These
proposals from FETA members have come up in prior years, but they
appeared more
attractive after the 2021 season due to the fewer overall
matches played, including lower participation in the
tournaments. Fewer matches than usual resulted from the
cold spring, hesitancy
to meet with others during the pandemic, inability for some to get
vaccinations early, and suspension of the normal requirement to play
matches during the first half of the season. FETA Group Coordinators
and others were consulted in evaluating these proposals.
Reducing
Match Requirements
Players earn a highly-coveted FETA T-shirt and the
right to participate in a tournament by playing a specified number of
matches during the 4-month regular season (May - August). The number of
matches is 5
for doubles and 8 for singles. This proposal would reduce
the requirement to 4 matches for doubles and 6
matches for singles.
Based
on the matches played for the period 2018 to 2021, these changes
would result in an average of 4 more
singles players and 2 more doubles teams qualifying each year. However,
the total number of matches played during the regular season would
likely be reduced in proportion to the
number of players/teams that usually play only the minimum number of matches needed
to
qualify. Based on
2018-2021 data, the number of singles matches would be reduced by 15%
and the number of doubles matches would be reduced by 8%. Applying this
to the 2018-2021 seasons gives an average reduction of 25 matches
during the regular season. Fewer matches during the regular
season means fewer
opportunities to play for
everyone, including those who do not qualify.
The purpose of having
T-shirt and tournament qualifying
requirements is to encourage more play. Making the goals easier would
encourage
more tournament play at the expense of regular season play, and making
the goals more difficult would have the opposite
effect up
to the point where players become discouraged from trying to
qualify. For the
2018-2021 period,
an average 64% of members qualified annually. Of those that qualified, 56%
of
singles players and 60% of doubles teams played more than the
minimum number of matches needed to qualify.
Extend
the Season Length
This proposal would extend the regular season (May -
August) by either ending later or
starting earlier in order to give players more time to qualify and take
better advantage of nice September weather.
If
the season were extended 2 weeks into September, tournaments that
currently end October 5 would end October 19. The picnic would be held
during the
tournament period. T-shirts
could not be ordered in time for distribution at the
picnic.
The
later the season extends, the more likely it is that poor weather
becomes an issue for all activities.
The
FETA Organizer and the Group Coordinators would need to continue their
tasks for an additional two weeks. Although regular season match play currently ends August 31, players can continue
to
contact
each other to
play and practice for their tournaments during September.
Starting
play in mid-April rather than May 1 is another option for extending the
season. While relatively few singles matches are normally
played in early May, there has historically been substantial doubles
activity. Most doubles teams,
however, have little trouble meeting the tournament
qualification requirement of playing 5 matches during the 4-month
regular season. For the 2018-2021 seasons, 2 doubles teams/year on
average have gotten stuck at 4 matches and, as noted
above, 60% of doubles qualifiers
played more than 5 matches. Teams unable
to
play 5 matches in 4 months are likely to have difficulty playing every week during the
tournament. Registration would start March 15 instead of April 1. The
Spring Fling, where many people register, would take place about
April 1. The Organizer and the Group Coordinators would need
to
begin
their tasks two weeks earlier.
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These proposals do not appear to offer substantial
benefits at this time.