You may continue to post your comments concerning your 2008 Season
| Name | State | City | Comments |
| Sept. 15th 2007 | Petition was mailed to the USTA National League Director. | ||
| Janet Herbert | MD | Baltimore | |
| stephanie mills | md | baltimore | This has just happened to our 4.0 sr women's team. (Jacob) After 1 year of practices, training, sacrifices, our win has been stripped away. It is most unfair, penalizing us for getting better throughout the season. Shame on USTA for punishing people for exceeding their personal best. |
| Sheryl Stephenson | MD | Baltimore | |
| teresa christofferson | MD | baltimore | Why don't you wait till the end of the season. People spend alot of $ going to these tournaments to find out they are DQ. You should stay your rating for that season. The reason was to not bring in ringers but it penalizes people when they play alot of matches. This practice is just down right stupid. |
| Rachel Beltran | MD | Baltimore | |
| Wendy Bonas | MD | Phoenix | Player |
| Marcella Miller | MD | Reisterstown | CoCaptain and player |
| Diane Haggart | MD | Baltimore | I believe the computer rating should last the whole year until the new computer rating comes out after Nationals. From season to season. It is almost a penalty for success and good faith. |
| lee vosters | de | bethany | It is particularly egregious to make an entire team suffer because of this rule especially since the offending player has no way of knowing if they have strikes against them. If senior players are benchmarked they should not have to be subjected to this system. The USTA has caused significant bad blood over ill conceived rules for quite some time. It is time for a change. |
| Ed Stone | MD | Baltimore | Former Captain: This rule is an injustice to devoted, conscientious USTA members and players. For computer-rated players, the "three strikes and your out" rule should apply a revised rating only to future matches. It would appear that someone at USTA doesnt trust in the security of their own computer-rating system since they are compelled to erase previously certified match results as though the player involved was some kind of crook... |
| Richard Fussell | MD | Baltimore | Player and Captain |
| Pamela Macht | MD | Baltimore | player |
| Lisa Luray | Md | baltimore | |
| lindsay Gallagher | MD | Baltimore | The time, money and travel involved for players is considerable. DQ's during sectional tournaments is unreasonable and does not build up USTA tennis involvement. |
| Karie N Hogan | MD | Lutherville | How can a player with a 4 year playing record at 4.0, who has a computer generated dynamic rating, suddenly jump to the next level during a sectional tournament? After months of clinics, practices, matches and preparation, both mental and physical, we would all hope to bring our very best game to the court. To then be DQ'd because you have played in good faith at the level asigned by the USTA dynamic rating system is unjust. This rating system needs to be revised immediately. Too many honest players are being denied the opportunity to complete their season. The fact that this type of DQ occured at a sectional tournament after competing for months at the local and district level, is even more of a mistake within the system. |
| Jacob Zylberberg | Md | Baltimore | Player/Captain |
| kaye Wittelsberger | Md | Baltimore | |
| larry O. Keeney | Md. | Severna Park | We play hard all season to get to the Sectionals, yes we hope to play at our level & higher, not lower & for that Get DQ? |
| ashley parriott | md | baltimore | |
| Sharon Tiahrt | MD | Glen Burnie | |
| Millie Schaefer | PA | New Freedom | A player who generated a rating from sanctioned USTA play in 2006 (especially bench marked players), should be allowed to play at that rating for the entire 2007 USTA season including Districts, Sectionals and Nationals. Disqualifying a player because they worked at becoming a better player over the course of a year and peaked at Districts or Sectionals (which we all strive for) is an irrational and unfair penalty. Bump that player up at the end of the 2007 season. The only players who should be subject to the current rule are the "self-rated" players. |
| Gail Zylberberg | MD | Baltimore | When a player is playing at their level and only at their level, to DQ's them at the Sectional level is terrible. Somewhere a player should be notified beforehand that strikes are against them and not when they are fighting for a championship match. All team members are hurt by this. Thanks. |
| Debbie Hill | MD | Phoenix | |
| Julie Langis | MD | Baltimore | |
| kimberly warren | md | baltimore | |
| Shelena Wright | Md | Owings Mills | |
| Colleen Pierre | Md | Baltimore | I am a USTA player and captain. I find the disqualification of computer rated players during playoffs and championship matches patently unfair. Computer-rated players should not have their ratings changed until the end of the season. |
| Cecil Herbert | MD | Baltimore | This is very unfair |
| Peter Levy | MD | Baltimoire | I am a captain of a men's 3.5 team. The system as it exists is unfair. Perhaps players should be dq'd from playing future matches but the should not be dq'd after the fact when they have been playing by the rules all along. |
| Laura Bull | MD | Baltimore | |
| Barbara Grochal | MD | Baltimore | Player - Team member of the Senior's Team, the Blue Bombers, that won in September 2007 in Virginia and then had our captain retroactively DQ'ed. A ridiculous rule like this is what keeps tennis players from choosing to participate in USTA. |
