Tennis Handbook

District One Team Tennis Tournament (updated 6.22.22)

The District One Tennis Chairperson will organize the Seed Meeting for Team and Individual Tournaments.  The District One Tennis Steering Committee members meet to determine which Schools/Individuals will participate in the District tournaments.  Schools/Individuals interested in competing in the District Tennis Tournaments must notify their League representative and/or the Tennis Chairman of their desire to participate.  Eligible Schools/Individuals will then be considered for entry into the tournament.  League representatives discuss their member school's qualifications and propose to rank them appropriately.  Seed meetings are open meetings, however League appointed Tennis Committee members are the only persons allowed to vote during this process.  Votes are counted and finalized by the District One Tennis Chairman.  Tournament Seeds are final at the conclusion of the Seed Meeting.

District One policy for number of teams entered into the District Tournament = Half the number of teams in D1 and/or 4 times the number of PIAA tournament qualifiers.

2022-2023 / 2023-2024 PIAA Enrollment Cycle

AA Girls Tennis – 16 D1 Teams / 1 PIAA Qualifier

AAA Girls Tennis – 60 D1 Teams / 4 PIAA Qualifiers

AA Boys Tennis – 13 D1 Teams / 1 PIAA Qualifier

AAA Boys Tennis – 56 D1 Teams / 5 PIAA Qualifiers

Girls Team Tennis - The D1 Steering Committee will seed up to 6 AA Teams and 16 AAA Teams.

Boys Team Tennis - The D1 Steering Committee will seed up to 4 AA Teams and 16 AAA Teams.

  • Dual matches must be completed before the Seeding Meeting.
  • A League Champion must be determined prior to the Seeding Meeting. 
  • The higher seeds will host all matches up until the Final. Home team may host the match even if they do not have five contiguous courts.
  • The final match will be played at a neutral site that has five contiguous courts.
TEAM TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION

Team Seeding Procedures

League Champions will receive an automatic bid into the team tournament.

  • Note: if a 2A school is a league champion, the league will not receive an automatic bid into the 3A tournament.

Steering committee will use the best of 5 head to head scoring to enter the remaining wildcard teams into the team tournament.

Steering committee will use best of 5 scoring to seed teams and rank them for the tournament.

Win-loss record and record against common opponents within and outside District One will be considered.

During the regular season, schools are required to enter Teams Schedules and report scores into the District One Website.  Coaches should report scores using 5 point scores.

Tournament Dates – can be found on the District One Website

Team Tennis Tournament Format

  • Each Tournament Team shall consist of three (3) Singles players and two (2) Doubles Teams. Players may only play one event (singles or doubles).

Team Ladder / Line-Up

  • Each Team shall establish a strength ladder from 1 to 10 with a 3 singles 2 doubles line-up that represents the strongest team. 
  • The team ladder should list students in descending order of ability.
  • This ladder/line-up is to be entered on the PIAA web site at the beginning of the District Team Tournament and presented to the tournament director and opposing coach on the day of each match.
  • With the exception of authorized substitutions for illness, injury, or other extenuating circumstances (as determined by the appropriate Tournament Director), a Team’s strength ladder line-up may not be changed throughout the respective District and Inter-District Team Tennis Tournament.
  • The first three (3) students shall play Singles in order that they are listed on the strength ladder line-up.
  • Beginning with the fourth student listed on the strength ladder line-up, any four of the remaining seven students may comprise the doubles Teams.
  • The Doubles Team having the highest level of ability shall occupy the number 1 position.
  • The Doubles Team having the second highest level of ability shall occupy the number 2 position.
  • No player shall be eligible for a Doubles Team unless they are listed on the Team’s strength ladder line-up
  • A digital Ladder / Lineup must be submitted to the Tennis Chairperson before the Team Tennis Seeding Meeting. 
  • Team Ladder / Lineups will be constant throughout the entire District and Inter-District (PIAA) tournaments.
  • Schools will be sent a Google Link by the PIAA office and/or the Tennis Chairman.  Schools must enter Team Ladder information through the PIAA approved process.

