The Aiken JTT abides by the USTA’s (United States Tennis Association) Junior Team Tennis Regulations, as
well as USTA Southern Section and South Carolina Tennis Association Regulations (available on
AikenTennis.com).  We encourage captains and players to read and familiarize themselves with these
regulations, the USTA’s Rules of Tennis and “The Code”. (The Code is the USTA’s official publication for all
matches without officials.) The rules and regulations can be found on www.usta.com .  For information on
JTT grievance and complaint procedures, click here.

I. Teams and Players

A.   Membership
    1.   All team members must be members of the USTA and the membership must be valid through  the
    end of the current season.
    2.   All team members must register on TennisLink  and pay a $26  Aiken
    Junior Team Tennis League fee plus a $3 TennisLink fee prior to playing a
    match.  
    For more information on how to sign up, click here.

B.   Age Eligibility
  1.   The date for eligibility for the spring league is July 31, 2010
 2.   Play in the age group that relates to your age on or before that date. For
    example, if you turn 13  in September , you will play in the 12 & Under
    division for the spring. If you turn 13 in August, you will play in the
    14 & Under division for the spring. You may always play in a higher
    age group.

C.   Court Availability
    1.   Each team must guarantee at least two courts at the same address
    for all matches during a season.
    2.   Check with the court owners (club, county, or subdivision) before
    you field a team at a facility.
    3.   The league does not arrange courts. Captains must arrange a place
    to play.   Call to reserve your courts before the day of the match to
    assure that your team will have courts to play on.

D.   Rosters
    1.   Each roster must be registered on TennisLink with a minimum of six players—three boys and three
    girls. To avoid forfeits, at least five boys and five girls are recommended.
    2.   Only one player of each gender can play two positions in a match provided that other players on the
    team of the same gender have played twice in an equal or greater number of previous matches during a
    season.

E. Add-Ons
    1.      A team may add players until May 31, 2010.
    2.      The Junior Team Tennis Coordinator must be notified of all add-ons after the season starts.

F. Ineligible Player
    Any person not listed on a roster in accordance with these rules is ineligible to play.

G. Player Participation
    1.   All players should  play at least  two matches during a season.
    2.   It is suggested that you rotate singles players evenly throughout the season. Everyone on your team
    should have a chance to play singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

II. Captains
A.   Each team must have a team captain.
B.   Rotating team captains may be used for scheduling the matches and only trained parents or juniors
approved by the  league should be in charge of a dual meet.
C.   Team captains listed on the match schedule must be accessible to all teams in the division and to the
Junior League Coordinator.
D.   Professionals may not be team captains, assistant team captains or scorekeepers. They should
only provide instructions to the players.

III. Dual Meets

A. Match Time
All dual meets start at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Warm-up begins at 4:00 p.m.

B. Format
    Dual meets consist of one boys’ singles, one girls’ singles, one boys’ doubles, one girls’ doubles and
    one mixed doubles (in that order).

C. Setting Up Matches
    1.   The home team captain contacts the visiting team captain at least four days prior to dual meetings to
    discuss directions, court reservations, etc. You are encouraged to work out any time or line-up conflicts.
    2.   With the agreement of both captains, matches may be played earlier than the scheduled date. They
    may not, however, be played after the scheduled weekend.   For example, both teams agree on a
    conflict for Saturday and agree to play the next day, Sunday.
    3.   If a captain is unavailable for a match, a designated replacement who knows the rules and
    regulations must be named.
    4.   All matches (including rescheduled matches) must be played at the facility named on the match
    schedule unless otherwise approved by the League Coordinator.
    5.   The team captain calls the opposing team’s captain as soon as he or she knows that any or all
    individual matches will be forfeited. This prevents inconveniencing the opposing team’s players.

D. Line-Ups / Scorecards
    1.   Blank scorecards should be printed from TennisLink, line-ups completed on scorecard, and
    exchanged 10 minutes before the scheduled match time.
         2.    Last-minute substitutions may be made only in the event of illness, injury or absence of a player.
    3.   Substitutions may not be made after a point has been played in that position.
    4.   Team captains record the results of each individual match on the scorecard, verify, and agree on
    match scores at the completion of the match.
    5.   The home team captain enters the match scores on TennisLink unless otherwise agreed on by both
    captains. The visiting team captain verifies the match scores on TennisLink.
    6.   Match Scores must be entered and verified within 48 hours of the completion of the match.  After 48
    hours, TennisLink automatically verifies match scores for unverified matches. The opposing team loses
    all rights to contest any score discrepancies.

E. Rules of Play
    1.   USTA rules and regulations govern play.
    2.   “The Code,” a handbook of ethics and fair play, should be understood and followed by every
    captain and player.
    3.   A copy of USTA Junior Team Tennis rules, and “The Code” should be available at all dual meets.
    4.   Captains are responsible for making sure a replacement has these documents.

F. Defaults
    The 15-minute default rule is in effect for all scheduled matches. The default rule is in effect when a
    court becomes available for that match. Please be as lenient as possible — within reason — about
    defaults.

