About Our Leagues

Procedures, Rules & More.

Purpose

To increase platform tennis & pickleball participation via formation of leagues dedicated to competition and camaraderie.

History

As of Fall/Winter 2023-24, 1,100+ different players have participated in our leagues. Our first league for platform tennis was 2012-13. Our first pickleball league was 2022. Platform Tennis History | Pickleball History

Components

Our leagues focus on the individual player's experience and seek to improve match quality, flexibility, frequency and scheduling regularity. Prioritized league components.

Clubs & Venues

Our leagues were held at eight clubs in 2023. List of clubs & directions.

Opt "In or Out?" Weekly Process

Indicating availability is a weekly process. Players receive an email two days prior to league day. This links to our "In or Out?" form for the week. Players indicate whether or not they can play as well as select time, frequency and sometimes location preferences. Text reminders are sent to participants who have not replied by the next morning. Players have until Noon the day before league play to opt "In" for the week. Anyone not replying is assumed "Out." "In or Out?" schedules by league.

Player Cancellation

Legitimate reasons for cancelling after the weekly schedule has been made: Emergency work travel, illness, injury, family emergency, unforeseeable events like car trouble, etc. Failure to notify league administrators (No call / No show) or repeated last minute cancellations may result in expulsion from the league.

Tardiness

Be on time. Showing up about 10 minutes early is proper. If someone is more than 15 minutes late, and an even number (4 per court) has already been achieved – it is not necessary to include the tardy participant.

Time Slots

Important Clarification: Time choices are typically windows such as "Early" or "Late." This means you could start at any time during a window. So, an "Early: 4:00 to 6:00" means you could start at 4:00 or 6:00. It does not mean you will be playing from 4pm to 6pm. Most leagues do not let you isolate/specify the earliest or middle start time. This is by design. The flexibility is critical in satisfying our top priority - competitively compatible pairings. Requests for specific start times will be granted only for a singular week, never on an ongoing basis. Requests for the middle time slot cannot be considered.

Geography / Club Preferences

Requesting play at a specific club is not possible. Members of Cincinnati Country Club, Losantiville Country Club and Queen City are given home priority and will be placed there as often as competitive compatibility & time slot requests work out. Some leagues offer geography choices such as "North Only" or "South Only." These will be indicated on the sign up registration page and will be indicated weekly through the "In or Out?" process. Certain club opt "Out" exceptions may also be allowed such as the one for players who can't comply with the all-white-clothing requirement at Cincinnati CC.

Pairings | Standings | Strength of Schedule

We use a proprietary pairings/results algorithm to create weekly matchups. The goal is for each player to get a variety of competitively compatible matches throughout a season. Ideally, a player will be the best on their court 25% of the time, worst on their court 25% and one of the middle players 50%. The level of these matchups should slide up and down slightly as more data is gathered or if a player improves. Here is a look at our pairings & standings process.

Format

Players are assigned to courts with either four or five participants. A round-robin style format is played.

Four-to-a-court
  • Each player plays one “official” set or game with each other player on the court as a partner.
  • 3 total "official sets or games are played (complete rotation 2x for pickleball - 6 games).
  • Play additional "unofficial" sets or games until time slot is over. These do not count for the standings.

Five-to-a-court
  • A rotation schedule will be given to you at the beginning of the night. Use this to determine partners.
  • Each player will play 4 “official” sets or games.
  • Each player will sit out one rotation.

Don't Plan to Leave Early
Allow up to two hours for a match. If you finish early, play extra games/sets for fun. If you cannot stay for the entire time slot, simply opt out for that week.

