UPDATE FROM USTA SOUTHERN
2020 YOUTH PROGRESSION REPORT

Due to 7 of 9 Southern states opting out of Orange Level 2 for their players in 2019 or earlier, USTA Southern's Junior Department worked with Link Team and USTA National staff to update our Youth Progression levels (see chart).

THE POINTS:  Please note that the Youth Progression point distribution (stars and trophies) have been updated for 2020.

THE DETAILS: All Orange Level 2 Southern players were progressed to Orange Level 1 by Link Team on 01/15.  North Carolina Orange Level 2 players were progressed to Orange Level 1 and carried Orange Level 2 points up to Orange Level 1 using the below conversion (points adjusted on 01/15 + 01/16 by National & Southern staff).

YOUTH TENNIS PROGRESSION

The USTA and its Sections have created a Youth Tennis Progression that serves as a guide for coaches, parents and players to help ensure that kids aged 10 and under participate in events using the appropriate ball and court for their skill level in the hopes of developing their tennis skills. Players will compete at appropriate tennis levels as they progress through stages based on age, participation and achievement. By providing a pathway, young players will have the opportunity to experience suitable levels of competition as well as develop their tennis games tactically and technically.

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The progression tracking system rewards players for competing and inspires them to play tennis more often. It’s not just about winning and losing – it’s about having fun, engaging young children and helping them fall in love with tennis.

TRACKING PROGRESS

USTA has designed a system to track the progress of junior players, ages 7 to 10 from orange ball to green ball and green ball to yellow ball. The system will track a player's progress through participation in designated tournaments and Junior Team Tennis. Players will receive stars for completing tournaments. Trophies are also awarded for select tournaments. 

The mission is to clear each level by collecting a combination of 20 virtual participation stars and/or achievement trophies.

The more they play and the more they improve their skills and clear each level, the more stars and trophies they accumulate.

The following are a few examples of the importance of Youth Tennis Progression for our young players:

• Defined pathway

• Level-based play

• Goal-setting

• Incentive to play

• Skill development

• Recognition

• Affiliation

• Connection

HOW IT WORKS

For children ages 7-10 years old, a best-in-class system has been developed to track the progress of junior players from the orange level to the green level to the yellow level of competition. A child can advance a level by earning the required amount of participation stars and trophies. A player’s mission is to clear each level by collecting a combination of 20 stars and/or trophies to advance. The more they play, and the more they improve their skills, the more stars and trophies they accumulate, enabling them to advance to the next level.

Players can track their progress on TennisLink’s “My Player” page. There, players can see how many more virtual stars and trophies they need to acquire to reach the next level. Each player’s  page will track their progress and accumulation of stars and trophies as opposed to ranking points.

To clear each level, players will have to collect a combination of 20 stars and/or trophies.

• Players collect stars for: tournament participation and Junior Team Tennis participation.

• Players collect trophies for: winning a tournament and reaching the final of a tournament.

ADDITIONAL UPDATES

• Each North Carolina tournament will offer a 10U Green Division (2020 Only).

• In 2021, there will no longer be 10U Standings.

• In 2021, ALL 10U events will go into the Net Generation Circuit (non-ranking events).

• An 11 year-old that has not gone through the Progression and has zero ranking points CAN enter and play in a 12U yellow ball NC L5 event.

Thank you so much for carefully looking over this information!

Under Additional Links are answers to frequently asked 10U Youth Tennis Progression questions from Southern parents & coaches. You will find the answers to the most frequently asked questions regarding USTA Youth Progression.