G. Balls
    1.   The home team provides USTA-approved balls for each court.
    2.   Captains may want to bring an extra can of balls in case an additional court becomes available.

H. Warm-up
    Warm up is limited to five minutes including practice serves.

I. Coaching
    1.   Coaching after the players are on the court is illegal.    
    2.   Captains, teammates, spectators or coaches may not volunteer advice on line calls or scoring.
    3.   Cheering or excessive clapping is not permitted. Please refer to the Guidelines for Parents.
    4.   Both team captains are responsible for controlling spectators’ conduct during match play.
    5.   It is acceptable to assist the 10 &  Under and  12  & Under division players since they may need a
    little help in scoring, rotation of serve, etc.  Especially at the 10 & Under level, coaches are encouraged
    to help facilitate play in order to have matches completed in a timely fashion.
    6.   Parents may not be on the same court as their child. It is acceptable for the captain to help with the
    tie-break in all age groups. In the older age groups, you may explain the tie-break one time and then
    must leave the court.

J. Courts
    1.   If the home team is unable to provide courts for any scheduled dual meet, the visiting team has first
    option of providing courts. (The host team is considered the home team.)
    2.   If the visiting team does not elect to provide courts, the responsibility reverts to the home team,
    which must provide courts within the approved league area at the scheduled time.

K. Refreshments
    Most tennis facilities  provide cups, ice, and water. Please assure that  the players have water before
    they walk onto the court.

IV. Scoring

A. Format
    All matches are eight-game, no-add pro sets (first player to win eight games by a two-game margin) with
    a tiebreak at 8-8. (Do not play a tiebreak at 7-7.)

B. Team Points
    The total number of games won is counted for the winner and loser. NO BONUS POINTS ARE  
    AWARDED. The maximum number of points for any position is nine. The maximum total points per
    match are 45.

C. No-Ad Scoring
    •        The team or player to win four points wins the game. If the score reaches 3-3, the receiver has a
    choice of receiving in the ad or deuce court. The winner of the next point wins the game.
    •        Players may call the score as 1, 2, 3, and game; or 15, 30, 40, and game. They may call the score of
    3-3 “deuce.”
    •        In doubles, the receiving team chooses who receives the last point. Both players remain on the
    same receiving side they played on during the match.
    •        In singles, the receiver may choose to receive on either the left or right side of the court.
    •        In mixed doubles, the boy receives serve from the boy, and the girl receives serve from the girl. The
    receiver remains on the same side he or she has received on during the match.

D. Tiebreaks
    If a set reaches 8-8, players must play a tiebreak. The order of serving is the same as it was at the start of
    the match.

    In doubles, the first server serves one point from the right side. The second server serves two points
    starting from the left side and ending on the right side. The third server serves two points starting on the
    left and ending on the right side. The fourth server serves one point from the left side and then players
    change ends of the courts. The fourth server serves one point from the right side. Play continues in
    such a manner until one team wins at least seven points with a two-point margin. Teams change ends
    of the court every six points.

    In singles, the first server serves one point from the right side. The second server serves two points
    starting on the left side and ending on the right side. The players continue to alternate serving two
    points each until one wins a minimum of seven points with a two-point margin. Players change ends of
    the court every six points.

V. Penalties and Forfeitures

A. Ineligible Players
    If an ineligible player participates in a dual meet, all points earned by that player are forfeited.

B. Penalties
    The Local League Coordinator has the authority to impose penalties and violations in situations where
    no penalty is provided by these rules.

C. Excessive Defaults
    Dropping points often has an impact on division standings and you are strongly encouraged not to
    forfeit entire matches. Consider playing a practice match if your team has to forfeit a position, and use a
    player who has already played. (These points do not count.)

    1.    Excessive defaults are defined as defaulting all points of a dual meet or averaging more than one
    default per dual meet.
    2.    If a team has excessive defaults, all its matches will be nullified and remaining matches will be
    treated as byes.

D. Protests
    If the team captains cannot resolve conflicts, the Junior League Coordinator should be contacted.

VI. Inclement Weather

A. Rain
    1.    In the event of rain, incomplete individual matches stand as played.
    2.    The same players at the exact game and point resume incomplete matches as they stood when play
    was halted.
    3.    Line-ups for matches not started (including any position previously defaulted) may be changed
    provided it does  not conflict with the eligible player rules.

B. Rain-Out Rules
    1.    In the event a match is cancelled due to rain, teams have seven days to make up the match.
    2.    Notify the Junior Team Tennis Coordinator of all rain-out matches. Give the Coordinator the date,
    time and place of the make-up match.
    3.    In the case of a rain out, it may be necessary to set up individual matches on different days to
    accommodate schedules.
    4.    If disagreement occurs, Friday is the day for the make-up match.

C. Temperature
    Teams are not obligated to play a match if the temperature is below 32° F or above 95° F. If teams decide
    to play, it must be the decision of both captains. Rain-Out Rules apply to rescheduling the match. There
    are no provisions for extreme wind.
JTT League Rules
Click here to download a .pdf of
these rules, suitable for printing.