What is GCTA Tennis?
GCTA stands for Greater Columbus Tennis Association. It is organized play by other clubs and groups that allows for competitive tennis and social opportunities. Check out the website at: www.gcta.tennisscores.com (click on GCTA Men's) if you are interested in finding out more about the GCTA's Men's tennis leagues.
How Much Does It Cost To Participate?
The fee is $300 billed to your account in order to be able to participate on your team (counts towards your minimums). This covers 11 practices, tennis balls, fruit trays, chips & salsa, and lemonade/pop at all home matches. This also covers chips and salsa after practices, coaching, and facilitating of home matches, and also includes your mandatory $15 GCTA participation fee.
When Do We Practice?
Men's 3.5 and 4.0 teams will practice Tuesday nights from 6:30-8:00 PM. The men's team plays in the 3.5 Plus division. Our practice season begins in late May and extends through early August. If we have rain, please call the front desk to find out whether or not we will still have clinic (we will also attempt to text or email you). We will try to make a decision 1 hour prior to the start of practice/clinics to determine if we are still on.
When Do We Have Matches?
Home matches for the 3.5 Plus teams will be Sundays at 5:30 PM. Plan on arriving at least 15 minutes prior to matches to get a little warm-up in with your own teammates. Away matches tend to fall on Saturday and Sunday mornings as scheduled by the host clubs. The GCTA match schedule begins in June and extends through mid-August.
What Is My Skill Level?
The USTA rating system is listed below for your review to help you self-evaluate for those of you who may be unsure of your level. If you are still uncertain, then please attend a Saturday morning co-ed clinic (11-12:30 PM) so I can help you determine your level.
General Characteristics of USTA Playing Levels
(From the USTA ranking system)
- 1.5 You have limited experience and are working primarily on getting the ball in play.
- 2.0 You lack court experience and your strokes need developing. You are familiar with the basic positions for singles and doubles play.
- 2.5 You are learning to judge where the ball is going, although your court coverage is limited. You can sustain a short rally of slow pace with other players of the same ability.
- 3.0 You are fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots, but are not comfortable with all strokes and lack execution when trying for directional control, depth, or power. Your most common doubles formation is one-up, one-back.
My additional input: you can keep the ball in play 6-10 shots or more without missing; you play well enough to make an average high school team.
- 3.5 You have achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but need to develop depth and variety. You exhibit more aggressive net play, have improved court coverage and are developing teamwork in doubles.
My additional input: usually, you will have played for several years.
- 4.0 You have dependable strokes, including directional control and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate-paced shots. You can use lobs, overheads, approach shots and volleys with some success and occasionally force errors when serving. Rallies may be lost due to impatience. Teamwork in doubles is evident.
My additional input: you do/have played tournaments, you can compete at the higher positions on most high school teams
- 4.5 You have developed your use of power and spin and can handle pace. You have sound footwork, can control depth of shots, and attempt to vary game plan according to your opponents. You can hit first serves with power and accuracy and place the second serves with power and accuracy and place the second serve. You tend to over hit on difficult shots. Aggressive net play is common in doubles.
How Much Playing Time Will I Have?
You will play in a majority of the matches and playing time will be relatively equal among you and your teammates. We will carry more players than there are starting positions available, so that is why there is some rotation of players and why you will not play every match. Also, there are schedule conflicts, vacations, and other factors that affect who is available to play matches.
What Social Opportunities Are There?
Besides competing, the emphasis is really on having fun with your fellow Kinsale friends. Last season we had several club social tennis events, and several informal gatherings among the players. You are always invited to stay after practices and matches for food and beverages and to "hang out".
What Do I Wear?
Again, captains will take the lead on organizing and ordering match outfits. For practice, wear tennis appropriate attire.
What Role Does The Captain Play?
Captains will attend preseason meetings, help coordinate match play with the other clubs (correspondence with other team captains), report our scores on the website, determine player schedule availability, help set the line-up (in concert with Club Professional who is the final decision-maker), take the lead in ordering match outfits, arrange social gatherings, and more....Please support your captains because it is a lot of hard work on their part and they support you!!!!!!
When Do I Need To Formally Commit My Intentions To Participate?
Please let me know as soon as possible. Although we may add players even into summer, I must enter our preliminary rosters soon. This officially lets the GCTA know we have enough men of a similar level to field a team and then they can begin determining the match schedule.
*Please let Jason know as soon as possible as to both your intention to participate and the level at which you would like to play. He can be reached at [email protected]. We need a minimum of 10 players to field a 3.5 team and a minimum of 10 players to field a 4.0 team.