News

It goes without saying that 2020 has been a year we will not soon forget. We want to especially thank our members for their continued support and understanding to the issues and roadblocks we have faced so far. Although we had to cancel numerous tournaments and leagues, our staff and board have worked hard to find solutions, come up with new ideas, and draw up new schedules to make sure everyone can play tennis safely under these new circumstances. We are grateful to everyone who played a tournament or participated in one of our local flex leagues. To our entire Montana tennis community, thank you for pulling together through this challenging time!

As we look into 2021, there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. We are cautiously evaluating our events and hope that we can persevere with much fewer interruptions, although it goes without saying that any tournament, league, or sectional championship will be reliant on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic at the time of each event. In order to provide match play opportunities in a safe environment, we will avoid food sharing and player parties.

For our adult players, you may have noticed that we have added level designations to our tournaments. In a move to provide tennis players across the country with more clarity and more opportunities to play in tournaments, the USTA has launched a new, simplified nationwide tournament structure. For the most part, our tournaments were already in line with the new structure and there will be no significant changes. We have simply added the relevant language to reflect the level of event. Level 7 is a local level tournament, and a Level 1 is national championship tournament. We have always offered levels 5-7, and coming in 2021, the adult portion (not junior) of the Western MT Open will be a level 4 Sectional Tournament.

For our 10 and Under Players, the USTA Youth Progression system has evolved into a new junior tennis development journey. The Net Generation PlayTracker is for players aged 5-10 and their parents to track progress at USTA competitive events, all in one place. Players will earn participation (play) points and results (win) points for all eligible play opportunities. Please see our 10 and Under Junior Circuit schedule on the enclosed calendar. Any stars or trophies from Youth Progression have already been converted into play and win points within the Net Generation PlayTracker. For more information on the Net Generation PlayTracker, please visit NetGeneration.com/PlayTracker. Any junior membership (under age 19) is also free starting this year.

Lastly, we are saying goodbye to TennisLink (for tournaments) in 2021. Now, you’ll be able to search for junior and adult tournaments right here. You can use new filters to search events by gender, age, level, distance, and format.

USTA-Montana is governed by a volunteer board of directors. Feel free to contact any of us, or find us at a tournament or league event.

USTA-Montana 2021 Board of Directors

Thank you for your support of tennis across the Big Sky and beyond.

USTA Montana Board of Directors and Staff had their annual meeting Saturday, October 17th from 9 am – 4 pm over Zoom. Items on the agenda included discussion of improving junior participation across the Montana, tournament and league schedule, statewide community tennis updates, the new Serve Tennis program that will replace Tennis Link and updates from ITA.

USTA-MT is inviting nominations for the Board of Directors for the 2021-22 term. We are seeking candidates from you who understand our mission and are committed to growing and developing tennis in Montana.  We value diversity in race, age, class, sexual identity, and geographic location, and seek candidates (such as parents) who have junior players or are involved in junior tennis.

USTA-MT has a working board. Our board members are expected to attend 4 meetings a year (1 or 2 in-person events and 2 conference calls) and participate on at least 1 committee.

If you know someone who would make a good board member, or if you’re interested in joining the board yourself, please make a nomination! Only current member organizations and board members may submit nominations.

Submit your nomination here by September 30, 2020

The Nominating Committee will meet in early October to review all nominations and develop a proposed slate of board members and officers. The board of directors will then vote on the slate at the Annual Meeting on October 17, 2020.