Are your Dual Matches too Long?

Depending on your conference and state rules, the number of courts you have and the format you are using for your dual matches, you may be faced with matches that regularly last more than four hours.

In Texas, where tennis is a co-ed sport in the fall, dual matches consisting of 19 individual matches can last up to six hours!

If your players are allowed to play both doubles and singles, one two or more matches must finish before the next matches begin. If you have four or fewer courts, players must wait their turn to play their matches sometimes two hours after they have initially warmed up and/or the match has started.

This makes tennis matches less than fan friendly, and during the end of a fall season or beginning of a spring season, means players may be finishing their matches after dark, or in temperatures 10 degrees or more colder than when the match began.

The USHSTCA would like to hear from coaches who's conference or states have addressed the problem of long matches, whether the attempts worked or failed, so that we may pass this information on to your fellow coaches in other states.

As the association grows, the USHSTCA hopes to become the national clearinghouse for information on high school tennis for each state, as well as help coaches find a voice with their state athletic association.

Below are the examples of three state's attempts to deal with the scheduling for high school dual matches.