Team Tennis Substitutions

Option 1

  • Substitutions may be made only in case of illness, injury, or other extenuation circumstances (as determined appropriate by the Tournament Director). The school’s athletic administration and/or head tennis Coach shall provide supporting documentation for such substitutions.
  • An ill or injured player may be substituted for and then be reentered in the same position in the Team’s strength ladder / line-up, upon documented authorization from a licensed physician of medicine or osteopathic medicine.
  • Teams are prohibited from making substitutions that would allow an ill or injured player to be moved from playing singles to doubles, and then back to singles when the ill or injured player has recovered, even with a licensed physician of medicine’s or osteopathic medicine’s documented authorization.
  • (A team MAY elect to substitute or not substitute when the above authorized substitution conditions are present.)
  • Substitutions shall be made by utilizing direct-line substitution ONLY.
  • Substitution of a Singles player shall be made from the remaining seven students and shall result in the three Singles players playing in order of their ability, in accordance with the Team’s strength ladder line-up.
  • Doubles Teams do not have to be disrupted in order to replace a Singles player. When a Singles player substitution is necessary, and a member of one of the school’s established Doubles Teams is designated as that substitute, the resulting vacant doubles position shall be filled by a player from the Team’s strength ladder line-up and, therefore, shall not be filled from the school’s other established doubles Team.
  • Substitution of both Doubles shall be prohibited if only one of the two players experience an illness, injury, or other extenuating circumstances (as determined appropriate by the Tournament Director).
  • Furthermore, substitution of a player from one of the school’s established Doubles Teams to fill the spot of an ill/injured player on that school’s other Doubles Team shall be prohibited.
  • Finally, changing the strength order of the school’s Doubles Teams following any appropriate direct-line substitution shall be prohibited.

Option 2

  • NO SUBSTITUTIONS: if a team member is unable to play due to illness, injury or other extenuation circumstances (as determined appropriate by the Tournament Director) the coach may choose not to substitute that player.  That position is then recorded as a forfeit and the opposing team will be awarded a team point.  The opposing team will start the match with a score of 1-0 in individual matches.

Moving players in the lineup with the intent of gaining a competitive advantage is prohibited and shall subject the Team to default from the Tournament.

Rules of Play – Team Tennis

1. USTA rules will be followed and all rules pertaining to eligibility according to the PIAA By-laws will prevail.

2. Scoring will be traditional - best of three sets. If the score reaches “six-all” in any set, a 12 point tie-breaker shall be used to determine the winner of the set.

3. The only coaching will be during a two minute break, on the court, between first and second sets and between second and third sets if the players should split sets. They may take a five minute break and come off the courts at this time.

4. A written line-up must be presented simultaneously by both coaches prior to the start of the match.

5. Suggested Start times. Introductions are to take place at 3:15pm. Warm up with the opponent is to take place at 3:30pm and play begun by 3:45pm.

6. The modified penalty point system of USTA shall apply. The first offense is a warning. Second offense, one point. Third offense, one game. Fourth offense, default.

7. If a match is postponed due to weather it will be played on the next available date. If the match is postponed due to inclement weather, it must commence at the point of interruption.

8. The players will call their own score.

9. NO PROTEST RULE - Under PIAA there can be no protest of Contests as follows: “The Board of Directors, and District Committees will not consider any protest of Contests which are based on play situations or officials’ decisions involving interpretation or judgment of play … In no case will the results of a Contest be reversed nor will a Contest be ordered or permitted to be replayed … Questions regarding interpretation of rules or judgment of officials should be submitted, in writing, to the Executive Director.”

10.  The point a team has secured three wins, the remaining matches will be conducted using no-ad scoring effective with the next game regardless of set. This rule revision is for PIAA District and Inter-District play.

11. If both coaches agree to pull remaining matches off court, then those matches would be scored as not completed. No point will be awarded to either team and the match ruled as Incomplete.

12. If both coaches do not agree to pull the remaining matches, the team removing the player from the match would receive a loss by default. The opponent would be awarded a win.

13. At the point a team has secured three wins, the Tournament Director reserves the right to use a 10-point match tie-break set, in lieu of no add scoring, for the third set of play.

SINGLES / DOUBLES TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP INFORMATION

District One Singles / Doubles Tennis Tournament

The District One Tennis Chairperson will organize the Seed Meeting for Team and Individual Tournaments.  The District One Tennis Steering Committee members meet to determine which Schools/Individuals will participate in the District tournaments.  Schools/Individuals interested in competing in the District Tennis Tournaments must notify their League representative and/or the Tennis Chairman of their desire to participate.  Eligible Schools/Individuals will then be considered for entry into the tournament.  League representatives discuss their member school's qualifications and propose to rank them appropriately.  Seeding meetings are open meetings, however League appointed Tennis Committee members are the only persons allowed to vote during this process.  Votes are counted and finalized by the District One Tennis Chairman.  Tournament Seeds are final at the conclusion of the Seeding Meeting.

Tournament Dates – can be found on the District One Website.

