BACKGROUND

The Cherokee Tennis Association, Inc. (CTA) was formed in October 2004 to promote the development of tennis as a means of healthful recreation and physical/mental well being for all residents of north Georgia. The corporation is a non-profit organization incorporated pursuant to the IRS code in Section 501(C)(3) and will work in conjunction with the USTA and other associations to accomplish these goals.

The CTA serves both children and adults of north Georgia, regardless of race, gender, age, physical ability, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation or socio-economic status.

The CTA is currently under the direction of a cross-section of residents of the community who serve as Officers, members of the Board of Directors, and advisors of varying ages, race, and background.

The CTA has been awarded grants to develop programs in Cherokee County. All of these monies will be used to promote tennis programs in Cherokee County. Some of the programs are:
1. Adopt A School
2. Welcome Back to Tennis for 50+ players
3. Corporate League Play
4. Parent-Child League Play
5. Youth Team Tennis
6. Multicultural Youth Tennis Program
7. Charity Tournaments
8. USTA Community Funding

The CTA was granted permission by USTA Georgia to administer USA Team Tennis for Youth and USA League Tennis in April 2005. The CTA was willing to undertake the development of the league play throughout Cherokee County, hoping to expand USTA into the many subdivisions and areas not being served by ALTA or USTA. As with any new organization, change is difficult. Other community tennis associations undertaking this venture have experienced challenges in their first year. CTA will work tirelessly to grow league play and bring the best tennis programs possible to the citizens of Cherokee County. The volunteers of CTA, with the total support of the USTA, USTA Georgia and USTA Southern Section, as well as the tennis community in Cherokee County, we are confident that we will be able to accomplish our goals.

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The History of USA League Tennis

The USA League Tennis program has had a remarkable history since the first National Championship was played and a national staff was hired. Here are a few of the highlights:

The 80’s:
In 1980 The USTA unanimously adopted a national league program at its annual meeting. The program initially consisted of league play for 5.5, 4.5 and 3.5 levels. Michelob Light was the title sponsor and Wilson was the official ball. There were 13,000 participants and the first National Championship was held in Chicago. By 1983 the league had grown to 50,000 participants from all 17 sections. Volvo North America Corporation became the title sponsor in 1984, the 4.0 level was added to the National Championships and the 5.5 level was replaced by the 5.0 level to keep the focus on recreational tennis. The 3.0 level of play was added to the national championships in 1986 and the first NTRP Workshop was held to assist with verification procedures. In 1987 the 2.5 level of play was added to the national championships and Penn Racquet Sports began its continuing association with league tennis as the official ball of the league program. The CompuRank computer program was added in 1989 to assign ratings based on match scores. Program participation grew to almost 125,000 by the end of the decade.

The 90’s:
In 1990, the USTA ended its six-year relationship with Volvo North America Corporation and began to sponsor as well as administer the program, now called USTA League Tennis. A national USTA Senior League Program began in 1991, consisting of the 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and 4.5 levels. Heineken and the Citizen Watch Company became sponsors in 1996. In 1997 Infiniti began its first year as presenting sponsor and official car of the USTA League Tennis Program. There were major changes at the end of this decade. In 1999 the USTA League Tennis program changed its name to USA League Tennis; the set tie-break in lieu of the third set was authorized and instituted at USA League Tennis National Championships; USA League Tennis was expanded to include Mixed Doubles as a national program - local, sectional, and regional championships were held for teams at straight or combined NTRP levels. At the conclusion of the 90’s, the Adult Division had more than doubled to 252,592 players, there were 48,711 players in the Senior Division and another 59,028 players in Mixed Doubles - bringing the total number of players in the USA League Tennis program to 360,331.

2000 through the present-
In 2000, approval was granted to develop Dynamic NTRP – a Windows based rating system that would include the whole country in one program; TennisLink was utilized by ten sections to register players, report scores and provide standings on the world wide web; Lincoln completed its first of a five-year agreement as the presenting sponsor and official car of USA League Tennis. The 16th and last NTRP Training Workshop was held in New York in 2001 with Verifiers and Sectional League Coordinators discussing the coming transition to dynamic ratings. The stand-alone Windows based NTRP ME was launched in November of 2001. In 2002 four sections (USA Tennis New England, USTA Mid-Atlantic, USTA Northern and USTA Texas) piloted the dynamic NTRP. All sections began using the dynamic NTRP in the 2003 league season with the major change being players self-rating to enter the programs and a dynamic NTRP rating is produced for each match played. 2002 marked Penn’s 15th year as the official ball of USA league Tennis. In 2002 with the inclusion of other league programs sponsored by the sections, USA League Tennis reached half a million participants.

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