| Mark Eckley | MD | Baltimore | Captain |
| Judith A Davies | MD | Hunt Valley | The DQ was so totally unfair when imposed in the middle of a sectional tournament. If the player is to be DQ'd it should be done BEFORE she and her teammates spend their time and money to participate in a tournament (and in all good faith, playing to win it). Truly unbelievable and unfair. |
| Mary Anne Facciolo | MD | Baltimore | What an arcane rule! What it really means is that "no good deed shall go unpunished." |
| Julie Edwards | MD | Westminster | Player, new to USTA last year. |
| Karen Regan | MD | Timonium | player |
| Tracy Butz | MD | Sparks | Player |
| David Gates | MD | Glen Burnie | I believe the rule in question, was intended for ringers and those who are better than their self rating. Any player who has been computer rated for more than two years should not be bumped up until the end of the calender year. |
| LL | PA | Philadelphia | I agree that players shouldn't be punished once they have reached championships at ANY level, but the big problem is the NTRP system - especially the appeals process, which allows the same players every year to have their ratings LITERALLY CHANGED AND LOWERED to their old level. So, each year many are playing against players who the COMPUTER SAID were out of level - maybe by only a tiny bit - but accumulate these little reductions over the years and you have a bad system. Also, the "Secret" NTRP Ratings means we never know what number has been re-assigned to the appealed as well as self-rated player. So, if you are getting DQ'd, start by pushing for transparency in the entire system and NO APPEALS. |
| Richard Jensen | FL | Boca Raton | Player |
| carol larned | md | baltimore | |
| Key Wagner | MD | Baltimore | |
| Sue Gardiner | De | Wilmington | captain and player!! AGREE....if the computer says you're a 4.0, they should NOT be able to DQ you during post season play. Let the computer decide |
| brian stanley | md | accokeek | |
| Tom Sperling | MD | Columbia | Speaking as a computer-rated player who was DQ'd in the middle of a playoff. |
| Michael Shoemaker | MD | Baltimore | player |
| Ted Manescu | MD | Baltimore | Captain 6 yrs, 3 teams in 07, also player. Current system is totally unfair. Something must be done to correct these injustices. Players should not be DQed at sectionals if they have played 4 or more matches during the season. |
| Stephen Bass | MD | Baltimore | |
| Elyse Jacob | MD | Baltimore | Captain and Player, I write to give even more evidence of the disreputable nature the USTA dynamic disqualification rule as it impacted me and my team at the Mid-Atlantic Sectionals this past weekend September 14-17, 2007. I am a lifetime USTA member, 52 years old and I've been a bench mark 4.0 player for the past 3 years (2005, 2006, 2007) I have been on teams that made it to districts for all of those years. Over the past decade I have volunteered my time to the USTA and have brought so many players to or back to USTA league play. As a captain I am known for playing fairly and going by all the established USTA rules. All my players play at least 3 times, most more, and I go out of my way to make all feel part of the team and happy about their experiences. What happened to my Sr. team this past weekend was far beyond my control or anything that I would of or could of dreamed of happening. Instead of getting an award from USTA for my years of hard work I got a huge "DQ" that feels like a "scarlet letter." And worse than that my team is devastated, and instead of being on our way to Nationals we are all left very angry and upset. We want our well earned matches put back in our record and at a minimum we all feel USTA needs to pay our hotel and other expenses for putting us in a "no win" situation. My hotel room alone was $400. If you look my record up on the USTA website tennis link, you will find the recent DQ that just got added to my name this past weekend at Senior sectionals in Newport News. Be sure to note the so called secret "3rd strike" came on a 7-6, 6-4 win, hardly a sign or a "ringer" I played with the same Sr. partner that I have been to 4.0 Sr. districts with for the past 4 years. If any USTA official was watching this match they would have seen how my partner and I struggled, but fought to pull out that win as we have so many times before. My opponents if asked would most likely be saying "how did we not win that match." My wins have never been "blow outs" my weapon is my competitive spirit and fight to the end. It appears that I was DQ'ed for this gift and for pulling out too many matches too many times. I am an aging athlete who plays tennis, not some ringer brought in or hidden to the final moment. I would think a ringer would be thrown out in their first few post season matches. It took me 11 post season matches to be thrown out. It is ironic that my goal for so many years was to get to Sectionals and beyond. After all these years of playing this year was the first time I ever was on a team that made it to Sectionals. Now I finally got there but only to get DQ'ed. This of course not only affected me personally but my team would be the team going on to Nationals if my matches that I played as an eligible honest player were counted instead of "stolen" from me and my team. The case study that is listed on the petition website is quite similar to mine with a few different details but basically the same. And