With the final months of 2017 approaching, the SCTA and Junior Competition Committee have discussed changes that need to be made to the 2018 Junior Tournament Calendar.

The goal of the both the SCTA Junior Department and Junior Competition Committee is to create a schedule that effectively allows players to participate in tournaments without having to travel great distances, as well as providing Tournament Directors with maximum entries, and enough time to efficiently complete their events.

At the September JCC meeting, the committee discussed the conflicts of overlapping Level 5 and 6 tournaments, as well as Level 4 and 5 tournaments, as there are numerous players who play both of these events, and therefore these tournament levels should be held further apart geographically. Especially in areas like San Diego, Level 5 and 6 tournaments conflict if they are held during the same weekend. The Committee then contemplated the possibility of making Level 5 and 6 tournaments one-weekend events only. Two-weekend events are often unnecessary as some days are not used for match play. This also causes double entry issues. Block seeding and front-loading events were also discussed as strategies to make formats more efficient for two-weekend tournaments.

The Committee then discussed the possibility of making Levels 4, 5, and 6 tournaments one-weekend events only. Most of these tournaments can finish in three days, with the finals only being played on the last day (Monday); therefore, a whole second weekend is not necessary for such events. It was decided that tournament Levels 4, 5, and 6 will be one-weekend events only during the non-summer months, with draws of 32 finishing on Monday afternoon. Draws less than 32 must finish on Sunday.

The match format for all events will be 2 sets and a tiebreak. The only exception to this rule is that for Level 4 tournaments, the BG 14s, 16s, and 18s divisions will play a full 2/3 set match for the finals only.

These new rules will significantly minimize the amount of double entries, as there are no longer overlapping tournament dates. This will also allow parents to plan their weekends accordingly, instead of having to wait an additional week to play the tournament.