Tennis Rules and Guidelines

If questions or concerns arise that are not covered in the rules below, please feel free to contact one of your two tennis chairs on the Mill Glen board.  Their name and contact information can be found under the board member section on the Mill Glen website – MillGlen.org 

The golden rule to remember is to schedule your play on the club calendar.  If it is not on the calendar your game can be bumped at any time by any member that does schedule play for that time.  Scheduled play takes priority. 

Team/League Play (ALTA & USTA) 

MGSTC supports team and league play at our club.  In doing such, the club extends court reservation priority for team practice and home matches.  However, please note that it is the responsibility of the team captains to ensure that the club calendar is updated with their practice and home match schedules.  Failure to do so forfeits court priority.  Please see details below.

Joining a team – MGSTC supports all ALTA & USTA team play.  Any active member of the MGSTC may join any ALTA or USTA team played out of our club given they meet the necessary requirements as put in place by ALTA and USTA.  Captains DO NOT have discretion as to who may join a team or who may not.  For a list of active teams and their captains please contact one of your two tennis chairs. 

Team Practices – Teams may reserve two courts for 1.5 hours once a week for practice.  Team practices are not allowed to be scheduled on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  It is the responsibility of the captains to put their practice times on the club calendar.  As a general rule we rotate evenings for team practice each season.  Practices are usually scheduled Monday through Thursday evening.  If a teams practice was on Thursday evening last season then their new practice time would be Monday evening for the upcoming season and so on.  These times need to be posted to the calendar at a minimum of 36 hours prior to the first practice.  Failure to do so automatically opens that time slot for general reservations by all club members and the team forfeits its precedence for court reservation that day.  

Home Matches – MGSTC reserves 2 courts for each home match.  It is the responsibility of the team captains to distribute their home match schedule for the season to one of the tennis chairs.  This notification must be done at least one week prior to that team’s first home match.  The tennis chairs will ensure that all home matches for all teams are posted to the club calendar accordingly.  Failure to communicate these schedules to the tennis chairs results in a forfeit of court reservation precedence for that day and opens that time slot to general reservations by all club members.   Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the team captain to follow up with the calendar to ensure that it reflects what that teams schedule dictates.  It is the ultimate responsibility of the captains to ensure that all their activities are posted correctly to the calendar.  Teams may not reserve more than 2 courts per home match.  If no other courts are being used and no one has reserved those courts, the home team may use the open courts but can be bumped by any club member who wishes to play at that time. 

Make Up Matches – All make up matches are required to be put on the club calendar.  Failure to do so does not constitute scheduled play and can be bumped by any member who does schedule play on the calendar at that time.  Make up matches do take priority over pick up play, lessons and practices.  However, it is the responsibility of the make up match scheduler to contact whoever they are trying to bump and communicate their intention.  Failure to do so does not constitute a scheduled make up match.  Make up matches do not bump any play next to it.  It is expected that all players regardless of the kind of play to be respectful of those around them by trying to keep their balls in their own courts etc.  Make up matches that are trying to be scheduled prior to their original play date are not extended the priority of a normal make up match.  Such a situation is considered to be treated as any normal court reservation.  It is recommended as a general guideline for make up matches to not be scheduled any closer than 1 hour prior to a scheduled team practice, home match or other make up match.  If a make up match needs to be scheduled closer than the 1 hour window it is the responsibility of the make up match scheduler to contact the other party and communicate their situation.  If a match is running over into someone else’s scheduled time it is expected those involved can work it out. 

T2 & K-Swiss

MGSTC supports T2 and K-Swiss play at our club.  In doing such, the club extends court reservation times for home matches to two hours.  Only two courts may be reserved at any given time for T2 or K-Swiss (or any combination there of) matches.  Other than the court reservation time of two hours, T2 and K-Swiss matches are to be treated as a general reservation.   

Courtesy Rules – Please make sure that all used tennis balls, cans, and other trash is disposed of properly before leaving the courts.  If the net trash cans are full, please take a moment and empty them.  The tennis courts are not to be used after 11:00 PM.  If you are the last person to leave the courts at night, please:  Turn off the lights and lock the gates.