USTA St. Louis to debut pilot league focused on inclusion and competition

A new USTA St. Louis inclusive league that begins later this year and utilizes the World Tennis Number rating system will enable players to participate without requiring them to declare a gender.

“We have made it non-gendered,” said Sherry Taylor, adult program manager for USTA St. Louis. “A husband and wife could play against each other. It could be a man and a woman on one side versus two women on the other side.

“We’re hoping to get four teams. I know I have two captains for sure, and I’m meeting with them to see if there’s going to be the ability to get other players. I’ve had a few people reach out to me about wanting to play in it.”

The non-advancing pilot league is slated to begin in early August. Other USTA organizations have formed similar offerings and have had success.

The International Tennis Federation’s World Tennis Number system was implemented by the USTA in 2022. It rates players regardless of age or gender using one set of numbers. The new USTA St. Louis league is for players with a WTN ranking of 24-31, roughly the equivalent of a women’s 4.0 NTRP ranking.

“We figured we’d pilot it at the level of the players that were coming to us,” Taylor said. “If that works, we can expand it to other WTN rating levels in the future.”

The USTA St. Louis league comes in the aftermath of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee directing every National Governing Body — including the USTA — to adopt and align its athlete safety policies with the USOPC’s new policy. Read the USTA’s player eligibility policy here.

Local tennis player Valerie Green, who transitioned from male to female beginning in 2018, was informed she would no longer be eligible to play in the USTA women’s leagues and tournaments in which she previously had competed. She had played on two teams in USTA Leagues. One of the teams she was part of folded midseason in protest.

“It seems to me that recreational tennis is all about anyone who wants to play should be able to play,” said Cindy Harrison, one of the women who approached Taylor and Megan Kovacs, USTA St. Louis executive director, about the issue.

Added Judy Frain, another individual who approached USTA St. Louis: “For some people, tennis is very recreational, but people enjoy the competitiveness. There are people who really miss that part of tennis. Perhaps in the future, it can be opened up to a greater number of people taking part in something like this.”

USTA St. Louis has been accommodating throughout the process, according to Frain.

“I’m optimistic that this will be an outlet for a lot of people,” she said. “I appreciate all the work USTA has done to help this happen. I know Sherry put in a lot of work into this.”

Harrison and Frain believe the solution of the new league should lead to more changes.

“Valerie was rated 4.0 and played in 4.0 women’s leagues,” Harrison said. “I have played against Valerie at least four times, and we split. So in my mind, she is exactly where she should be playing.”

“The WTN is supposed to eliminate any gender bias with the numbers,” Frain added. “It opens it up to a lot more possibilities of how people can play together. I don’t know why it’s not a bigger part. I guess part of it is just tradition.”

A tradition that may be changing.

Check out additional stories from across the USTA Missouri Valley connected to Pride Month by clicking here.