2011 League Season Summary

3.0 Adult Men - Phil Christman (Associate Level Coordinator):

For the summer 2011, 178 players were divided among 12 teams in two flights.  Statistics point to a hard fought season with a blend of parity. No team went undefeated or winless.  Of the leagues fifty-nine matches only seven were determined by a  5-0 score, with a 3-2 score representing the mode.  Throughout the season, there were no major concerns, a rare one-match forfeit in any contest and strong leadership by the captains. 

As is often the case with 3.0 league play, individual players and teams improved as the season unfolded which carried through to playoffs as the NEO 3.0 representative to States tied for first place in wins, losing out to the winner by a three set loss differential.  The winning team and Ohio representative at Regional's came in second.

NEO’s winning team captain from Springside Racquet Club in Akron Ohio aptly summarized his sentiments of the high quality of district and state leadership, as well as the season in stating:

Phil,

 "Phil, Thank you for the year.  You have been very helpful, and you guys ran a great tournament at both NEO and States.  I still argue that the best competition we had all year was Western Reserve.  The only advantage was that we were more comfortable having played them twice.  I am disappointed that we did not progress on to the Regional Finals.  Next year, depending on the final ranking for the individual players, we will be even more prepared for the playoff push. Thank you again for your work.  -  Jim Jones - Springside"

 

Senior Men - Chester McClain (Senior Men Coordinator):

The 2011 season went well overall with very few problems.  Most of the captains would like to play ten (10) matches without any floaters. The NEOTA scheduling options didn’t allow this flexibility. There were quite a few courts being defaulted. I don’t know what can be done to eliminate these court defaults. Perhaps the minimum number of roster player on each team could be increased.

The 2011 summer season saw an increase of 116% in the number of players and an increase of 112% in the number of teams over the 2010 season. See the chart below for a breakdown of indicial flights.

Three of the four teams went on the Sectionals and one of the three teams is going on to play at the Nationals Championships. Congratulations to the following teams and their captains.

 The 3.0 Paramount Medina team, captained by David Sloan, went straight to the Sectional Championship and lost their match.

The 3.5 Paramount West team, captained by John Clark, lost their State Championship match.

The 4.0 Lakewood Country Club team, captained by Jeffery Szabo, lost their Sectional Championship match.

The 4.5 University Schools team, captained by William (Bill) Chapel, won their Sectional Championship match and will play for the National Championship.

		Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Total Players	Total Teams
	Level	3.0		3.5		4.0		4.5
2009		47	4	192	16	73	6	34	3
2010		42	4	154	13	164	13	44	4	404	34
2011		56	5	176	14	164	13	72	6	468	38
		133.3%	125.0%	114.3%	107.7%	100.0%	100.0%	163.6%	150.0%	115.8%	111.8%

Super Seniors

 The 2010 season went well overall with very few problems. We didn’t have a 6.0 SSM team for the first time in my memory; however, we add a 9.0 SSM flight. There was a decrease of 93% in the number of SSM players and well as a decrease of 91% in the number of teams. See the chart below for a breakdown of the indicial flights.

Perhaps if we emphasized in the captains meeting and also if the facilities would help with those that qualify - that the playing in the seniors as well as the open division would give the player(s) an additional opportunity to get to post-season play.

 Congratulations the following team and their captains.

 The 7.0 Paramount West team, captained by John Clark, the 8.0 Lakewood Country Club team, captained by Terry Medlar, and the 9.0 University Schools team, captained by William (Bill) Mooney. The post season for the SSM flight has not been played at this time.

		Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Players	Teams	Total Players	Total Teams
	Level	6.0		7.0		8.0		9.0
2009		38	4	67	6	21	2	0	0
2010		19	2	84	7	24	2	0	0	127	11
2011		0	0	78	6	23	2	17	2	118	10
				92.9%	85.7%	95.8%	100.0%			92.9%	90.9%

4.5/5.0 Adult Men - John Lilly (Level Coordinator):

2011 was a good year for the 4.5 Men.  In 2010 we had 15 teams and 231 players.  In 2011 we had 16 teams and 254 players, a 10% increase. 

We had three 5 team divisions this year.  The three division winners plus a wild card played in the qualifier.  While not as good as last year (where each 1^st and 2^nd place team made the qualifier) this still kept the league competitive and playoffs spots were up for grabs until the very last match of the season.  The playoffs were also very competitive. 

We had no whole team defaults this year and very few defaulted courts.  The division model, based on geographical area, was well liked and enabled teams to usually field a full lineup. 

The teams from Western Reserve and North Ridge advanced to the Playoffs, where the team from North Ridge won by winning two match tiebreakers.  In the State meet the North Ridge team beat the team from Toledo but lost to the Ohio Valley team as this time they came out on the short end of two match tiebreakers.

2011 was a good year for the 5.0 Men.  In 2010 we had 7 teams and 72 players.  In 2011 we had 10 teams and 98 players.  That is a 35-40% increase in participation.  I hope we maintain that level next year but there are indications we will have a slight, one or two team dropoff.  I believe that having a team get to Nationals last year had a big impact on the large number of 4.5s we had rated up to 5.0 last year.  I do not see such an influx of 4.5 players being rated up this year.

In 2011 we went to a two division format.  We had two 5 team divisions and the top teams from each division were accepted into the playoffs.  This made the league much more competitive and playoffs spots were up for grabs up to the last match of the season.  The playoff match was also very competitive.  All of the captains to whom I spoke to were very pleased with the format.

We had one whole team default this year and only a few defaulted courts.  The division model, based on geographical area, was well liked and enabled teams to usually field a full lineup. 

In the Playoffs, the team from North Canton won the local league championships over the Cleveland State team and advanced to the State meet.  At the State meet they defeated the team from Ohio Valley.  However, they were unable to field a team at the Sectional so the Ohio Valley team participated (and won the Sectional). 

 3.5 Adult Women - Robbin Garcia (Level Coordinator):

This summer we had a total of 12 subflights, made up of 75 teams with 1,154 players rostered!  The season went well with few issues.  There were some growing pains with 18 year old players on several teams, but it all worked out and everyone had a good season.  Floater matches are also a complaint at times, but this year it seemed to be less of an issue.  I attribute this to the more experienced captains.

 I am enjoying working with such a great group of captains again this year.  With the number of players and teams we have at the Women’s 3.5 level, it only works well because of the captains’ commitment to keeping organized!

 Thanks to all the captains, players and team supporters that made this another fun summer of tennis.  I enjoyed coordinating this group of ladies.

 

Welcome to the Northeastern Ohio Tennis Association League Season Summary for 2011 Season.