I like her have been made to feel like I did something wrong but I know I didn't. One big difference I do need to point out is that the mid-atlantic section coordinator did take the time to talk to me and did not make me feel like it was my fault. She was sympathetic and I do believe she honestly felt bad but said it was a National rule that was beyond her control. On the last and final day of districts I did sit out because of the DQ and my team still won without me. I am just one person part of a team. Had I known that playing at sectionals would mean I would get a DQ and my matches would be "stolen" from me and my team, I would have never stepped on the court. I am a total team player and captain. There were 3 strong players sitting out while I played and they certainly would have been happy to play. I want to help in any way I can to prevent this from continuing to happen. It is so wrong to have secret ratings and secret strikes that a player does not know about with no warning or without any chance of removing oneself from a team. If I was told not to play I would not have played, my team didn't work all summer to get this far just to have USTA throw it all away. The computer dynamic rating system is clearly flawed and must be changed. I will also add that my Senior mixed 8.0 USTA team was also at sectionals and if that had been scheduled before my woman's 4.0 matches I could have played with them but instead I had to sit on the sidelines and watch for two days. Also interesting is that despite me not playing my team still came in 2nd, so again I was just one among other strong players on that team. As the co-captain of that team I did stay and route them on but it was very painful to stay to the end and to be the "talk of the town". I could not even go to the bathroom without hearing others talk about me. Lastly, my adult 4.0 team "The Firecrackers" is on their way to Nationals at the end of October and there is a rule that allows me to still play at Nationals with that team because that sectionals had already been played. Of course I am happy I can still play at Nationals but really it makes no sense that I can play for that adult team but could not play for my Sr. teams? All of those adult matches still stand even though I am the same person who played those matches the month before. What the "dynamic computer rating" won't show you as that on the adult team there are several players stronger than I am, but they are not seniors so I feel I am penalized by having captained another team that went to Sectionals and did well there. This past weekend was by far the worst weekend I can remember ever having. My goal was to get to Sectionals and beyond and I can assure you I never want to get there again. |
| Sam Miller | MD | Reisterstown | player |
| Barbara Nitsios | MD | Towson | |
| Stacy Fried | MD | Owings Mills | |
| Marcella Miller | Md | Reisterstown | What a shame to think about DQ'ing individuals who work hard all year.. then work harder to compete at the next level. What is USTA thinking about "secretly" striking people??? USta needs to think about warning players before going on to districts and sectionals before DQ'ing them. Who in their right mind would go out there to play if they knew there was a possibility of hurting their team?? NO ONE!! While I have enjoyed my time playing USTA, i will certainly reconsider belonging to such an organization |
| merideth | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| Cari Kramer | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| Patti G. Leland | MD | Baltimore | player |
| Turtle Marshall | FL | Treasure Island | Captain, Player |
| Gillian Meigs | MD | Balto | |
| maria wetherington | md | baltimore | |
| siobhan obrien | md | baltimore | player |
| Kim Arnold | MD | Timonium | |
| Mary Ellen Curtis | MD | Baltimore | |
| Julio M. Espinoza | MD | Forest Hill | Player |
| Tricia Sturm | MD | Baltimore | I'm a player and I think DQ of this nature during a tournament is senseless. |
| michele luczak | md | owings mills | |
| Mary Ann Sattler | MD | Baltimore | This rule should apply to Self-Rated players only and should be enforced before regular season play is over. Unfortunately, the current rule indicates that the USTA's computers cannot properly rate its players; therefore, the system is gravely flawed. The computer system needs to be adjusted to allow all marginal players to be "weighted" for higher level play instead of being weighted as a "marginal" player at their current level. Regular season play will either keep them at that level or bump them back down. |
| Sandra Kempske | MD | Towson | |
| Patty Faby | md | lutherville | captain, elyse jacob was unjustly dq'd |
| Cindy Parrish | MD | Timonium | |
| robin hendrson | md | towson | |
| Leigh Ann Schneider | MD | Timonium | Player |
| Esther Hoffberg | MD | Reisterstown | player |
| Amy Hart | MD | Baltimore | Do not Disqualify players if they are at sectionals or nationals. |
| cecile buzzerd | md | lutherville | player |
| Julie Brafmann Dorkan | MD | Timonium | Player |
| Sandra Cassard | Md | Lutherville | Player |
| Jeanne Weiner | MD | Baltimore | |
| Jean Su | MD | Glen Arm | Player |
| Nancy B Galligan | MD | Lutherville | Player |
| KIm Kemeys | MD | Towson | |
| Cindy Turner | MD | Timonium | Player |
| Carole Michel | MD | Lutherville | |
| mina horn | md | reisterstown | |
| martha adams | md | lutherville | |
| Lisa O'Donovan | MD | Timonium | |
| Nancy Meyer | MD | Baltimore | |
