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be considered a roving umpire.
They could make line calls, solve
disputes and make decisions on
the spot. Our players respected
this. The mere presence of a coach
watching a match probably helped
keep matches controlled. I must
mention that this rule only applied
to the high school coach, not one
of the private coaches who worked
with many of our players.
Now, I fully understand that a
high school tournament operates
under some rule differences. This
method would probably not work
in USTA without some tweaking,
or maybe not at all. But for us, we
had created what basketball and
football officials call “potential of
presence.”
This worked for us on the local
level. Unfortunately, when our
winners went on we faced some of
the problems you mentioned in the
message.
I applaud you for writing on
this subject and for the courage to
step on the toes you did. My sincere
hope is that this article gets a great
response and produces ideas that
will help solve it.
Hopefully the time will come
when none of us walk off the court
saying, “I don’t want to play with
him anymore, he cheats.”
Robert L. Schweid, USPTA
Henderson, Nev.
Howdy Tim,
After reading your “Cheating,
lying, and stealing” editorial, I
just had to write you and say that
I take my Texas-sized, 10-gallon
hat off to you for telling it like it
is. As I read your editorial, I could
relate to your feelings all too well
because I was once a junior tennis
parent myself and experienced
some of the very same frustrations
you are experiencing in the junior
tennis world of today. Fortunately,
the problems I experienced 20
years ago weren’t as bad as they are
today. My daughter had the good
fortune to have worked with classact
teaching pros like Jim Parker,
who wouldn’t tolerate cheating for
a nanosecond nor would her dad!
As you know, I am a USTA official
and primarily work the junior
tournaments in the Houston area.
Time and time again, I’ve had junior
players come to me requesting
that I monitor their match for bad
line calls, foot faulting, etc. After
not seeing any bad line calls, foot
faults, or other forms of cheating
during two or three games, I typically
move on to monitor another
court, only to have the same player
call me back to his/her match five
minutes later for the very same
problems.
Fortunately, we are blessed
in the USTA Texas Section with
a great Discipline & Grievance
Committee chair in the form of
Paul Christian. I’m here to tell you
though, Paul and his committee
can’t do their job effectively if the
USTA officials and tournament
directors don’t do their jobs by
submitting reports of cheating.
As far as I’m concerned, submitting
cheating reports to the D&G
Committee is one of the most
important responsibilities assumed
by a person who chooses to become
a USTA official.
The idea of an “undercover
official” is an absolutely fantastic
idea! I sincerely hope that Paul and
the Texas Section D&G Committee
give serious consideration to
using “undercover officials” on a
trial basis for two or three years
and then evaluate the results. You
know and I know that this cancer,
in the form of cheating, lying, and
stealing, must stop now; otherwise,
our beloved game of tennis is
headed down the wrong path like
a runaway train!
Rod Hotz, USPTA
Houston
Dear Tim,
I enjoyed your thoughts on
cheating at junior tournaments. As
you and I are of the “old school,”
we know that the sense of shame
over being accused, or even suspected,
of being a cheater or poor
sport kept participants, on the
whole, being very fair. In my day,
at the early level of junior play in
New Zealand, all competitors were
made to adjudicate a match; usually
the loser adjudicated the match
following theirs on a court. There
was, therefore, an independent
observer that a player could appeal
to without having to look for an
official. The “scorekeeper” would
make sure that scores were correct
and no arguments regarding what
the score was developed, as the
monitor would be the final voice.
All players had to do this and even
winners were assigned a match at
some point during the event. I
know that time is an issue at many
tournaments today, but if, at the
entry level of junior tournament
sanctioned play, monitoring was a
requirement of entering the tournament,
then good habits would
be developed at the early stages
of a player’s tournament career. A
secondary byproduct of this was
that losers would have to immerse
themselves in another match so
the sting and self-criticism of losing
would be shortened and focus
given to another match.
I applaud the other suggestions
you made and hope that
publicity can turn the tide in the
adult segment of the junior player’s
network.
Sincerely,
Ian Crookenden, USPTA
Philadelphia
Dear Tim,
You wrote an excellent article
about cheating in junior tennis
tournaments. I was quite taken
aback by the story. I agree with
you 100 percent ... cheating cannot
be tolerated and must be stopped.
There is no place for cheating in
sports, just as there really is no
place for cheating in any of life’s
endeavors.
I like your idea of using “undercover
officials” when one player
may be suspected of cheating. I
have a couple of other suggestions,
too. First of all, players should be
given a “standard speech” before
every match about the need to
make line calls clearly and quickly
and the need to be fair and give
the opponent the benefit of the
doubt in a close call. Tennis relies
on the honesty and integrity of the
players. That is the very essence of
a tennis match. I know the kids get
sick and tired of listening to this
“spiel,” but as a high school coach,
I repeat it at the start of each and
every meet. The players know it by
heart, but they still need to hear it
at the start of every competition.
It just might make an impact
on someone who hasn’t listened
before.
Secondly, at USPTA- sanctioned
junior tournaments, perhaps
matches could be videotaped so
they could be reviewed in the event
of a dispute. Just an idea, especially
when a player is suspected of cheating.
This might help.
The very thought of cheating in
a tennis match would make Harry
Hopman turn over in his grave! In
my more than 35 years of playing
tennis, I have never thought of any
other sport having such a necessity
(or history) of fairness, honesty and
integrity associated with it. I’m sure
that every tennis champion around
today, and every single honest
player, would feel the same way.
Regards
Arthur Klein, USPTA
Morristown, N.J.
We greatly appreciate all the input
from our members concerning possible
solutions to the problem of
cheating in the game of tennis.
Many suggested solutions would be
great, in theory, but there are certain
realities in junior tennis that would
make them hard to implement. For
instance, if a player won a match
but was suffering from heat exhaustion,
you could not prevent him from
advancing to the next round because
he needed to rest or even left to seek
medical attention instead of refereeing
a match between two peers. Also,
many players travel to tournaments
with their academies and drill groups,
and it would be unfair to make a group
of players stay at a match site for
two extra hours while one of their
mates has to umpire a match. Most
tournament directors have a hard
enough time keeping things running
smoothly with the huge draws in junior
tournaments these days without
having to worry about tracking down
players who are not used to having
responsibilities once they have
turned in their scores.
However, we realize the only way the
cheating epidemic can be stopped,
or even slowed, is by a group effort
among players, parents, teaching
professionals, tournament directors,
and officials, and we encourage
everyone to continue to brainstorm
on how we can most effectively
maintain sportsmanship and fair
play in the sport.
www.ADDvantageUSPTA.com
ADDvantage/January 2008 23