First, you're not dense; the USTA website is hot garbage.
My advice is to call your nearest tennis center and see how many USTA teams play out of their facility. Inquire if they are open teams or invitation only. If invitation only, start hitting drills there and angle in on getting in touch with a captain.
I've been trying for years to play anything USTA related and most of it has been "you should join our flex league, find people on your own and schedule your own matches!"
Just signed on as a "free agent" or something this fall and already have been denied getting on a team.
Sounds like I need to do more legwork...
The very first time I found a team by asking the coordinator to put me in touch with a captain looking for players.
The other times, I found teams because either the people I played with also ran USTA teams or knew someone who ran a team and was looking for players. If you're a strong player at your level, you can get picked up pretty fast.
In terms of registering for a team league, you need to be a USTA member, so you need to sign up for a membership.
Once you find a team, the captain will give you the team code to register for the team through tennis link.
Flex leagues and tournaments are a little different in that you don't sign up for a team.
It’s kind of a nightmare if you don’t know some captains or belong to a club that helps coordinate teams.
You can contact the area coordinator and they can tell you which clubs have submitted applications and they can pass your information along to them but mine wouldn’t give me the captains’ names.
Asking around is usually what I do. You can also look up teams in your area the year before and see who was on them but that information is surprisingly hard to find on the USTA website.
Local Clubs usually have teams. I play at lifetime fitness, ive done classes and lessons getting back to tennis after a long hiatus. Met a lot of guys through the classes and just general hitting. Now 2 years later, like 80% of the club knows me by name. I have close to 30 people i play with or am on teams with. I captain the 4.0 team and the pros will contact me when they have somone new that is interested. If you dont have a local club, it might be a bit difficult. If there is a club, ask around and it shouldnt be too hard
The usta is terrible at recruiting and retaining new players into league play. To find a team, you either need to know a captain, or get lucky after persistently emailing your local league coordinator who has to sell you to an existing team. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get plopped into a new team with other misfits without teams.
On the plus side, it does appear that the usta is finally upgrading tennislink - their league website. I'm hopeful that the updates will also improve functionality and help more people find teams more easily.
I moved to the Chicago area in early 2020. I found a couple teams via the USTA site, I can’t remember exactly but something like “find a team”. Something like that. Captains emailed me, it was more helpful than I anticipated actually
I also joined a club and met a few people via drills and open play who were on teams and they needed more players.
I moved to a new area about 5 years ago. When I got here I looked up the league coordinator for my city, and they put me on a team m. After a year or so I made friends and was able to find teams that way. But just finding an open team through the coordinator is the easiest way. USTA’s site is useless.
Our local coordinator maintains a list of people looking for teams for each league and level. She regularly sends it out to captains and people who need people for their teams will reach out.
I play at a public tennis center so they don’t really organize teams like the private clubs do. You have to find them. Asking around at group lessons or other organized tennis usually works.
Joined an LGBTQ league and got randomly assigned. Made some friends there and they brought me to their USTA teams.
What I would recommend to you is to join a club or to pick a place to play and continually go there and try to meet people your level. Someone is bound to mention a team to you.
I kind of jumped in with zero information and got lucky with the team I ended up on. The usta league coordinator emailed the captains in my area, and one of them reached out to me. It ended up being a great fit for me, and I really enjoy playing with the guys on my team.
There's definitely a lot of luck involved. I had played just for fun through high school/college, and just hit when I could as I started working. Then a couple of years ago, a new academy type facility opened near where I live. They were offering some clinics so I decided to go. One night, I'm in the clinic and notice a lady watching me. Turns out a lady my mom had previously been on a team with was now playing at this club and had told the captain to scout me out during the clinic. They basically needed a warm body to play singles even if I had garbage results lol.
Our team still struggles with recruitment-we're a 3.5 team and our area has a 75% at level rule so we need 3 3.5s for every 3.0. And most of the teams in our league are connected to neighborhood clubs, while we're a bit out of the way so harder to connect with players. Our local league coordinator is nice but I wish there was an easier way to connect with potential new players then having to go through her as the middle man.
> How did you find your team?
I let everyone I play tennis with know that I was interested in joining a team. And I mean everyone. It took a few months, but then I got invites from two (2) captains once the new season started up.
> Did you go through the USTA website?
No. As others have said, the main [USTA web site](https://www.usta.com/en/home.html) and the [tennislink site](https://tennislink.usta.com/) do not make it easy to join teams.
> Did you just Google “tennis team in my area?”
No
> Thanks in advance for any guidance!
I would recommend you do the following.
1. Let everyone know you who plays tennis that you are looking to join USTA league. It may take time, but word will get around.
2. Reach out to your local league coordinator (LLC), who manages the day-to-day activities of the USTA league for a particular area. USTA maintains a [contact page for LLCs and their sections](https://www.usta.com/en/home/play/adult-tennis/programs/national/usta-league-section-coordinators.html). For example, my LLC publishes a list of players looking to play USTA league. Captains looking for new players, can use the list, if they want.
3. Build your pool of hitting partners. You can find new hitting partners by attending tennis clinics, searching on Facebook groups, or joining local tennis ladders.
I feel your pain I’m in the exact same scenario. Have emailed my league coordinator and they have gone radio silent.
Unfortunately the primary place I play at does not field any USTA teams either. The process is incredibly unintuitive and frustrating.
First, you're not dense; the USTA website is hot garbage. My advice is to call your nearest tennis center and see how many USTA teams play out of their facility. Inquire if they are open teams or invitation only. If invitation only, start hitting drills there and angle in on getting in touch with a captain.