| Faith Kauffmann | MD | Glen Arm | |
| Amy Glaser | MD | Owings Mills | |
| Cheryl Lynch | MD | Baltimore | Teams should not be penalized for playing well!! |
| Jennifer Booth | MD | Lutherville | |
| Rachel Gillman | MD | Lutherville | |
| Ilene Fidel | MD | Owings Mills | |
| Jaime Brennan | MD | Mt Airy | Player |
| Susan E. Hillis | MD | Baltimore | I have been trying to get a 4.0 rating for several years. I can't get it. If I am a little better than a 3.5 player and beat them consistently but the computer won't give me a 4.0--Is that my fault that the computer won't give me my due. I think this is unfair. |
| Amy Ruth | MD | Baltimore | |
| Susan Ziegfeld | MD | Reisterstown | |
| Norris Middleton | VA | Fairfax | Captain & Player The system penalizes the wrong players. It should be monitoring the "Self-Rated" players who make a mockery out of the system |
| Sandy Hollifield | MD | Sparks | |
| Fran Pruce | MD | Owings Mills | Player |
| lisa billig | md | owings mills | |
| Cathy Layne | MD | Timonium | |
| Evelyn Schroedl | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| Diane Maupai | MD | Towson | Player |
| Carolyn Abell | MD | Baltimore | |
| EVELEEN SHARPE | MD | TIMONIUM | PLAYER |
| RICHARD SHARPE | MD | TIMONIUM | PLAYER |
| LINDA ZEIGLER | MD | TIMONIUM | PLAYER |
| sharon powell | de | ocean view | player |
| Joyce Rothwell | MD | Baltimore | Team captain |
| Wende Levitas | MD | Reisterstown | The disqualification should be reconsidered. It was unfair that the player was not notified of her status earlier, there were other team members to play so the whole team would not be penalized. It doesn't make sense !! |
| Stacy Schwartz | MD | Baltimore | |
| marlene honkofsky | MD | Owings Mills | |
| dovita lerner | md | lutherville | |
| Robert J Spielberger | NJ | Marlton | 3.5 Senior Player. There should be transparency in all rules, NO Secrecy! |
| Kristen Mahoney | MD | Baltimore | Player, Come on USTA, do your job and carefully consider these well reasoned arguments. Just because you are a monopoly doesn't mean you get to ignore the reality of this flawed sectional disqualification process. |
| Gail Millison | MD | Lutherville | |
| Barbara Hyatt | MD | Reisterstown | |
| Colleen Mcmillan | MD | Baltimore | This is a very unfair practice and discourages playing on many teams. |
| Jeanne Walker | MD | Westminster | Player |
| Stephanie Broderick | md | finksburg | |
| Martha Clasby | MD | Baltimore | 3.5 Captain |
| Suzanne Lyons | MD | Hampstead | Player |
| Alan Kaplan | MD | Baltimore | Player/ Captain |
| Diane Krejsa Levy | MD | Towson | Player and Captain (7 teams,including adult, senior, mixed and senior mixed) Computer -rated players should be disqualified at year-end only. To do otherwise, discourages self-improvement, and unfairly penalizes all team members. |
| Emily Frank | MD | Baltimore | System seems too secretive to be fair. Penalizes mid-season the hard working player who is striving to improve his/her ranking. |
| Roger McCarra | MD | Jarrettsville | In year disqualification should apply only to 1st year self rated players |
| Susan Escobedo | MD | Lutherville | Player |
| Sylvia Jones | CA | Los Altos | This rule does nothing to encourage people to continue to compete in USTA and almost defeats the purpose it sets out to accomplish. I would suggest that a computer rated player should only have a rating changed at the end of year. To do so post-season at sectional championships seems unfathomable. I vote to rescind this rule/practice as soon as is humanly possible if USTA wants to be perceived as an organization that responds to its members concerns. |
| Kathryn Bauman | MD | Hunt Valley | |
| DAVID MASKELL | MD. | BEL AIR | E.JACOB |
| Eric B. Bass, MD, MPH | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| hedy brandt | md | ellicott city | |
| George Dalphon | MD | Elkton | Player |
| Hiroyo Fisher | MD | Columbia | Elyse Jacobs |
| Julie A. Greene | MD | White Hall | |
| ashley parriott | md | baltimore | |
| Linda Dauses | MD | Baltimore | player |
| Julie Szymaszek | MD | Lutherville | |
| Laura June | MD | Baltimore | |
| Frances Logan | MD | Timonium | |
| Emily Hart | MD | Columbia | |
| DONNA SPIELBERGER | NJ | MARLTON | |
| Julie Dillon | MD | Glenwood | Player - I agree that once you are a computer rated player the system should hold that persons rating through the season. |
| Rebecca Hyman | MD | Baltimore | As a captain and player I agree this rule should be for non-rated players. We should all be encouraged to improve our games, not to be DQ'd because we improve mid-season. |
| Beverly R. James | MD | Randallstown | |
| Lynne Hauff | MD | Ellicott City | League Coordinator & 4.0 Capt. |
| Sandra Fastie | MD | Baltimore | very unfair to players |
| Susan Noyes | MD | Baltimore | player |
| dan oriza | ca | laguna niguel | Player |
| jane tscheulin | md | baltimore | |
| kristo miloslavic | ca | cypress | |
| Marc Klamecki | TX | Lewisville | Player, |
| Mark Mihalco | CA | Seal Beach | I am the captain of my team and we agree that this was unfair to disqualify a player, especially since we had a player disqualified AFTER he played in the finals of our sectionals. |
| Steven Eperthener | CA | Long Beach | Any disqualification should be prior any playoffs. |
| Daniel Oriza | CA | Laguna Niguel | player |
| Rick Covey | CA | Huntington Beach | |
| Torcuato Diaz | CA | Anaheim | |
| Mark S Mahan | CA | Fullerton | After matches during the season, player should not be DQ in Playoffs |
