USTA Jr. Tennis

USTA Jr. Team Tennis

8U Kids’ Team Tennis – 36ft court

Baseball has T-Ball, Football has Peewee leagues

Even Basketball, Soccer and other sports start young beginner players out on a smaller playing field and with equipment that fits their size. Yet tennis does not. Until now….

The Atlanta division of USTA Jr. Team Tennis is launching a new team tennis format for boys and girls who are 8 and under beginners. It is designed for their physical size and capabilities. Play will be on a smaller court, with a shorter net, using a smaller racquet and oversized foam ball. USTA membership is required.

The court is 36 feet long and 18 feet wide. The baselines are the outside double lines. The net will be 2 feet, 9 inches high. Two/Four mini-courts can be created on an original full size court using masking tape (see diagram). Racquets are to be 23 inches or less and players will use an oversized Foam ball. Nets and foam balls will be provided to those facilities with 4 or more teams.

Teams will consist of 4-5 players with a co-ed format. Three singles (A, B, and C) positions will be played each week that will count towards the team score. Other exhibition matches can be played that do not count towards the overall team score. USTA membership will be required. The idea is to let every child play every week. Each child will receive a T-shirt, a foam ball of their own, and a cute T-shirt bag to carry them in.

Scoring will be no ad scoring (first to 4 points wins). First player to 6 games wins. Matches will last around 20 minutes, with the team match lasting less than an hour depending on the number of courts available.

Parents will be encouraged to participate in the matches as court monitors. Older junior players can also serve as court monitors. Monitors will be responsible for making sure the players keep the score correctly and are calling fair lines. All matches must have a court monitor. The major emphasis will be on sportsmanship first, not just winning.

Other sports are capturing children in their early years. This new format is designed to make tennis an easy sport to learn at an early age. Tennis is a great and fun game to play. The quicker and more skillfully a child learns to play, the more fun it is. The objective is to play while they are learning.

For more information on USTA Kids’ Team Tennis, you can contact resident Tammy Balsano at 678-546-1916

A Tennis Association for Kids (ATAK) 404-256-9543 www.atakthenet.usta.com

Leslie Sanders, Program Coordinator sanders@atakthenet.com