The USTA will host the inaugural National Adaptive Championship December 14-16 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.  The National Adaptive Committee has created a format for cognitively impaired players to partner with non-impaired players in a competitive setting that is taking hold across the country within the USTA family.

 

The committee was charged with growing the game through the adaptive community, one that has been largely underserved in the past. Surveys showed that there was a great deal of interest in more competitive opportunities. In response, they created this ten-team doubles format where the teams are divided into two groups of five teams who will compete against each other in timed matches.  The winners of each group play off for the title.  The Middle States section has been using this format as a pilot program for several years with much success.

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All the sections were contacted to see if they would consider holding a qualifying tournament with this format, and the feedback was very exciting. The following sections have agreed to participate:  Middle States, New England, Eastern, Southern, Northern California, Mid-West and Texas.  The results of these preliminary tournaments will determine which teams travel to Orlando to represent their section to vie for the crown of National Champions.