In 2009, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association released a study placing tennis as the fastest-growing sport in America, and many children choose tennis as their primary school or extracurricular sport. There are many rules to the game of tennis for adults that vary depending on whether you are playing in a league, on a college team or as a professional. For children, there are still more ways to participate in tennis, and there are unique regulations for each.
QuickStart Tennis
QuickStart Tennis was designed to get the youngest children involved in the game. It is played on a smaller court, with smaller balls and smaller racquets. There are two sets of game rules--one for those 10 and under, another for kids under eight. There are seven points in a game for both groups, but younger players go to the best of three games, while older ones need to win two out of three sets, with four games in a set.
Little Mo
Maureen "Little Mo" Connolly was the first woman tennis player to win the Grand Slam. Her non-profit organization promotes play for children with events throughout the United States and two yearly international competitions. The organization has a couple of unique rules: it reserves the right to remove any player who is not demonstrating sportsman-like behavior, and also mandates that players cannot play if they are over 11 years old within the year they are playing.
USTA Junior Competition
The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) is the governing body of national tennis and they set the rules for junior competition. The Friend of Court is the document that lists regulations. A few of the rules are unique to this body of children's tennis. For example, in USTA Junior Competition, a player must be 18 or under during the month the tournament starts, and needs to be an amateur. The only exception to these rules happens once a year during the prestigious National Championships.
ITF Junior Tennis
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) regulates tennis throughout the world, in addition to providing instruction, education and support to the sport. The ITF does not allow children to participate in circuit events before the age of 13, and have rules limiting the number of events kids can play between the ages of 13 and 17. The ITF also has unusual rules for doubles play, requiring a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set and no advantage scoring (so deuces are not played).
High School Tennis
High school tennis rules can vary by school and state. The one thing that is consistent throughout high school tennis in the United States is the No-Cut policy. No-Cut School Tennis was started by the USTA. It allows for students to join a school team regardless of their abilities. A coach may not "cut" a player from a team at any time due to the player's talent not meeting certain standards.
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