Links to tennis association websites:

2012
Winter Competition
Closing Dates

BRTA Feb 8
WDTA Feb 8
Pennant Feb 22

Winter season is from late April to early August, Summer season from early October to early March with a long break from mid-December to early February. Please note that team entries close 6-8 weeks before the season starts.
Most competition is played Saturday afternoon from 1pm to between 3.30pm and 5.30pm although there are some winter formats which play Saturday morning (starts 9am and finishes by 1pm) or Sunday afternoon (from 1pm to between 3.30pm and 5.30pm). See "Competition Formats" for more information.

Where is competition played?

Half the matches are at home at Monash Clayton and half at other club venues.
Pennant is played all over Melbourne.
WDTA clubs are mostly within about 5km of the Monash Freeway from Chadstone to Berwick.
BRTA clubs are mostly within about 10km of Port Phillip Bay from Port Melbourne to Mt.Eliza.

Competition Formats (all formats seniors - no junior teams!)

WDTA 2-player Mens Singles/Doubles - Sat PM winter & summer - each player plays a singles rubber & doubles rubber - range of sections from A grade down to Cspecial grade.
Pennant 4-player Mens/Womens Singles/Doubles - winter only - Mens Sat PM or Sun PM - Womens Sat AM or Sun PM - each player plays 2 doubles rubbers (doubles rounds) or 1 singles rubber (singles rounds) - lowest pennant grade is at least Csp WDTA seniors standard.
BRTA 4-player Mens/Womens Singles/Doubles - Sat PM summer only - each player plays a doubles rubber + singles set first to 8 games.
BRTA 3-player Mens/Womens Singles/Doubles - Sat PM winter only - each player plays 2 doubles sets to 10 games (doubles rounds) or 1 singles rubber (singles rounds).
4-player Doubles Formats (Mens, Womens or Mixed) are also offered winter & summer in WDTA & BRTA. Please email monashtennis@fastmail.fm if you'd like more information.

What sort of committment is required from players?

Players choose how often they play (anything from 50% to 100% of matches) but they must decide before teams are selected and treat their chosen number of matches as a committment and play when rostered to play unless ill or injured. Player shortages result in heavy fines from tennis associations. Emergency players are not obliged to fill in when asked and the emergency list can cope with occasional illness/injury but not with large numbers of players playing less than originally promised.
If you believe that work, social or family matters may affect your availability, you should take this into account and ask to play less than 100% of matches.

Club practice/training times

Practice/training times are 6.30-8.30pm Wed nights for most of the year.
Regular training is encouraged but not compulsory and players are not penalised for not training.

Court hire discount

Members receive a 50% discount on non-student tennis court hire rates at Monash Uni Clayton - only one member is needed to book.

Selection process

New players without recent WDTA or Pennant experience need to be graded by playing matches or at least hitting with current players.

Teams are selected so that (1) all players are about the right standard for the grade/section applied for (the club will not apply for grades/sections clearly too weak/strong for the team or players in the team) and (2) based on player's stated availability, the team will have enough players each week.
Associations sort teams into grades/sections of 6 to 8 teams based on standard. Associations rely heavily on previous results although WDTA and BRTA generally accept club's gradings of new players unless the club has a history of inaccurately assessing new players.
Monash Uni TC normally enters about 10 teams in summer and about 12 in winter.

Can I join a team or be promoted or dropped during the season?

Teams are fixed for the duration of the season although players can fill in for a higher team if asked provided they are not rostered to play for their regular team. New players can be added during the season but only if there is room for them and they're the appropriate standard. Players cannot be dropped from a team during the season, in fact players can't even fill in for a lower team no matter how badly they're playing!
Players can of course move to a higher or lower grade or section in future seasons provided their form warrants the change and a suitable team is available.

What should I wear and what should I bring to matches?

There are rules about correct tennis attire, which can be found in competition handbook/fixtures, but these are rarely enforced. Keep correct gear in your car just in case. You're expected to bring afternoon (or morning) tea to home matches - bake a cake, make sandwhiches and you'll impress but a packet of biscuits is fine. Tea, coffee, milk, sugar, cups, crockery, cutlery etc. are in the clubhouse kitchen.

How do I get to matches?

There is no team bus! Players are expected to find their own way to matches although it's possible to get a lift from a team-mate with a car - but players cannot expect team-mates to travel a long way out of their way to provide transport. Players for whom transport to matches is a major problem will be difficult to place in a team.

Please contact Phil Mannes at monashtennis@fastmail.fm if you're interested in playing or would like more information.

In addition to
Membership and Tennis Victoria registration

Competition Fees (per season) are:

$35 WDTA, Pennant
$25 BRTA