Click here to print the Grievance Form
ONLY NTRP Grievances are to be filed with Lori Therrien
at the USTA/Missouri Valley Section office in Overland Park, Kan.
All other local grievances should be submitted to the District League
Coordinator in the district where the grievance event occurred.
NTRP Grievance Protocol
Any league captain, coordinator or member of a championship committee has the right to file a NTRP Grievance against a player and/or captain. The grievance will claim that the player and/or captain committed or condoned obtaining a Self Rate or possesses a rating which is at a lower NTRP level but has demonstrated the ability to compete at a higher NTRP level.
League administrators are not required to accept such filings unless the specific claims within the grievance meet certain conditions. The items listed below suggest a framework for administrators to use to judge the admissibility of such filings.
Conditions Which Must Be Present:
1. The Grievance must be against a player of the following rating types: This list includes S, M, T, Dynamic Early Start League and Medical type ratings. A player with a valid NTRP Computer (C) or Benchmark (B) rating or granted Automatic Appeal rating of a “C” is not subject to a NTRP Grievance.
2. The complaint must state that the player has self-rated or possesses a rating which is too low and may also include information that a team captain or other person conspired to obtain that incorrect rating.
3. Factual information including the player’s history that can be validated.
Conditions Which Would Give Credibility to a NTRP Grievance:
• The player participated on a college team at a significant NCAA level (note: age of player, injuries, position on team, and strength of tennis team at particular school could affect a significant change in rating over time).
• The player participated at the professional level (including tennis or other sports).
• The player has earned international, national, sectional or state/district rankings that would reflect a strong probability that the player should have a higher rating.
• The player has ratings equivalent to national or sectional in some other country.
• The player has a history in league tennis and/or sanctioned tournaments that would substantiate a claim that the player has misrepresented their current skill level.
• The player may have produced one or more strikes in her/his current player record. (An administrator should review match results within TennisLink for determination.)
• There is credible written or online documentation that the player answered falsely or omitted information while obtaining a Self Rate.
Contentions or claims that would not, on their own, be accepted as evidence in a NTRP Grievance. However, several of these, presented with additional tennis specific information that clearly suggests a pattern of abuse, may be grounds for filing a NTRP Grievance:
• I haven’t lost a match all year and he beat me like a drum!
• My player is at the top of his level and the opponent beat him easily!
• That player is a teaching pro!
• This player won all his matches by a significant margin in straight sets!
• My player is very strong and was beaten 6-0, 6-0!
(updated 10-21-2009)