Junior Tennis Council Point Penalty Suspension System
Southern California Junior Players
PURPOSE
The aim of this code is to maintain fair and reasonable standards of conduct by all junior Southern California players playing in any USTA sanctioned tournament.
APPLICATION
The Point Penalty Suspension System shall apply to all USTA sanctioned tournaments in Southern California including all tournaments listed on the National Tournament Schedule held in Southern California. It applies to conduct:
- during all matches (main draw, consolation, qualifying, and doubles)
- during tournament activities
- at tournament facilities
- at any other entity that a player would be associated with during that specific tournament (e.g. tournament hotels)
REPORTS
Code of conduct reports must be mailed or sent electronically to the SCTA Offices within 72 hours.
Suspension points assessed a player by USTA or any other section of the USTA not in the SCTA schedule will be added to the player’s Code of Conduct record.
WITHDRAWALS
A player may compete in tournaments with conflicting dates only if tournament directors of both events give written approval. Therefore, if the player enters two or more conflicting date tournaments without written approval and is accepted into both events, the player is subject to suspension points.
Any withdrawal by a player from a tournament, after the draw has been publicly published the first time, shall earn one (1) suspension point for every withdrawal.
NO-SHOWS
A player shall receive three (3) suspension points for every no-show.
COACHES, PLAYER RELATIVE, PLAYER REPRESENTATIVES
Abusive conduct on the part of the player’s coach, relative, representative or any other person associated with the player including conduct directed toward any player, tournament official or spectator, shall be considered a violation. Violations will result in denial of privileges or exclusion of such person(s) from any or all USTA sanctioned tournaments in Southern California or such other sanctions as the SCTA Sportsmanship & Grievance Committee may impose.
SUSPENSION POINT SYSTEM
Persons authorized to file suspension point reports with the tournament director and/or Referee include:
- Tournament committee members (tournament director, referee, etc)
- Umpires, deputy referees, court monitors if specifically authorized by referee
- Club or hotel managers, families housing players
- Sectional Player Development Staff
All the above persons may only report violations they personally witnessed. Reports are to be submitted to the tournament director and forwarded to the SCTA offices at P.O. Box 240015, Los Angeles, CA 90024. If a tournament is on the NJTS, then the report(s) should also follow the appropriate notification procedure as detailed by the USTA national Junior Competition Committee.
Reports should be sent within 72 hours of the completion of the tournament.
PLAYER SUSPENSION
If a player accumulates 6 or more SCTA suspension points within a 6-month period, the player will be suspended according to the following schedule:
First Suspension
- 1 month, no competition in ANY USTA sanctioned events (this includes junior, adult and professional events)
- No acceptance to USTA National Championships during the suspension period. There will also be no endorsement for the player into USTA National Championships and/or USTA Zone Team Championships if the tournament falls in this period.
- If a player accumulated more than 6 suspension points during that 6-month period, once the suspension period is over, any additional points will remain on the record, and be counted in the next 6-month period.
Second & Additional Suspensions
- Second suspension: 2 months
- Third suspension: 3 months
- Fourth & subsequent suspensions: 4 months
Effective date of suspension & right to appeal
The notification process is listed below. If the suspended player chooses to appeal, they must follow the following timeline:
- The SCTA has 15 business days after the published end date of the tournament (which caused the player to be subject to suspension) to notify the player of their suspension.
- If the player chooses to appeal, that appeal must be filed within 5 business days of receipt of the suspension letter. The appeal will be handled by the SCTA Sportsmanship & Grievance Committee (residents of San Diego can appeal to the San Diego District Grievance Committee). The SCTA Sportsmanship & Grievance Committee (or its San Diego counterpart) will review the appeal within 5 business days of receipt of the appeal. If the appeal is not upheld or there is no appeal, the suspension shall start on the 1st day of the next month.
The appeal must be done electronically by e-mailing Ai Takamori. The appeal should state the reason(s) for appeal and attach any and all documentation that the player feels would support their case.
Please note that the SCTA Sportsmanship & Grievance Committee (or the San Diego District Grievance Committee) reserves the right to add to the suspension penalty.
It is the player’s responsibility to withdraw from all SCTA tournaments the player has entered which take place during the suspension period. Player shall not incur additional suspension points if draw(s) have been published for such tournaments while awaiting a decision of appeal. If the player fails to notify the tournament director or Referee, he/she shall incur no-show suspension points.
RECIPROCITY
The reciprocity statement in the SCTA Sportsmanship & Grievance Committee’s “Grievance Procedures” shall apply.