LTA Youth Compete

The LTA Youth Compete programme offers several different competition options. The main three are Team Challenge, Matchplay and Local Tour.

Team Challenges are fun, accessible, low-pressure events to enjoy with your friends (and to make some new ones!) in a welcoming environment. Team Challenge is suitable for players of all levels, and won't affect your ratings or rankings. This makes them a great way to start playing in competition. Team Challenge can take place during coaching sessions, or during a themed Festival Week. "Back the Brits", "Girl Set Match" and "Monster Smash" are a few of the themes used. And everyone’s a winner! Champions go home with a medal, the challengers take home a certificate.

Youth Matchplays offer players the opportunity to compete in individual matches. Scoring format for 8&U mini red and 9&U mini orange matchplays are one tie-break to 10 points, 10&U mini green uses one FAST4 set and yellow ball matchplays use two sets FAST4. We offer lots of matches playing against players of similar level. Youth Matchplays usually last 2-3 hours.

Local Tour, which you might know as County Tour/grade 5, runs a range of tournaments for different age groups, all year round. Results from these tournaments count towards players' ratings, rankings and/or recent form. 8&U mini red and 9&U mini orange use one tie-break to 10 points. From 10&U mini green up to yellow ball (11&U-18&U), these tournaments use FAST4 scoring - one set for 10&U, two sets for all other age groups. Local Tour events usually last a half or a full day.

More information about LTA Youth Compete can be found on the LTA website here: www.lta.org.uk/compete/junior/lta-youth-compete/

LTA Adult Competition

There is a wide variety of competition types available to adults. You can compete in leagues, one-day tournaments, and weeklong events. All these options take place on different levels: locally, county, regional or district level, and nationally.

Local leagues take place at local parks and public courts throughout the year. They are open to all players over the age of 18, and can be both singles and doubles. They are perfect for players who have never taken part in competition before, as well as more experienced players: we use your WTN to find you suitable opponents.

County and District leagues are social, local team competitions for players of any ability - from new players to those who have been competing for years. These league matches are played weekly, usually with four to six people per team. You can take part in County and District leagues by entering your team from an LTA registered venue.

County Cup competitions take place all over Great Britain. You can compete in open summer and winter events, over 35 events and seniors tournaments with your Advantage membership.

County Tour competitions are grade 4 events, and can be singles as well as doubles. They are suitable for anyone looking to improve their match skills. County Tour tournaments take place all over the country. There are plenty of events offered - anyone can take part.

County Championships see thousands of players compete for the title of County Champion each year. These championships take place in your local area, and offer singles and doubles events, often other activities are offered alongside it: from family doubles competitions to BBQs. County Championships take place in the last week of August and are open to all players, and you can choose if you want to compete in either the county you live, your club's county, or the county were born.

Regional Tour competitions are grade 3 events that offer singles and doubles events all year. They are fast-paced one-day tournaments, using a FAST4 scoring format. If you are getting strong results in County Tour grade 4 events, Regional Tour competitions is your next step in taking on the best players in your region. Some tournaments offer singles and doubles alongside each other, and you can compete in either, or both.

For more information about LTA Adult Competition, you can look on the LTA website here: www.lta.org.uk/compete/adult/

British Tennis Membership (BTM) Number and LTA Advantage

All tennis players are strongly encouraged to apply for a British Tennis Membership (BTM) Number. You need it to compete in most tournaments and leagues. Your BTM number will make sure that your ratings, rankings, recent form or ITF World Tennis Number (WTN) are up to date.

You can get a BTM Number through LTA Advantage. The LTA offers various options for Advantage membership. You can compare options on the LTA website, to choose the most suitable for you: https://www.lta.org.uk/advantage/compare/

Become an Advantage member and get your BTM number here: https://www.lta.org.uk/advantage

If you are not sure which option to go for, or you are having trouble applying, Double Dutch Organising can help. Just contact Irena through the Contact page.

Types of competition

There are different types of junior and adult competitions. Double Dutch Organising currently runs Youth Matchplay grade 6 events, Club Championships grade 7, and ungraded events.

If you are a club or venue that is interested in offering grade 4 and 5 Local and County Tour events or grade 6, 7 and ungraded competition options, Double Dutch Organising can arrange these for you - from competition organising to refereeing the tournament (R5 qualified referee). Just contact Irena through the Contact page.