Many of you have already entered one of these wonderful tournaments in the past, but if you haven’t, I want to urge you to do so. The entry deadline is Monday, January 9 -- and so it’s time to line up a partner and sign up for the tournament on-line.
To sign up, simply go to the APTA website at http://www.platformtennis.org/Tournaments/Tournaments_By_Month/CPTC-Series.htm and click on “On-Line Entry” -- the brown link just below “Bill O’Brien” -- then click on “Create an Account” in the middle of that page -- and then on “CPTC Series Tournament” and then “Continue” -- and then enter the info requested.
If you have never played in a paddle tournament, then you are missing a LOT of fun. And this is the tournament for you because you are guaranteed at least 3 matches (assuming an even number of teams) and you will be playing against players whose skills are more like yours than any other tournament you could enter.
We will have a tournament for players rostered in the Series 4, 5 and 6 leagues -- another tournament for players rostered in the Series 7, 8, 9 and 10 leagues -- a tournament for players rostered in the Series 11 , 12, 13 and 14 leagues -- a tournament for players rostered in the Series 15, 16, 17 and 18 leagues -- and a tournament for players in the Series 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23 leagues. That's five separate tournamentsrunning on the same two days.
We are breaking it into these five separate tournaments so that you will have the opportunity to play against people who are closer to your skill level.
If you want more challenge, you can enter the tournament above your level -- but, you cannot play down at a lower level. For instance, if you are a strong player at the Series 7 level, you and your partner could enter the 4,5,6 tournament to see how you measure up. But if you are a Series 10 player, you cannot enter the 11 - 14, tournament. And your eligibility for a given tournament is based on where you are rostered at the time your entry is received. Remember, if you are subbing up on a higher team in your club, once you have done that for the 7th time, you will automatically be re-rostered at that higher level for the rest of the season.
Additionally, if you are rostered on teams at two different clubs, then the higher team (skill-wise, not numerically) is the one you use to determine which tournament you are eligible for. And, paddle and tennis pros are NOT eligible to enter regardless of where they are rostered.
These tournaments are a LOT of fun -- especially when they are made up of players that are close to your skill level. So, line up a partner and go on-line to sign up. You'll be glad you did.
Bill O’Brien 630-325-6827 (day and evening) bill.obrien@att.net
p.s. Now, if you have never entered one of our paddle tournaments before, here's more on how they work.
On the Thursday evening (Jan 12) before the tournament, we will e-mail you the "Draw Sheet" which will show you when and where you will play your first match on Saturday. The draw sheet will also help you see where your subsequent matches will be played (depending on whether you win or lose your first match) -- sort of a road map for moving through the tournament.
So that you can plan your days that weekend, following are the approximate start times and ending times for each tournament:
- 4-5-6 starts Saturday at 8:00am and you finish up by 4:00pm -- then, semis and finals are on Sunday morning.
- 7-8-9-10 starts Saturday at 8:00am and you finish up by 4:30pm -- then, semis and finals are on Sunday morning.
- 11-12-13-14 starts Saturday with lunch at 11:00am and then your first match will be at 12:00pm and you finish up by about 5:00pm -- then, semis and finals are on Sunday morning.
- 15-16-17-18 starts Saturday at 8:00am and you MIGHTl have your afternoon free after lunch (a few of you will have a Sat afternoon match) -- then, semis and finals are on Sunday morning.
- 19-20-21-22-23 starts Saturday with lunch at 11:00am and then your first match will be at 12:00pm and you finish up by 5:00pm -- then, semis and finals are on Sunday morning.
Remember, you are guaranteed at least three matches (assuming we have a pretty full draw and an even number of teams). If you win your first match, you play your second match against a team that also won their first match. If you lose your first match, you move into one of the consolation brackets and play a team that also lost their first match -- and if you then lose that second match, there is yet another consolation bracket where you can play your third match against a team with a similar record. So, you get a lot of paddle and each successive match brings you up against players even more like you in skill.
Lunch will be served at the Glen View Club and that’s where you will receive your tournament favor. PLEASE NOTE: We are very fortunate to have such a great venue available to us for lunch and so we should definitely honor their club rules which include no jeans AND no use of cell phones except in your car.
And if you have any questions during the tournament, there will be people at "tournament central" who can help you out over the phone.
We want to make this a great experience for you -- but you have to enter for that to happen. So nail down a partner and enter by going on-line at http://www.platformtennis.org/Tournaments/Tournaments_By_Month/CPTC-Series.htm