When All Sets/Games Not Completed

  • ​Due to weather interruption: Only the completed sets/games count.
  • Due to court/lighting malfunction: Only the completed sets/games count.
  • Due to injury: The team without injury wins a set/game that was in progress or was immediately up next in the rotation if player is unable to start the next set/game. Any other sets/games do not count.
  • Due to time constraints: All matches have set time slots. They begin with the start time listed in the weekly schedule and end with the start time of the next match on that same court. 
    • Platform Tennis: If a group is close to finishing, within 5 minutes of next start time, go ahead and finish. Otherwise, if one of the teams is ahead by 2 or more games at the time deadline that team wins the set. If not, play a regular tiebreaker to decide the winner. If you anticipate running out of time, start playing no-ad scoring & tiebreaker at 5-5.
    • Pickleball: If the court has 5 players and time is an issue - count all of the completed games. The incomplete games do not count. If a game is at least 50% complete at 5 minutes until the time deadline (leading team has at least 8 in 15-point game), go ahead and finish the game (play win by 1). If the court has 4 players - count all of the completed games. Finish any game running up against the deadline where leading team has at least 6 points. The games that are not completed will have the game from the first rotation (with the same matchup) count double. When there is an active court monitor / site administrator, a lower number to play to may be given, ie 9 instead of 11, 11 instead of 15. The results from these games are official.

Inclement Weather

When bad weather is a probability – still plan your day to show up no matter what. If you do not receive an email and/or text indicating league has been cancelled for the evening, then just show up. Cancellation texts/emails will go out 30+ minutes prior to start times when possible. NO PHONE CALLS. We will not cancel on the “threat” of bad weather. Platform tennis participants are expected to play platform tennis in moderate rain – but not in dangerous conditions (puddles, icy courts, lightning). Pickleball is not played in rain or on wet courts. Rain prior to pickleball start times has the potential to cause cancellations as well.

Waiver & Release

All league participants are required to sign these before playing their first time for Platform Tennis League and several of the participating clubs. Paper copies will be available to sign the first time you play in our league or at a venue. List:

Contact Info Required

All participants must provide the league administrator with an active email and mobile phone. The email & mobile phone information may be available to others in the league.

Eligibility

Leagues are open to male and female league players age 18+. Specific requirements are on registration pages.

Payment Deadline

Prepayment required. All fees are due by deadlines stated on registration pages.

Refund Policy

Refunds can be granted up until the first night of league play. No refunds after league play has started. If a player fails to play more than 2x in a session (due to injury or unanticipated regular conflict), a credit may be awarded for a future league. This credit has no cash redemption value.​

Make-Up Dates

If an excessive amount of league nights are canceled (3 or more) during a given session, make up dates at the end of the session/season may be added. Pickleball leagues are priced to account for three cancelled nights per 12-week session due to weather. Platform tennis cancelations are rare as the sport is played in most weather conditions.

Awards

Players must play at least 24 sets/games to qualify for league awards. The overall league winner and the top female finisher receive free entry into all Platform Tennis Leagues for the next 12 months. ​

Etiquette

All participants are required to adhere to the following:
  1. No court abuse.
    1. Do not hit court, screens, fences or nets in anger or for any other reason outside of normal point play.
    2. Do not climb or use screens to propel yourself into shots.
    3. Do not climb over nets.
  2. No human abuse.
    1. No intentional headhunting (platform tennis).
    2. No cussing or screaming at partners or opponents.
    3. No cheating, tanking or extended arguing.
  3. General politeness.
    1. No extensive screaming or yelling in anger.
    2. No hitting balls in anger (dangerous).
    3. No paddle throwing.
 
Repeated violation of these items may result in expulsion from the league.

Dress Code(s)

Cincinnati Country Club
Must wear ALL WHITE CLOTHING - When playing on the clay or hard tennis courts, all tennis and pickleball players are required to wear white tennis attire (minimal color trim is acceptable).  Headwear and accessories may be of any color.  Non-white outerwear (tennis appropriate warm-up attire) is permitted. Players must wear flat, non-marking, rubber-soled shoes without heels.  There is no dress code for the platform tennis courts, but please wear proper shoes to avoid damaging the courts or causing injury.

All Clubs
Though some "country club" dress codes may be relaxed for our leagues, some elements need to be followed:
  • Flat, non-marking shoes only. Shoes made for tennis or other racket sports are best.
  • No denim shorts or jeans.
  • No tank tops for men.
​
​Failure to follow these guidelines may result in exclusion from participation for the evening.