| srdjan nastasic | ca | lakewood | Player |
| Thomas Howell | CA | Yorba Linda | player |
| Cary Bazan | TX | Little Elm | Captain, I don't know the whole story but view the name Tor Erickson on tennislink, you could put this down for a worse case scenario that happened here in TX Sectionals this August |
| Linda Gilligan-Maresco | NY | Bronx | I think Striking out legitimate computer rated players during Playoffs is outrageous. If players get to playoffs they should be allowed to play through till Nationals. Strikes should be eliminated during playoffs for legitimate computer rated players. The key to the whole problem is "legitimizing" computer rated players during the season. ONLY self-rated players should be eligible for striking out during their first year or 15 matches whichever comes last. |
| James Yauch | TX | Carrollton | I fully support this petition. |
| Bill Kies | CT | Old Greenwich | |
| Jason Lyon | AR | Conway | Captain |
| ABE Torkelton | MA | Boston | |
| karen Paterakis | MD | Baltimore | |
| Jodi Fields | NY | Ardsley | Captain and Player......completely unfair to the individual and their team. One can be computer rated for years and you are working hard to win every match, and then you get it taken away during tournament play. Nobody wants to worry they might get DQ'd during sectional play and nobody wants to ease up on some games either just so their opponent could win a few. |
| Jeff Deming | NC | Davidson | Captain |
| Lynne Gunter | DE | Hockessin | Player, Captain of the 2003 4.0 Sr. Women's National Champions |
| Kirby Martin | TX | Plano | Captain |
| Mike Cope | GA | Snellville | |
| Patti VanSlingerlandt | MI | Troy | |
| Jeff Butler | MI | Eastpointe | Multi-Captain, teaching pro, multi team player-- I agree that no one should be DQ'd by the time they reach sectionals, and certainly the team is harshly penalized for doing exactly what they did in good faith all year. |
| William Flournoy | MI | Grosse Pointe | Captain |
| Robert Borck | CA | Fremont | |
| justin madison | tx | garland | |
| Jan 1st 2008 | Petition again mailed to the USTA National League Director. | ||
| mark l | MI | grand rapids | player |
| Corey Solender | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| Gina Palombi | FL | Melbourne | Player-it's a shame because you will ultimately loose USTA members. I am very disappointed with the whole thing. Gina |
| Jon Williams | TX | Beaumont | Player/Captain |
| Ben Howerton | GA | Roswell | DQ'ing a computer rated player because of poorly defined "strikes", during a season, makes zero sense to me. I personally have no idea if I'm barely a 4.0 or on the brink of being bumped to 4.5. So do I play 4.0 this summer again? I shouldn't have to guess at those answers. |
| michael getz | tx | beaumont | |
| ernestine swart | nc | greenville | This is a very unfair situation for both the player and the team. |
| Sindee Simon | TX | Lubbock | Captain |
| Jordan Solender | MD | Baltimore | Player |
| Miranda Hinds | SC | Florence | Player. I have a friend that had a grievance filed against him Aug. last year and was bumped to 4.0. As a result, our team could not compete in the State Championship; the whole team was penalized. Three weeks ago, the same individual was DQ'ed though he and his partner had lost twice this year at 4.0. There are other "appeal rated 4.0's" that have not lost and have even won at 4.5 this year and have not been DQ'ed. How do "appeal rated players" get their 3 strikes? These guy's continue to advance to the State Championship, get bumped up and get their appeals granted. If these guys have enough information to beat the system, it should be shared with everyone. |
| Rowland Carrol | SC | Florence | Player. There is no other sport that a team is disqualified because an individual improves his level of play during the season. This is contrary to competitive sports. |
| Barbara Sullivan | GA | Grayson | USTA & ALTA Player/Former Captain |
| Damon L. Shortt | SC | Florence | Player |
| Kevin Wise | SC | Florence | The current system needs to be fixed. It is not fair for a player with a computer generated rating to be bumped up during the season. Not only does it penalize that player but it hurts the entire team. It is even more unfair to disqualify a player with a computer generated rating during state or sectional championships. They should not be moved up until the following year. |
| Timothy D. Kothari | TX | Irving | Dynamic DQ is lacking in many areas but it is sure better than nothing. Let's consider a top player in his or her level that isn't 100% either being hurt or not feeling well during the match but refusing to retire and losing badly due to just going thru the motions and not trying to win since they do not feel they can & the computer gives their opponent a strike or a DQ due to the score! WHAT? Yes, some players want a loss rather than retire if they can't win. The need for more really experienced umpires to make these calls at the championship levels instead of just what the computer is spitting out is evident for circumstances like the above and many more as well. It's a double edged sword...very hard to predict when a sandbagger will pop up and then you may be in the position of wishing the computer would red flag and DQ someone. Yes, sometimes the whole team pays the price when matches are taken away but most players know when they have a ringer on the team and roll the dice when they go along with it. There should be some kind of way for team members to alert the USTA when they think someone on their team is clearly out of level so they don't waste their time and end up in a position of it costing the whole team matches. Then if the USTA doesn't DQ the player prior to Sectionals, all matches thru nationals should stand no matter what the computer says. Just my opinion...don't punish the whole team if the rating has been questioned by the players own team mates who think the players is out of level if certified accurate by the USTA prior to Sectionals. |
