2025 GREATER KNOXVILLE TENNIS ASSOCIATION INTERCLUB RULES
https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta
http://greaterknoxvilletennisassociation.topdoglive.com/pages/club_information.asp?orgid=391
INTERCLUB MISSION
The mission of the Greater Knoxville Tennis Association Interclub is to schedule tennis matches throughout the Knoxville area that are convenient, fun
and competitive for teams formed by tennis clubs or individuals.
INTERCLUB COMMITTEE ROLE
The purpose of the Interclub committee is to verify that all players are legal interclub players, secure court availability, set up the topdog.com website,
post the interclub schedule, and deal with sportsmanship grievances (not verify a player's tennis ability.)
INTERCLUB REPRESENTATIVE ROLE
The role of the Interclub Representative is to be the liaison between the interclub committee and the captains and to be the voting representative
for her club. The Interclub representative will be responsible for training captains how to use the topdog.com website, placing players on appropriate
level teams and advising them on the rules and procedures of Interclub. All necessary information will be updated on a regular basis at
https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta. If there is not an interclub reprentative for an individual team it is the captain's responsibility to make sure she
has all the necessary information attainable from https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta website.The interclub representative must be a woman who
plays interclub.
GKTA Dues and League Fees
The annual interclub league fee is $15 and is in addition to the $20 annual GKTA membership fee. The GKTA dues are good for the entire calendar
year and may have been paid earlier by the player participating in a spring USTA league. The GKTA dues are payable by the individual player and
can be paid on line at the GKTA website, https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta. The League Fee is payable when the captain adds the player to the Top
Dog Roster. Both GKTA dues and league fees must be paid in full prior to playing an interclub match in order to avoid having the court defaulted
and points forfeited. The responsibility to pay rests on the individual. The team captain has the responsibility of determining that the players she
puts on the court have paid their dues and fees.
INTERCLUB RULES
A. Eligibility and Subs:
1) All women players (including subs) must be members of GKTA and be 19 years or older during the calendar year in which she plays. A player
should play in the division appropriate to her ability. Any player with a NTRP ranking of 4.5 or higher must play at the highest level available at her
club. A player, who has played on a college team within the last year, is a traveling pro or teaching pro should play in the top division unless they
have written permission from the interclub committee to play at a lower level.
2) A sub for a match is defined as a player not on the team's permanent roster but on a roster at a lower level at the players club. Subs for a match
are taken from the next lower division. Subs must be listed on a team's roster 24 hours prior to match day. If a captain tries to enter scores and the
player's name is missing, the player is considered an illegal sub. The captain must then immediately notify the grievance chair. Once verified by
the grievance chair that the sub is an illegal player, the points will be forfeited. Scores are expected to be entered within a 24 hour of the completion
of the match. A player may sub six times and may sub up two levels . A player who subs in a higher division 7 times must play at the higher division
for the rest of that season. Exception: If a sub is on a defaulted court, it will not be counted against her. If a club has two teams in one division, a sub
cannot play for-both teams. Once she has played for one team, she may only sub for that team.
3) As of 2021 a player can play on two different teams FULL time at two different levels at one or two different clubs. Ie, a player may play A2 at
one club and A1 at a different club or on two different levels FULL time at the same club. The player must play two league fees and cannot sub
on any other teams.
B. Courtesy:
1) Tennis is a game that requires cooperation and courtesy from all
participants. Make tennis a fun game for all by praising your opponents' good shots and by not:
-Conducting loud postmortems after points;
-Complaining about shots like lobs and drop shots;
-Embarrassing a weak opponent by being overly gracious or condescending;
-Losing your temper, using vile language, throwing your racket, or slamming a ball in anger;
-or sulking when losing. (The Code, Page 1)
2) Please be considerate of others on the court-no cell phones.
3) Refreshments - The goal of the interclub season is to enjoy tennis in a socially competitive format, therefore the home team may offer light
refreshments or drinks after the match and the away team would hopefully stay after the match to enjoy said snacks. Home team Captains
should inform the visiting team captain regarding what type of refreshments will or will not be available (snacks or only dirinks) when they
call to confirm the match.
4)Interclub is not USTA and is meant to be fun, social tennis for Knoxville area tennis players. We stress two key concepts, be kind (kindness)
and the importance of good communication. Captains are expected to communicate with each other. Many incidents can be avoided by
communicating and being kind to each other. In order to communicate effectively each club/team must submit current contact information
(both phone numbers and email addresses) for both the captain and a co-captain as soon as possible and definitely before the season
starts. That information will be listed on the Top Dog site.
