nominate opposing competitors and captains, not their own teammates. Huchet plans to hand out more bag tags to future captains so they remain in circulation.

Alyssa Stelmach, USTA Missouri Valley manager of adult leagues, said she initiated a sportsmanship campaign at the section level in 2020 after dealing with a rash of poor behavior and grievances in 2019. Stelmach created the Google form and QR code back then and passed them out at captain meetings. The response was initially good, but Stelmach said Huchet has taken the campaign to the next level with her bag tags concept.

“USTA Heart of America is also starting to look at creating bag tags as well,” Stelmach said. “As much as I would love to provide the tags to all captains from the section, it just isn’t in our section budget right now. Luckily the districts are taking a page from Severine’s book and running with it, too.”

Stelmach added USTA National caught wind of her QR code idea. The USTA National Championship director asked Stelmach to report back after a season of implementation to see how the initiative went. Stelmach saw an increase in nominations thanks to the QR code. So, USTA National carried out a similar system at Nationals in 2021.

For USTA St. Louis, each monthly good sportsmanship winner gains eligibility to receive the newly created USTA St. Louis Mary D. Vassar Adult Sportsmanship Award. This accolade will be handed out at the yearly USTA St. Louis Awards Celebration that takes place in November. Vassar retired from her post as executive director after a distinguished USTA St. Louis career that spanned four decades.

“We decided to dedicate this award to Mary Vassar,” Huchet said. “We thought we needed to keep her name in the St. Louis tennis community. She also felt very adamant and strongly about good sportsmanship, manners and behavior on the court. We felt this was the right person to name this award after.”