Manhattan Beach Tennis Team Finishes Second at Nationals

A mixed tennis team from Manhattan Beach, Calif., representing the USTA Southern California Section, finished second at the USTA League Mixed 18 & Over 10.0 National Championships held at the Hilton El Conquistador Resort, Tucson, Ariz.

The Manhattan Beach team lost to a team from Memphis, Tenn., 3-0 in the Championship match. Earlier in the day, the Manhattan Beach team defeated a team from Haverhill, Mass., 3-0 in the semifinals. They advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.

The team is captained by Jarrod Quan and features: Aya Sugimoto, Tricia Mar, Tiffany Mai, Madeline Segura, Deborah Schroeder, Mio Nakajima, Attila Lassu, Chris Dundas, Nicholas de Goede and plays at the Mira Costa High School tennis courts.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year to more than 865,000 players across the nation today, making it the world’s largest recreational tennis league.

USTA League was established to provide adult recreational tennis players throughout the country with the opportunity to compete against players of similar ability levels. Players participate on teams in a league format, which is administered by the USTA through its 17 sections. The league groups players by using six National Tennis Rating Program (NTRP) levels, ranging from 2.5 (entry) to 5.0 (advanced). USTA League is open to any USTA member 18 years of age or older.

The 2015 USTA League season will be the third season with the updated structure and format which offers four age categories (Adult 18 & Over, Adult 40 & Over and Adult 55 & Over and Mixed 18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. A fifth age division, the Mixed 40 & Over division, was added last year. The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.