| rusty branch | tx | allen | player, captain |
| Christopher Ritchie | WV | Charleston | |
| Richard Kent | MD | Ellicott City | Please no Dq's at Sectionals. It is a disservice to the entire team. |
| Chris Scott | WI | Neenah | I'm a team captain for an Adult league team and also a mixed doubles team. |
| Cynthia Bakken | WA | Redmond | Why would we pay to join an organization that penalizes great efforts or an individual who really works at improving at our sport? Dynamic Disqualification shoots itself (or the player) in the foot. It's feeble attempt to level the playing field, it only succeeds in rewarding a player who doesn't get better too fast or doesn't improve too much or the worst... cheats to try to get the scores a little closer. It punishes a player who is successful at the object of the game... winning! |
| Niki Thornton-Walsh | WA | Redmond | Tell the player after 2 strikes to move up a level rather than waiting for the 3rd to disqualify them. |
| Dawn McCorkle | WA | Redmond | |
| MIke Jackson | MA | Boston | |
| Anne-Marie Masreliez | WA | Redmond | Player |
| Cynthia Goss | WA | Kirkland | Player |
| Stahura | WA | Sammamish | Player |
| Joe Belano | CA | San Francisco | Captain and Player. I have experienced first hand how players will intentionally throw sets or matches because of the dynamic rating algorithm! Get rid of this, and let's get back to playing at our level! |
| Ric Lewis | CA | Redwood City | We all want fair play. There should be specific time tables for when people are rated. No one should be suprised in the middle of a tournament. |
| James Kinson | TX | Fort Worth | I have been a player and Captain. |
| Jennifer Kinson | TX | Fort Worth | As a player, I'm very familiar with the sinking feeling of facing a self-rated ringer across the net so I appreciate the USTA's efforts to manage that. However, as a player who has worked hard on her game, and improved dramatically in the past year, and also as a captain of like-minded women, I find it particularly unfair that a computer-rated player could be disqualified during sectionals. This means that someone who starts the year at an appropriate rating, can then be penalized for working very hard at improving their games throughout the year. It's not fair, and more importantly, its not good for the tennis community as it discourages people from working to improve. |
| Nancy Bush | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Caden Tims | TX | Fort Worth | Captain |
| Peter Lozano | TX | Fort Worth | |
| jesus aranda | tx | fort worth | player |
| Deena Nutt | TX | Hurst | There absolutely should be NO disqualification of COMPUTER rated players during playoff, sectionals, or nationals! |
| Susan L. Dean | TX | Burleson | Player, former captain |
| Chris Young | TX | Roanoke | Player & Former Captain |
| Mary Beth Bombardieri | TX | Fort Worth | Player |
| Roy E. Guinnup | TX | fort Worth | |
| Scott F. Keenan | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Mikki Lynn Reid | TX | Fort Worth | If the computer ranked you there, how can the computer change its mind and disqualify you for it? It is BS. |
| Amy Redmond | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Jan L. Suess | TX | Trophy Club | Player |
| Patti Cates DC | TX | Fort Worth | Player |
| Pepe Velasquez Castro | TX | Fort Worth | Player |
| JOHN MIXON | TX | ARLINGTON | CAPTAIN OF SR TEAM, PLAYER SR AND ADULT LEAGUES |
| robert martin | tx | fort worth | If computer generated don't dq but get rid of all self rated guys that are sandbaggers IE Dallas 3.0 team last year |
| Paul Schulz | TX | Saginaw | As a Captain, I find it very hard to lose people during the Sectionals. This practice should be discontinued. |
| Edward Leija | TX | Fort Worth | Player and Captain |
| Lisset Leija | TX | Fort Worth | Player and Captain |
| Eddie Deems, Jr. | TX | Fort Worth | I fully agree with the petition. |
| Samuel W Hopkins Jr | TX | Jacksonville | captain 3.0 men's team |
| Jeff McDonald | TX | Azle | |
| Chris Welcing | TX | Fort Worth | Having taken a Men's 3.0 team to Nationals I must agree with the sentiments expressed in this petition. I had a number of computer rated players that improved greatly through the season. Especially at the 3.0 level a few lessons and playing 4 times a week can bring about dramatic improvement without any attempt at deception. To get to sectionals or nationals a player should be playing at the top of their level. |
| David Singleton | TX | Watauga | |
| Vince Sharp | TX | Sherman | |
| Christie Good | TX | Watauga | |
| Leslie Thomas | TX | Fort Worth | Just getting to the playoffs is difficult enough! |
| Leticia Martin | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Jeff Corfman | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Charles Leal | TX | Haslet | |
