Chesterfield USTA League Team Places Second at Nationals

The men’s tennis team from Chesterfield, Mo., representing the USTA Missouri Valley Section, finished second at the USTA League Adult 55 & Over 8.0 National Championships held at the Surprise Tennis & Racquet Complex, Surprise, Ariz.

The Chesterfield team lost to a team from The Woodlands, Texas, 2-1 in the Championship match. Earlier in the day, the Chesterfield team defeated a team from Columbia, Md., 2-1 in the semifinals. They advanced this far by winning their round-robin flight contested Friday and Saturday.

The team is captained by Richard Constance and features Bob Cook, Grant Dambach, Patrick Costigan, Dean Williams, Robert Faust, Jack Hearst (Co-Captain), Mark Rubinelli, Ross Wayne Legg, Steven Oppliger, Tony Basile and plays at Parkway Central Middle School.

The top four teams in order of finish are: Texas, Missouri Valley, Southern, Mid-Atlantic.

Established in 1980, USTA League has grown from 13,000 participants in a few parts of the country in its first year, to over 820,000 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.

Last year USTA League changed its structure and format. The change offers USTA League participant’s two divisions: Adult (18 & Over, 40 & Over and 55 & Over) and Mixed (18 & Over) to better align participants with players their own age. In 2014 a Mixed 40 & Over division was added. The restructuring guarantees more frequency of play opportunities at more appropriate age groups.