Associations Junior Pennant 2023 – Nominations Open
Bayside Regional Tennis Association and Moorabbin & Districts Junior Tennis Association are calling for nominations for players to compete in the 2023 Associations Junior Pennant (AJP) competition.
AJP is a Tennis Victoria event and brings together competitive players from across the Melbourne Metropolitan area and Geelong offering the highest standard of Junior Team tennis available in the State. The competition is a key component of the Victorian junior tennis pathway.
For those that have participated previously there are some significant changes this year to ensure competitive matches in all age groups. These changes are designed to provide a pathway for players by representing their region or association at the State Team Championships. These changes require eligibility through participation in AJP and are designed to provide incentive for the best players across the State in all age groups to participate. The most significant changes are:
- Name change to Association Junior Pennant to align with the open age Tennis Victoria Winter Pennant, AJL will now be known as Associations Junior Pennant (AJP) as a pathway for junior players to senior Pennant.
- Allowing 4-6 players to be used per round, offering flexibility for players to play doubles only or singles only.
- AJP is now the qualification event for the State Team Championships. Metro association players will need to play a minimum of 3 matches in the 2023 AJP season to qualify for the 2024 State Team Championships.
- The introduction of the ‘Junior Open’ age group which will replace 16&U and 18&U. This will have a minimum UTR requirement in the ‘A’ section to cater towards high performance players, whilst still catering for ‘participation’ players in lower sections
Age groups for AJP have been adjusted and aligned to attract the best players in any Association/Region to compete.
The Junior Open category will replace the 16&U and 18&U age groups. Junior Open Section A is aimed at providing an opportunity for the highest level of player in local competitions under 18 years of age. For players that may be eligible for U12 or U14 age groups, we encourage them to play their age group unless they meet the following UTR standards.
For boys, the UTR standard for Junior Open Section A is 7 and for girls the minimum UTR is 5.
Junior Open Section B and below welcomes all players with a lower UTR and who are between 15 and 18 years of age.
Key points
- Grading is within age
groups
- 10 & Under (mixed teams – but it can also be all boys and all girls)
- 12 & Under (boys and girls)
- 14 & Under (boys and girls)
- Junior Open (boys and girls)
- Home and away matches are played on Sunday morning’s
- Play commences at 8.30am and concludes by 1pm
- This is an 11-week competition – a 10-week season with Finals playoffs where possible – the schedule is attached.
- Round 1 – Sunday, 20 August.
- Week 11 – Finals playoffs – Sunday, 19 November
- Launch Event – Sunday 6August – Details TBA
- Each week there are four singles rubbers (best of two sets with the third set being a match tiebreaker) and two doubles rubbers (8 game sets)
There is more travel for AJP compared to local competition. Matches are played on neutral courts hosted by BRTA and MDJTA clubs. Each team will have a Team Manager. Generally, all players who nominate will have the opportunity to join a team. Team selection is considered an important step in the Junior Development Pathway.
Good team and club management is required if a player wishes to play in their local Sunday competition at the same time as AJP. Please consider your availability carefully – if you are nominating for AJP it should be your first priority.
Fees
The cost to play AJL is $60 per player. This fee includes the Tennis Victoria team entry fee, eight new tennis balls for each round, a pre-season launch event and any venue costs.
Uniform
Players are expected to wear the team shirt. The cost to purchase the shirt is $37.00. These must be pre-ordered by us and have a 5 week turn-around. When completing the google registration form, we suggest ordering a size larger than normal. This year we will be making another order of our very popular Navy blue hoodies. They are excellent quality and nice and warm for a winter’s morning, these are $55.00 each. If mum or dad wants one too, they come in all sizes (the kids like them big!).
Please note that we have a small supply of shirts in limited sizes from previous years. These shirts are the same design as the current shirts and can be purchased for $10.00 each. The new shirts are much better quality.
There is no payment required at this stage. An invoice will be sent before the start of the season.
Out of Age
Given the change to the open category qualifications it is unlikely we will have any requests for out of age players. If there are please send them to Michael Juste as below.
Nominations
We invite interested juniors to nominate via the following link:
Nominations close and must be received by Tuesday 20th June 2023.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions:
Michael Juste (AJL Coordinador) ajl@baysidetennis.asn.au
Craig James (President) president@baysidetennis.asn.au
We look forward to receiving your nomination.