| Gina Tallent | TX | North Richland Hills | I have witnessed the unfair practise of "disqualification" of hard working tennis players just as they reach sectionals! This is so unfair to the player and teamates. One of my dear friends was disqualified at sectionals. Her honor was taken away along with team mates and mixed doubles partner. She and her mixed partner had worked very hard to make the top eight in the state of Texas. They were "robbed" of the chance to play at the "Masters or Best in Texas" invitational only event! My friend had just been bumped up that year to 3.5 and deserved a shot at sectionals, and The Masters Tournament! She had started playing tennis the same year that I did. We had been playing tennis for three years. I know that she practised very hard to improve her game. The fair and just way would have been to let her finish sectionals and possibly nationals then bump up to the next level. This disqualification ruined her chance, the teams chance, and her mixed doubles partner's chance at a shot that might not come again in her life time! I appreciate the fact that the USTA is trying to keep tennis fun for people to compete with players of like ability! However, I believe this practise of "DQing" players who are computer rated takes away from the true spirit of competition and good sportsmanship. It really hurts the people and teams that are trying their best to aquire skill and ability. Our ladies combo team was "robbed" of our strongest player right before sectionals...we had no way to replace her. The whole team suffered along with her. Let's encourage our players to become champions! Let's take away this grievous practise that penalizes our players for becoming the best that they can be! |
| Michael Steinberg | TX | Fort Worth | Player 3.0 computer rated going to Sectionals |
| Valerie Baker | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Thomas Burke | TX | Richland Hills | Player and Captain |
| Brian Morrison | TX | Frisco | Player. If someone practices real hard during the year, they should not be penalized. Obviously, it was not a self rate. It is just not right to penalize hard work |
| Greg Hanson | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Christie Steblein | TX | North Richland Hills | |
| Julia Dobbins | TX | Fort Worth | |
| Jim Bob Haggerton | TX | Fort Worth | Player |
| lettie murphy | tn | memphis | player-this is why we use the computer rankings |
| rafael lopez | tx | north richland hills | |
| Himnesh Kapoor | GA | Cumming | |
| Kelly Wynn | TX | North Richland Hills | |
| tom blau | wi | madison | |
| Joel | TX | Frisco | Player |
| genevieve verlaak | va | richmond | player |
| Susan P. Terry | VA | Manakin-Sabot | This process is extremely unfair and affects the outcome of the entire tournament. A tournament is an "invitation" to an event that a player has earned. The player invests much time and money in attending the tournament, and then if they are DQed during the tournament all of their efforts are useless and their money is wasted. Will USTA reimburse that DQed player all of the time and money spent on getting to the tournament????????? |
| Elizabeth Beale | VA | Richmond | |
| Lindalee Mulligan | VA | Richmond | Totally unfair when computer rated!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Abby Winship | VA | Richmond | |
| Julia Thomas | VA | Richmond | |
| Emily Litz | NY | New York | Captain |
| Susan Trigg | VA | Richmond | One of our players was disqualified this past weekend at our Mid-Atlantic District Tournament. Her first opponent injured her ankle during the match and limped through the remainder of games. Her opponent in the second match was a Diabetic who's sugar level spiked to 300 during their match. Obviously, our player was able to beat both of her opponents with much less difficulty than she would have had....IF they had been healthy. It was unfair to her and to our team that she was disqualified during tournament play. She was computer-rated as a 3.5 going into the tournament. It would be better to disqualify players before a tournament so that the player and the team are not punished or inconvenienced....financially as well. It is extremely unfair and disappointing that there is no human element to the rating system. |
| Elizabeth H Thornton | VA | Richmond | I am a player on a team where a player was DQ'd in the middle of our tournament penalizing her and our team most unfairly. These ratings should change for the next season!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Rebecca Baggesen | VA | Richmond | |
| tom vance | va | richmond | player |
| jenny maraghy | va | richmond | |
| Lou Ann Kleiman | TX | Southlake | |
| Karen Stallard | VA | Richmond | We had a player DQ'd during districts and we had not accounted for that possibility (as there is no warning) beforehand, and only learned of it just before the next match without sufficient time for a replacement to be contacted and for that person to make a long drive. If a player is close to being DQ'd during such an event, there should at least be a warning before the event so we can make sure we won't have to default or replace her with a player who has either never played singles before, or who has played a long grueling match 2 hours prior in 100 degree heat. I can certainly understand the DQ for players who are self-rated, but if a player has just really worked hard on her game and improved that much, then good for her! She'll have an excellent season and then play tougher matches in the next year. |
| Mary Torrice | VA | Richmond | player |
| Janis C. Johnson | VA | Richmond | player comment..D.Q should be done before player enters District tournament |