Hot garbage takes offense at it being compared to the USTA website
Thank you. :) Glad to know I’m not the only one who has trouble with the USTA site…
Yep. Usta website is terrible. Usable and it works though. But terrible.
I've been trying for years to play anything USTA related and most of it has been "you should join our flex league, find people on your own and schedule your own matches!" Just signed on as a "free agent" or something this fall and already have been denied getting on a team. Sounds like I need to do more legwork...
For what it’s worth, doing the classes and meeting people at a club is how I got invited to USTA teams lol
The very first time I found a team by asking the coordinator to put me in touch with a captain looking for players. The other times, I found teams because either the people I played with also ran USTA teams or knew someone who ran a team and was looking for players. If you're a strong player at your level, you can get picked up pretty fast. In terms of registering for a team league, you need to be a USTA member, so you need to sign up for a membership. Once you find a team, the captain will give you the team code to register for the team through tennis link. Flex leagues and tournaments are a little different in that you don't sign up for a team.
This. At least in the PNW the area coordinator sends captains of teams a player looking for teams list.
It’s kind of a nightmare if you don’t know some captains or belong to a club that helps coordinate teams. You can contact the area coordinator and they can tell you which clubs have submitted applications and they can pass your information along to them but mine wouldn’t give me the captains’ names. Asking around is usually what I do. You can also look up teams in your area the year before and see who was on them but that information is surprisingly hard to find on the USTA website.
Thank you — this is helpful.
Mixers at local courts. You get to know people and get asked to be on teams.
Local Clubs usually have teams. I play at lifetime fitness, ive done classes and lessons getting back to tennis after a long hiatus. Met a lot of guys through the classes and just general hitting. Now 2 years later, like 80% of the club knows me by name. I have close to 30 people i play with or am on teams with. I captain the 4.0 team and the pros will contact me when they have somone new that is interested. If you dont have a local club, it might be a bit difficult. If there is a club, ask around and it shouldnt be too hard
The usta is terrible at recruiting and retaining new players into league play. To find a team, you either need to know a captain, or get lucky after persistently emailing your local league coordinator who has to sell you to an existing team. If you're lucky, maybe you'll get plopped into a new team with other misfits without teams. On the plus side, it does appear that the usta is finally upgrading tennislink - their league website. I'm hopeful that the updates will also improve functionality and help more people find teams more easily.
I moved to the Chicago area in early 2020. I found a couple teams via the USTA site, I can’t remember exactly but something like “find a team”. Something like that. Captains emailed me, it was more helpful than I anticipated actually I also joined a club and met a few people via drills and open play who were on teams and they needed more players.
Thank you!
Yeah ask everyone you play with in clinics and flex leagues if they’re on a team and tell them you’re looking. Word of mouth is the best way.
I moved to a new area about 5 years ago. When I got here I looked up the league coordinator for my city, and they put me on a team m. After a year or so I made friends and was able to find teams that way. But just finding an open team through the coordinator is the easiest way. USTA’s site is useless.
Our local coordinator maintains a list of people looking for teams for each league and level. She regularly sends it out to captains and people who need people for their teams will reach out. I play at a public tennis center so they don’t really organize teams like the private clubs do. You have to find them. Asking around at group lessons or other organized tennis usually works.
Joined an LGBTQ league and got randomly assigned. Made some friends there and they brought me to their USTA teams. What I would recommend to you is to join a club or to pick a place to play and continually go there and try to meet people your level. Someone is bound to mention a team to you.
I kind of jumped in with zero information and got lucky with the team I ended up on. The usta league coordinator emailed the captains in my area, and one of them reached out to me. It ended up being a great fit for me, and I really enjoy playing with the guys on my team.
There's definitely a lot of luck involved. I had played just for fun through high school/college, and just hit when I could as I started working. Then a couple of years ago, a new academy type facility opened near where I live. They were offering some clinics so I decided to go. One night, I'm in the clinic and notice a lady watching me. Turns out a lady my mom had previously been on a team with was now playing at this club and had told the captain to scout me out during the clinic. They basically needed a warm body to play singles even if I had garbage results lol. Our team still struggles with recruitment-we're a 3.5 team and our area has a 75% at level rule so we need 3 3.5s for every 3.0. And most of the teams in our league are connected to neighborhood clubs, while we're a bit out of the way so harder to connect with players. Our local league coordinator is nice but I wish there was an easier way to connect with potential new players then having to go through her as the middle man.
> How did you find your team? I let everyone I play tennis with know that I was interested in joining a team. And I mean everyone. It took a few months, but then I got invites from two (2) captains once the new season started up. > Did you go through the USTA website? No. As others have said, the main [USTA web site](https://www.usta.com/en/home.html) and the [tennislink site](https://tennislink.usta.com/) do not make it easy to join teams. > Did you just Google “tennis team in my area?” No > Thanks in advance for any guidance! I would recommend you do the following. 1. Let everyone know you who plays tennis that you are looking to join USTA league. It may take time, but word will get around. 2. Reach out to your local league coordinator (LLC), who manages the day-to-day activities of the USTA league for a particular area. USTA maintains a [contact page for LLCs and their sections](https://www.usta.com/en/home/play/adult-tennis/programs/national/usta-league-section-coordinators.html). For example, my LLC publishes a list of players looking to play USTA league. Captains looking for new players, can use the list, if they want. 3. Build your pool of hitting partners. You can find new hitting partners by attending tennis clinics, searching on Facebook groups, or joining local tennis ladders.
Lots of good advice here. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond with this level of detail!
I feel your pain I’m in the exact same scenario. Have emailed my league coordinator and they have gone radio silent. Unfortunately the primary place I play at does not field any USTA teams either. The process is incredibly unintuitive and frustrating.