Ron Cioffi/USTA Southern

Procedures for all southern championships

Click here for the USTA Southern procedures for all USTA Southern Sectional Championships in the 2012 championship year.

Registration Procedure/DEADLINE

To register your team for the USTA Southern Super Senior Sectional Championships in Columbus, you must:

-- Register at least six players. These players must be the team roster in TennisLink before registering to compete in this tournament.

-- Register within a week of the conclusion of your state's tournament.

-- As a captain you may register yourself or you may register your entire team. If captains prefer to register the entire team, all you will need is your team number and a credit card. Please contact your State League Coordinator (or your captain) or check TennisLink if you do not know your Super Senior team number.

-- Registration fee is $40.00 per person and we will utilize PayPal.com to retain registration payment. The process is simple and secure and does not require a PayPal account. Registration fees are not refundable.

-- Players registering after Nov. 15 will incur an additional $25.00 service charge.

Click here to register.

Click here to verify team registration.

This link allows you to search by team number to see if your captain has registered your team.

Team Deposit Check Now Required

Captains are required to submit a team deposit of $250.00 to the USTA Southern office within two weeks of the conclusion of your State Championships.

Please write the following on your check:

* Captain's name
* 60s or 70s
* Gender
* NTRP level
* State

Make the check out to: Southern Tennis Association.

Mail the check to:
Southern Tennis Association
5685 Spalding Drive
Norcross, GA 30092
Attn: Dene Owen

The deposit check will be held by the USTA Southern office until the conclusion of the 2012 USTA Southern Super Senior Sectional Championships. If teams pull out before the draw is published, the check will be refunded. If the team pulls after the draw is published, the deposit will be forfeited.

IMPORTANT NOTE

Captains must notify their State League Coordinators within 7 days of their state tournament if the team will not attend the Southern Super Seniors Sectional Championships.

Rain Delay Phone Number

If we might have a rain delay, call 888.434.0998 for schedule changes. This number is for captains only, to cut down on the cost of the service.

Levels: Super Senior 60

Men’s & Women’s Teams at 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5 levels

LEVELS: Super Senior 70

Men’s & Women’s Teams at 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 levels

Registration at the tournament

Captains may register team beginning Thursday, Nov. 29 at 4:00 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel Columbus by Hilton.

Captains' Meeting

Captains’ meeting will be held right after registration Thursday, Nov. 29  at 5:00 p.m. Doubletree Hotel Columbus by Hilton. (Captains only)

Host Hotel

Doubletree Hotel by Hilton Columbus
5351 Sidney Simons Boulevard
Columbus, GA 31904
706.327.6868
800.222.8733
Click here for general hotel information.

To make reservations at the DoubleTree Hotel By Hilton Columbus, you may call 706.327.6868 or 800.222.8733 and reference the USTA Southern Super Seniors group rate or you may go to the DoubleTree website, enter the dates of stay, click on the link to "add special rate codes" (written in blue), and enter the group code (CRT).  The special group rate will be available until November 15, 2012.

preferred hotels

Click here to get a list of preferred hotels from CORTA, the Columbus Regional Tennis Association.

Tennis Facilities

Tournament headquarters

Cooper Creek Tennis Center
Click for online map
4816 Milgen Road
Columbus, GA 31907
706.317.4186
www.corta.org

Country Club of Columbus
Click for online map
2610 Cherokee Avenue
Columbus, GA 31906
706.322.4441
www.ccofcolumbus.com

Green Island Country Club
Click for online map
6501 Standing Boy Road
Columbus, GA 31904
706.324.7191
www.greenislandcc.org

Contact

Chris Walling, USTA Southern Section Director of Adult Tennis
walling@sta.usta.com, 770-368-8200

Dene Owen, USTA Southern Section Director of Events
owen@sta.usta.com, 770.368.8200

Ron Cioffi, USTA Southern Director of Communications
cioffi@sta.usta.com, 770.368.8200

Schedule

Play will begin on Friday, Nov. 30, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. Schedule will be posted on this web site by Friday, Nov. 16, 2012. Each division will be scheduled for three days of play. Finals will be scheduled for Sunday at 12:30. 2:00 and 3:30 p.m.

Rain date: Monday, Dec. 3, 2012

Players may play in both Super Seniors 60s and Super Seniors 70s; however, there will be no accommodation to schedules.

2012 Southern Section League Championships Cancellation Policy

Should inclement weather or other circumstances prevent the completion of a Section Championship, the Tournament Committee will determine whether the matches played at the point of cancellation will be used to determine round robin group winners and a champion and finalist in each of the levels.

If the Tournament Committee determines that there was a lack of "equal opportunity" for all teams in the level due to the schedule of play, the Tournament Committee will place all teams in a drawing to determine the champion and finalist in each level. (For instance, in a five-team round robin, one team may be in first place at the time of cancellation with two matches played, while other teams in the round robin have fewer matches played. This example would not provide "equal opportunity" for all teams in the round robin and would not be used to determine the round robin group winner). If any team in a round robin flight is mathematically out of contention at the time of championship cancellation, it will be excluded from the drawing.

The Tournament Committee has reserved courts for Monday, Dec. 3 as a rain date. Initial travel plans should not be based on this date, as the Tournament Committee would shorten format, play at night, etc. first.

Tournament Committee

Bonnie Vandegrift, Chris "CJ" Walling, Dene Owen, Kathy Hinrichs, Dodie Hanchett, Mike Mathes, Phil Meador.

submit stories, ideas for our website

Captains are encouraged to write stories about their teams for this website. Teams or team members always have great stories about their love of tennis and overcoming adversity to play USTA League.

Please submit text and photos to USTA Director of Communications Ron Cioffi. If you would rather not write a story, please send Ron an e-mail about what is special about your team. He and our media intern, Nick Woodbury, will contact you shortly before the tournament to write a story or make a video about your team. 

Format/Rules

Each of the nine states will send one team in each level. A wildcard team is selected in each level to complete a 10-team draw with two groups of five. More than one wild card may be used to complete draw of 10 teams where possible. Each group plays a round robin with group winners advancing to the finals.

Each team match consists of three doubles matches. The format of play will be best of two sets with regular scoring and a set tiebreak at 6-all in each set. In the event of split sets, a match tiebreak (first to ten points with a margin of two) will be played in lieu of a third set with no breaks and no coaching. The Coman tiebreak is used for Section Championships.

If a team has a known default (not enough players to field a complete team), the opposing team will have the opportunity to take their scorecard back and resubmit the lineup. If the opposing team has not turned in their scorecard, they will be notified of the defaulted line prior to turning in their scorecard.

The format may be changed due to inclement weather. In the event of a tie in the round robin (two or more teams with the same team record), the group winner will be decided by:
1. Most individual matches won
2. Fewest sets lost
3. Fewest games lost
4. Head to Head winner
5. Coin toss

All standings are final 48 hours after the conclusion of championships.