C. Court Availability:
1) Teams must have at least 4 available USTA approved courts at one location (in good repair) - A1- A4 or 3 available USTA approved courts
for AA, A5 and 65 and Over if one or two teams play on a given day. If a club has three or four teams playing on the same day, eight courts
must be available. If a club has five or six teams playing on the same day, twelve courts must be available.
2) Your club tournament schedule and any conflicts regarding use of your courts must be given to the Interclub Committee by mid April to
avoid conflicts in scheduling matches for the season.
3) Bathroom facilities should be available within walking distance.
D. Line-ups and Warm-ups:
1) Line-ups (should be printed from the site and filled out prior to arrival at match) shall be exchanged between the 2 captains at 9:00 am.
Bathroom visits should be completed and players should be ready to go on the courts at 9:00. No changes in line-ups can be made after
the exchange. Starting time will be 9:00 am. with a 15-minute warm-up/default time. If a player is not on the court by 9:15 am, it will be
considered a default.
2) Remember it is traditional tennis etiquette to have a 5 minute warm-up with your opponents.
3) All practice serves must be taken prior to the start of the match.
E. Format and Scheduling:
1) Format consists of 4 double courts for all levels except AA, A-5 and 65 and Over which will play 3 doubles courts.
2) There is no requirement to play courts according to strength. Because the Championship Division is composed of 4.5 and sometimes 4.0 players
it is recommended that the Championship Division play their courts according to strength. If there is a 4.5 player or above that player should play
on the highest court. 65 and over is a no level team, it is recommended to play according to strength ie court 1 the strongest team with the attempt
to fun and fairest play.
3) Matches shall be played according to the schedule. The home captain MUST contact the visiting captain prior to each match. Home team captains
supply the balls provided by the GKTA for use during home matches.
4) Each team's day of play will move ahead one day every two years (next move 2026). Days of play will be updated
at http://greaterknoxvilletennisassociation.topdoglive.com/pages/club_information.asp?orgid=391 and
.https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta
F. Scoring and Ranking:
1) All matches will consist of the best 2 out of 3 sets with a 10 point Comen tie breaker to decide the third set. A 10 minute break will be allowed
between the 2nd and 3rd set.
2) Either captain may report scores online. The captains should agree before leaving the match who will report
the results within 24 hours and the other captain will be responsible for confirming the scores within 48 hours of completion of the match.
Results must include names of players and scores of matches. Scores shall be reported online to:
http://greaterknoxvilletennisassociation.topdoglive.com/pages/club_information.asp?orgid=391
3) The ranking system for teams in a division will follow the USTA format of straight up wins and losses. In case of a tie the Topdog computer
will go to sets won, sets lost, games won, etc.
4) A team that comes in first place in its division gives up its current slot and earns a slot for its club at the next higher division for the following
year. The roster for the following year's team will be made up of at least the four strongest players from that first place team, as determined by
the club, and the remainder of the roster will be filled at the club's discretion. A team that comes in last place in its division gives up its current
slot and earns a slot for its club at the next lower division for the following year. The roster for the following year's team will be made up of at
least four players from that last place team, as determined by the club, and the remainder of the roster will be filled at the club's discretion. Any
other circumstances will be resolved by the Interclub . A club may request new team slots or a different placement for an existing team by submitting
a request in writing to the interclub committee prior to registration for the upcoming season. The request should include names of players who have
successfully played at the requested level or in comparable leagues. A team may also request to move down with appropriate documentation.
Request may or may not be granted depending on the availability of slots at the requested level and the length of the season.
5) Clubs are encouraged to evaluate the playing level of their players. Some individual players will improve more quickly than their teammates
and should play at a higher level. Captains and pros are encouraged to monitor scores and report to the interclub committee members players
whose performance indicates they are inappropriately placed. If the Interclub committee agrees, they will notify the club rep and require that the
players play at a higher level for the next season.
6) At the end of the season; the Interclub Committee will submit names (to individual club reps) of any of their club's players to whose playing
level or court placement other clubs objected.
G. Forfeits:
1) When a forfeit(s) occurs, the team forfeiting will lose points for the courts that have been forfeited. A forfeit will always be taken on court #4; if more
than one, it will be #3 and #4 forfeited, etc. Any captain knowingly needing to forfeit a court is required to call the opposing captain ahead of time. If a
forfeit occurs because of a "no show", (after rosters have been exchanged), which shouldn't happen because rosters should not be exchanged until
all players are present,teams present should start play on time and the position of the team not showing will be forfeited. However, if 2 women from
2 different courts do not show up, the 2 remaining women may become partners and, play on the higher court. Therefore, only one court will have to
be forfeited. Always play any part of the match possible. Illegal players will result in a forfeit of that court.