| Meda Lane | VA | Richmond | I can understand how the player could be disqualified from future matches but I have a hard time accepting that all the matches for the season are disqualified. Many players work hard to improve during the season so that hopefully they will be rated higher the next year. The dynamic rating system appears to penalize anyone who is trying to improve their game. It also penalizes an entire team who has played in good faith during the year. |
| Shaw Alex Ahmadi | GA | Atlanta | When is USTA going to force self-rated players to play twice if not three times during the regular sesaon so that captains can file the grievance before losing at cities, states or sections? |
| Helen S Agee | VA | Richmond | |
| Glenda Allen | TX | Granbury | Do away with dynamic disqualification except for self rated players. |
| Lisa Recker | OH | Cincinnati | Captain and player |
| niki smith | va | richmond | |
| Lesley Chan | NY | New York | Player, Captain |
| Elysa Dauerman | NY | Manhattan | Players who advance during the season should be able to play with their teams during playoffs. It seems like they deserve the honor more than their teammates. |
| Libby Saylor | NY | New York | |
| Jacqueline Pfeffer | NY | New York | |
| Derah Hubbart | KY | Lexington | |
| Matt Campbell | VA | Richmond | Player & Captain |
| Thomas Martin | GA | Suwanee | |
| Helen Alli | VA | Richmond | I completely agree. They can get bumped up after that but it senseless to do it at Districts. |
| Julie Zalkind | VA | Arlington | Captain |
| Julie Ogborne | VA | Richmond | As a professional trying to promote the game, I can tell you first-hand that the practice of disqualifying players in the middle of a tourney greatly discourages people from playing USTA tennis. If a player must be bumped, it should be done AFTER the tournament and the matches should count during the event. This practice punishes an entire team. There must be a better way. |
| Tom Wallace | VA | Richmond | As a volunteer and committee chair of USTA/Virginia, it is particularly important to remove any possible obstacles to players' involvement and enjoyment of league play. I understand why dynamic DQ is important - however, it should not occur during a tournament. While it was necessary in the past to adopt a stronger stance in dealing with sandbagging players, I believe that the pendulum has swung too far. The petition is well-positioned. |
| Shannon Eckenrode | VA | Richmond | |
| Carl Clark | VA | Richmond | It is a ridiculous procedure that needs to be changed. |
| Joanne Duros | MA | Petersham | ridiculous rule |
| Brandon Myers | TX | Frisco | Player |
| Anne Bentley | CA | Walnut Creek | I was DQ'd on August 10th, 2008, at Districts in Napa. My last 2 strikes both occurred at this tournament. I have played for 5 years & was computer rated. Not one USTA official has been able to explain this to me - it's completely illogical. I was told that this couldn't happen to me next year because the rule has been changed & will not apply to computer rated players! I feel cheated! |
| Terry Newman | TX | Dallas | player/captain |
| Alex | NY | Washington | |
| Yvonne Schappell | PA | Garnet Valley | I am a computer generated player that was just disqualified at Sectionals this weekend. I had no strikes entering the tournament, yet after 4 matches, I was disqualified. One of my matches was against a player who sprained their ankle and continued to play. I feel so sorry for the team. I wish I had known how the system worked. |
| Peter Baum | MD | Rockville | Hold DQ's until end of year |
| Soon Wan ooi | MD | Gaithersburg | Player |
| Carlos Miletti | MD | Silver Spring | |
| John Hammond | MD | Bethesda | |
| D. Forman | VA | Reston | The computer is already a bit of a joke so I think it would be fair that if we're going by the computer ratings no one should be penalized for following the computer. Why should the player and the team suffer because of the darn computer. I personally like the old, pre-computer days much better. |
| carolyn hammond | MD | Bethesda | |
| Lee Melchor Turlington | VA | RICHMOND | Very unfair to the entire Team. All Team members must do significant scheduling with work, childcare, etc., to accomodate the tournament schedule. I can see DQ'ing the player only, not the Team, at the end of the tournament so that player cannot continue to the next tournament. Why should the entire Team suffer when that player was legitimately at his/her rating level all season and at the start of the tournament. The rule completely ignores the practical impact of it. |
| Robert Jones | FL | Jacksonville | Sept. 16th 08 - 2009 USTA League Rules are now published and state that Adult and Senior League "Computer Rated (C) and Benchmark Players (B) will not be subject to Dynamic Disqualification! Thank you USTA, and thanks to all who signed the petition! |
| Sharon | SC | Lexington | I am the captain of a 3.5 team that has been subjected to the abuse of the self rating system. I love this rule because it will keep the cheaters and their captains in check. |
| Samantha | GA | Atlanta | We lost a player who was DQ'd that cost us the division win and a playoff win. She won all her matches easily but not because she was so much better than everyone, but because many of the teams we played should have played a level lower. I think it's unfair that the entire team suffers just because a player gets better. It's sad that you can't play your game for fear you will be DQ'd and ruin your entire teams season! |