Singles / Doubles Seeding

  • Girls Tennis - The D1 Steering Committee will establish:
    • 2A Single / Doubles – 6 Person Draw
    • 3A Single / Doubles – 28 Person Draw 
  • Boys Tennis - The D1 Steering Committee will establish:
    • 2A Single / Doubles – 4 Person Draw
    • 3A Single/ Doubles – 28 Person Draw

Participation in the District One Singles / Doubles Tournament is based on the number of schools participating in the League Dual Matches, determined by the approved seeding scale.

Singles / Doubles Seeding Criteria

A. Head to head interscholastic competition during current season.

B. UTR (Universal Tennis Rating) along with results from matches between common opponents during the current season. UTR will be used to determine Wild Card entries

C. Previous District One and State tournament experience/results including doubles may also be considered.

D. Similar qualifications or insufficient data will result in a draw for placement.

Notation for Doubles: The same criteria listed above will apply for doubles and consideration will be given to additional information from coaches.

Singles / Doubles Seeding Procedures

  •  3A League Champions (Girls -11) / (Boys – 10) will be reviewed using the seeding criteria and will be ranked appropriately by the Tennis Steering Committee.
  • 2A champions, or league’s highest AA entry, will be reviewed using the seeding criteria and will be ranked appropriately by the Tennis Steering Committee.
  • Steering Committee members may offer any #2 ranked league player for ladder consideration according to the results of the league tournament.  These players will be reviewed using the seeding criteria and if the claim is judged valid, will be placed in the appropriately ranked position on the tournament ladder.
  • The same procedure shall be used for the wild card qualifiers.
    • Example: #2’s could become 11, 12, 13, etc. If the player is placed in the top 9 the other players will drop down accordingly. The #2’s will not be placed higher than a #1 from the same league. The same will hold true for the #3’s and #4’s. 
  • Repeat step 2 for any #3 ranked league player.
  • Repeat step 2 for any #4 ranked league player. This will be the tentative ladder.

Singles / Doubles Placement on the Draw

  • Example – (AAA Girls Singles / Doubles – 32 person draw)
    • Step 1. The #1 seed will be placed on line one. The #2 seed will be placed on line 32
    • Step 2. The #3 will be placed on line 17 and #4 will be placed on line 16.  
    • Step 3. #5, line 9; #6, line 24; #7, line 25; #8, line 8.  
    • Step 4. The remaining players/doubles teams will be put on the unoccupied lines, alternating top and bottom, starting on the outside of the draw.  
    • Step 5. 3A Team members shall not play against each other in the first round. To prevent this from happening they will be placed on the next open line, on the opposite end of the draw.
    • Step 6. If by the luck of the draw a league #2 would meet their league #1 in the first round the would be placed in the other half of the draw on the next open line.  
    • Step7. The remaining players/doubles teams, by luck of the draw, alternating top and bottom, will be placed on the open lines.

Singles Qualifiers: Each league will set up their qualifying procedures to determine their representatives to the Singles Championships.

Doubles Qualifiers: To determine the representatives for the District One Doubles Championships a sectional or league doubles tournaments should be held after the Singles Tournament so players that have been eliminated in Singles competition may be a member of the doubles team competition.

  • To compete in the District Doubles Championships the Doubles Team must be comprised of two (2) students from a member school which sponsors a Tennis Team which participates in at least 50% of the maximum permitted number (9) of Regular Season contests in that Sport.

Independent Member Schools: Qualification procedures for independent schools to participate in the District One Championships are as follows:

Singles:

  • Independent schools, as a group, must organize and run a qualifying tournament. In the event arrangements cannot be worked out to the mutual satisfaction of participating independent schools, the resolution will be rendered by the District Committee.
  • Participation in the District One tournament will be based on the following:
    • 1 to 3 schools competing in qualifying tournament - 1 representative
    • 4 or more schools - 2 representatives
    • Others upon consideration of the committee.
    • The District One Tennis Chairperson must be notified of Independent School participation

Singles / Doubles Scoring

  • Modified "NO-AD” Scoring will be used in the 1st and 2nd round for 3A. Modified "NO-AD” Scoring will be used in the 1st round for 2A.
    • For the 1st and 2nd round matches, if the players split sets the third set will be played as a 10 point match tie breaker.
  • 3A Q-Finals, Semi-Finals and Finals will use regular scoring. 2A Semi-Finals and Finals will use regular scoring.
  • A 7 point tie-breaker will be used if the score reaches six all, in all sets.