2)Total matches may not be forfeited without notifying the Grievance Committee chair ahead of time. Every effort should be made to play a match. If a
team forfeits 2 complete matches, all matches for the entire season will be dropped. Dropped teams will no longer have a position in that division
and will be moved down a division. (If teams are involved in post-season USTA play, please try to work with them in the scheduling of your match.)
H. Weather/Rain:
1) A match may not be canceled or interrupted once commenced for any reason except rain. In the event of rain which begins after a match has
commenced (commencement of a match shall be defined as when the first ball is played in a match) causes any player participating in said match
to feel that the courts are unsafe for play, that court shall cease play. Players participating on each court shall govern whether or not they feel that
continuation of play on their court is safe. Any one player participating on each court shall be sufficient to delay a match due to unsafe court
conditions as a result of rain. For any one or more courts which elect to delay play due to unsafe court conditions as a result of rain, play on each
respective court shall commence for this same match at a date and time to be agreed upon by the players playing on each court; provided that, all
courts in any given match MUST COMPLETE THEIR MATCH before the end of the scheduled Interclub season. All games and points played
before the interruption in play shall count and play will resume from that point.
2) If the weather is questionable on the date of play, captains (or acting captains) must contact one another by 8:00am to arrange for play. If the
courts are still wet by 10:00am, it will be considered a "rain day" and must be made up before the end of the season. However, in the event of rain
on the date of play, either captain may elect to secure indoor courts at the same facility and time the match was originally scheduled to be played.
If either Captain can secure indoor courts at the same place and time, the opposing team must accept the indoor courts and the match MUST BE
PLAYED indoors.
3) In advance of the day of the scheduled match, if the weather is forecast to be questionable for play, either team may offer to secure indoor
courts at any location, club or facility where interclub matches are played and where indoor courts are available at the same time and/or a new
time on the same day of the originally scheduled match so long as both teams agree to play indoors on that date. Once both Captains agree to
move a match indoors, the match MUST BE PLAYED on the terms agreed upon by both team Captains. When in doubt, call the interclub
committee chairperson.
4) Regardless of whether or not a match is rescheduled in advance or on the date of the scheduled match, lineup changes may be made
UNTIL a match has commenced on any court. Once play commences on any court of a scheduled match, whether or not all courts are played
concurrently, lineups for all courts must be exchanged and no changes to the lineups will be allowed.
5) For any match which is not played on the date originally scheduled, all courts shall report their scores independently upon completion of their
court to their captain at which time those scores must be posted within 48 hours of the completion of the last court.
J. Grievances:
1) Grievances must be submitted in writing to the grievance chair within one week of an occurrence. A majority of the committee's votes is required
to render a decision and this decision will be final.
2) All play shall be governed by USTA rules with the exception of the coaching rule #31. Once players are on the court for a match, there will be no coaching. Coaching includes any advice or instruction by any other person at any time during the match. If this rule is violated the court in question will be forfeited. No other person is permitted on the court except for players (no teammates, children, friends, etc.)
3) Reports of bad sportsmanship should be sent to the grievance chair. In the event of a formal grievance for sportsmanship issues, the
event will be researched by the grievance committee.
a. A warning will be issued after the first offense.
b. Upon a second offense the court will be defaulted and the player found guilty will be suspended from play for a period of two weeks of scheduled matches.
4) As of 2024, the Grievance committee will consist of the Interclub Coordinator, the Interclub Co-chair, and 3 other representitives from three
other clubs not represented by the Coordinator and Co-chair. Any grievances will be decided by the 3 members who are not filing the grievance.
5) The annual interclub league fee is $15 and is in addition to the $20 annual GKTA membership fee. The GKTA dues are good for the entire
calendar year and may have been paid earlier by the player participating in a spring USTA league. The GKTA dues and the Interclub League
Fee are both payable by the individual player and can be paid online at https://playtennis.usta.com/gkta. Both GKTA dues and league fees
must be paid in full prior to playing an interclub match in order to avoid having the court defaulted and points forfeited. The League Fee is payable
when a player is added to the Top Dog Roster. The responsibility to pay rests on the individual and the team captain is responsible for verifying
that her players have paid their fees and dues.
K) Interclub Committee and Representatives:
1) A Woman's Interclub Committee shall be established annually. The committee shall consist of 3 members. It is recommended that different levels
be represented. The Committee shall hear and rule on all matters brought before it.
2) A club's voting representative for the rules must be a woman who plays Interclub
L. Injuries
1) If a player is injured due to the condition of a court or facility the injured player's captain shall report the injury to the Interclub Committee.
04/13/25
