Tennis Organizations | ITA

The final part of our Tennis Organizations series will talk about the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) where all of college tennis is regulated and overseen, from individual competitions to dual matches in season to summer competitions. Not only does it have an impact on your collegiate career, but it also can have a positive effect before you begin college if you understand how to compete in tournaments hosted by it as a junior player.

ITA at a glance

It exists as an independent body that works with the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA to organize college tennis as a whole. Believe it or not, they also host tournaments where players not playing in college can participate too. The ITA  oversees operations affecting over 20,000 student athletes across the three major collegiate sports organizations.

Within each organization, the ITA regulates and officiates the competition on a school vs. school basis and an individual player basis. The intensity of the competition varies across divisions, with the order of most competitive divisions being: D1 NCAA, D2 NCAA/NAIA, D3 NCAA, and finally NJCAA. Although most of the rules that exist for schools and student athletes to compete against each other are made by the overseeing organizations (NCAA primarily), the ITA has implemented some rules regarding competition play (I.e. the “Playing Let Serves” rule or “No-Ads” rule). 

Overseeing College Tennis

During the year, the ITA also is responsible for generating the team, singles, and doubles rankings across all three NCAA divisions as well as NAIA and NJCAA. All sanctioned college tennis tournaments or events are reported to the ITA to contribute to these rankings, which differ from the USTA and ITF. These rankings are generated based on who you play against (and beat) and don’t necessarily rely on points you get by winning matches in general. For instance, if you are playing someone ranked in the top 20 in D1 and you beat them, the chances of your ranking skyrocketing are much higher than if that player was only ranked 80 in the nation (keep in mind it's still an impressive feat to beat a ranked player). Just remember: it’s who you play, not how much you play. 

Typically, there are tournaments within the NCAA that are held every year: these are the ITA regionals, Oracle ITA Nationals, and ITA Winter Team Indoor Championships. Regionals are the tournament where the top players in a region of the nation go to compete in singles and doubles. Typically these regions encompass major parts of the U.S. such as the Northeast or the Midwest. The winner of the regional tournament bracket goes on to have an automatic bid into the Oracle ITA Nationals in early November where the top 64 players (or doubles teams) compete for the crown of top Fall season player. Winter Team Indoor Championships are a team-oriented event where the top 16 teams in the Division (only for DI & DIII) play dual matches against each other in a tournament-style format, once again to crown the best team for the winter season.

Summer Circuit

Now, shifting to the summer portion of playing college tennis, the ITA includes its very own summer circuit, with tournaments hosted throughout the nation, to further the culture and appeal of college tennis. These tournaments are open to junior players and adults as well, which is very helpful for those looking to gain more exposure to the level of tennis played in college, as well as having possible scouting opportunities arise from participation - however most of the time these tournaments will have UTR requirements for entry, and so if you’re just starting your exposure to tournaments you may not be granted admission into a certain tournament. 

In general, though, the process for registering for these tournaments is relatively similar to the other tennis organizations. There are several membership options that the association offers, however for these purposes the only one that matters is the “Sumer Circuit Player Membership”. All that’s required is to go onto the ITA website, find the dropdown menu for ITA membership options, and register for a summer playing membership for $30. This essentially gives you rights to play all summer tournaments hosted by the ITA and then you’ll be able to browse which ones are hosted near you and how to register for them, either through the ITA website or (mostly) through the UTR website.