Rules of Play – Singles / Doubles

  1. All PIAA rules governing athletic events are in affect. Modified USTA rules apply.
  2. The modified penalty point system of USTA shall apply. The First offense is a warning. Second offense, one point. Third offense, one game. Fourth offense, default.   Conduct on the court shall display good sportsmanship.
  3. The players will call their own lines. If there should be any questions, players may call time out and ask for a decision or assistance from the roving umpire. If there is no roving umpire, they may ask for the Tournament Director or Steering Committee member. Only committee members, not involved with coaching the match in question, may make decisions about the match. No one may leave the courts during this time.
  4. Warm-up time is not to exceed 15 minutes including serves. Play is to be continuous.
  5. A two-minute break, on the court for coaching, may be taken between first and second set. Only the coaches, designated by the schools of athletes participating, may be on the courts for coaching. A five-minute break, off the courts, may be taken if the players split sets.
  6. Break between matches – Singles, up to one hour; Doubles, 30 minutes upon conclusion of match of both players.
  7. At the conclusion of the match, both players report the score immediately to the tournament directors.
  8. Optic yellow championship balls will be provided. Balls are to be returned to the tournament table.
  9. No spectators will be permitted on the courts.
  10. If the District Singles and Doubles venue have both indoor and outdoor courts, the tournament will be played using all the courts (both indoor/outdoor) if available.
  11. Participants will be contacted by their league representatives regarding starting time for singles and doubles tournament. Contestants not at the courts by the scheduled times will lose by forfeit.

 

DISTRICT ONE TENNIS - GENERAL INFORMATION
 PIAA Classifications: 2A & 3A (refer to the PIAA website to determine a school’s classification).

Official’s Assignments

  • TEAM TOURNAMENT
    • The coaches of the playing teams will oversee the preliminary rounds of the tournament. Both coaches are responsible for water, and first aid. Scorekeepers are to be used if either team has them. The District Steering Committee will oversee the entire tournament. When available, a tournament official, appointed by the Tennis Chairperson, will oversee the 2A final and 3A final.
  • SINGLES / DOUBLES TOURNAMENT
    • When available, there will be a roving umpire for the tournament. Members of the Tennis Steering Committee will also rove when they do not have a player in the tournament.

Score Reporting

  • Team Match Scores during the season must be reported on the District One Website.
  • District One Team Championship scores must be reported to the Tennis Chairperson and the District One office

Contestants Attire

All tennis contestants are required to wear appropriate tennis attire (i.e. school issued tennis shirt and tennis shorts or tennis skirt) No exceptions are permitted.

  • The school’s name/nickname and/or/ school’s logo is permitted on the front and/or back of the school issued tennis shirt.
  • Shoes with soles that will leave discolored markings on competition surfaces are not permitted.
  • T-shirts, without school name/nickname, altered apparel, jeans, and advertisements (other than one visible logo/trademark not exceeding 2 ¼ square inches and 2 ¼ inches in a dimension on cap, headband, visor, school issued tennis shirt, and shorts or skirt; and/or a school’s name/nickname will not be permitted.

Match Balls

  • Official PIAA Tennis Ball – Wilson (WRT100101).   Match balls will be provided by the PIAA for the Finals and Singles / Doubles Tournament.  Balls will be distributed at the Seed Meeting. 

MEDICAL

  • School Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) should be on site when schools host District Team Tennis Matches.
  • District One Chairman will organize coverage of Certified Athletic Trainers (ATCs) for neutral site Team matches and the Singles / Double Tournament.
  • Athletes needing pre-match taping must supply their own tape/bandages.

Post-Season Coach Responsibilities

  • A Coach from each member school that has qualified Individuals and/or a Doubles Team to the Tennis Championships must accompany and supervise those persons representing that member school.
  • The member school may send a full-time professional employee of the school district in lieu of a Coach for purposes of accompanying and supervising the member school's qualifiers to the Singles’ and Doubles Tennis Championships.
  • The full-time professional employee must be a properly designated representative of the school of the qualifiers, and that individual must be fully responsible for supervision of the qualifiers.
  • In order to be eligible for District competition, players must be accompanied, for the duration of the competition, by either a coach or an adult with written authorization from their school. Such written authorization must be presented to the tournament chairperson prior to the start of the event.

Awards

  •  Team Awards
    • District Champion will receive a Team Trophy and 12 Team Medals
    • Runner Up will receive 12 Team Medals
  •  Singles / Doubles Awards -2A Champion and Runner Up will receive medals. 3A Champion, Runner Up, 3rd and 4th place finishers will receive medals