Quote:
Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA
random comments, etc, covering all of the Wyoming posts
-- Never heard of flighting ANYTHING at the high school level, so that's definitely different.
-- the 2/3 format is at least more recognizable to me, since Georgia is 3 singles/2 doubles
-- never knew anybody did mixed doubles in HS either
-- seeding in Wyoming is similar to GA too -- regular season only impact region seeding. But here, the state tournament is strictly by the numbers (8 regions, 1-4 (south) and 5-8 (north) always pair up within their subset, rotating the first round pairing each year
-- re: your margin between players 5-12 ... that's somewhat similar to what we experienced in HS (varies by program of course) but once the top 7 were set pre-season, rarely did it change. Was like pulling teeth to get a ladder match and if you weren't top 7 in week one, your varsity hopes were pretty much done (aside from a pity appearance in a lopsided affair or something)
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Yeah, we don't do any ladder matches in Oregon either. I thought I would when I took over the team, but with so many roster spots and really only 1/2 and doubles mattering, the kids mostly mellow out and the parents don't bother me there at all.
New Jersey is 3/2 as well, so I'm used to just 5 matches. It's nicer than Oregon only in that I can hope to win 3 matches and we win, versus having to win 5 of 8 or if there's a threat of a tie, then you have to start doing math on whether you win the set or games tiebreaker. (I've only had 2 ties in 4 years of Oregon coaches tho...once at the public school and once at my private.)
The biggest difference here is the lack of access to coaches, it's super hard to find people to do it. Parents will volunteer but that causes issues if it's a kid you don't want to start on varsity, so it leaves you with a very small bucket and then it get super political based on geographic boundaries.
I can't fathom doing this again, but were I to do it, I'd have to tap my own network to get a young assistant or two who'd come in for at least the regular season or maybe just the last few weeks between Regionals and state to get them touched up. It's just a ridiculously hard job with only one on-court coach.