May 8, 2008

TO: 2008 Singles and Doubles Regional Tennis Site Manager

SUBJECT: Tournament Administration -- READ CAREFULLY

TEAM COMPETITION

Team competition for 2008 will consist of head to head duals as the method of competition. The pairings for team competition clearly indicates the site and time for this competition. Please familiarize yourself with the sequence your team will follow. The manual clearly specifies the player designation utilized in team competition and any substitution procedures deemed necessary. Immediately upon the conclusion of the meet the host school and winning coach shall report results to the IGHSAU following the conclusion of the meet via one of the following methods phone 515-288-9741, FAX 515-284-1969 or e-mail Lisa@ighsau.org.

If the host school is not involved in said meet then the winning coach shall report the results using procedure that was mentioned in previous sentence. All competition a school faces in regional team play will be played until one team has reached five (5) points. In a double dual each player must have a minimum one hour rest from competition of their last match in their first dual.

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Rain -- If weather conditions cause delay in play, everything moves back one day excluding Sunday. You must inform Lisa Brinkmeyer with the IGHSAU, (515) 288-9741.

2. No team points will be kept in singles and doubles competition. Team competition is now head to head duals.

3. Tennis balls -- Each school in team dual meet tournament play will provide to the host manager one dozen Wilson T1071 U.S. Open Tournament Select tennis balls for use in the competition each time your team is playing. Use of this ball is mandatory! If you need help in finding this ball please call the State Office.

4. State meet schedule -- Singles and doubles will be played on Thursday and Friday, May 29-30 in Ames 2A/Decorah 1A. Team play will be on Saturday, May 31 in Ames 2A/Decorah 1A - four teams in each class with semi-finals in the morning and finals in the afternoon. Semi-final seeding will be voted on by the final four coaches of each class. Please call the State Office with you vote for seeds 1-4 for your class on Wednesday May 21 by 11:00 a.m.

5. Semi-final and final regional team sites may be altered by unusual geographic travel.

TENNIS MANUAL INTERPRETATIONS

Timeouts are no longer allowed. School-issued coaches can coach their players during each 90-second crossover and during set breaks. Coach/player interaction during the 90-second crossover and during set breaks replaces the use of timeouts. School coaches or teammates in uniform are the only ones permitted to speak to players from the time they take the court to warm up for their match until the match is over.

Rule Number 1: A code of tennis ethics should be established for all coaches so that their best player competes against the best player from the other school and the second best players compete against each other and so on down the line. This same set of ethics applies to the doubles line-up. There have been cases where coaches will play their poorest against a team’s best to try to earn points that might affect the outcome of the match. This is not in the interest of good sportsmanship or ethics for coaches.

State Department of Education does mandate requirements for coaching credentials. The term coaches in the above rule does dictate those involved in coaching must meet State Department requirements.

A student commences competition when the match starts and completes competition when the match is concluded. If the Tournament Manager releases competitors for a break during the match and they are allowed to leave the courts, then players would be permitted to converse with anyone. However, if they are not released from the court area, then only coaches would be permitted to give instructions.

Violation of the above may cause disqualification of the player. The tennis professional not meeting the State Department requirements invites player disqualification.

Rule Number 8: All competition a school faces in regional team play will be played until one team has reached five (5) points.

Rule Number 9: In regional and state team play, if the winner of a match has already been determined by team score, any third set match, will be determined by a super tie-breaker game in lieu of a third set.

Lisa Brinkmeyer

IGHSAU