Iris Junior Championships-SC L3

Congratulations to Elizabeth (Gracie) Waldron, this year's winner of the EMS - Chemie Sportsmanship Award. This is the first year of the award for the Iris Junior Championships. Going forward we intend to make this award more and more prestigious by getting players, parents and officials all involved with the voting process. Again, congratulations to Gracie Waldron.

Palmetto Tennis Center is located at 400 Theater Drive. Use Wise Drive as your connector to Theater Drive. The road to the PTC is blocked on the Guinyard Drive side of Theater Drive. Call 803/774-3969 if you get to the Road Closed sign and need help. You are still only 2 minutes away.

The boys 12s draw had been reseeded because our #2 seed had to withdraw. The seeds were reassigned and the rest of the draw was left undisturbed. This was handled per the rules listed in a Friend at Court.

The entry deadline for SINGLES and DOUBLES is Sunday, May 5th at 11:59 PM. The deadline is meant to be just that, a deadline, so get your entries in on time. The draws will be posted no later than 12:00 noon on Tuesday, May 7th.

The host hotel for our event is the Country Inn and Suites. They will hold a block of rooms for us until May 5th, the day of the entry deadline. The rate is $99 plus tax. To book a room please call their national reservation number at 800 456 4000. Tell them you want the group rate set aside for the Iris Junior Championships.

The winner of the Girls 18's will receive a Main Draw wildcard into the Palmetto Pro Open, a USTA Pro Circuit $10,000 event. In order to be eligible for the pro event all players must have an ITF I-PIN number. In addition all players must have reached their 14th birthday before the start of the Pro Circuit event. The Pro Open will run from May 20-26. For more information about the USTA Pro Circuit please visit the USTA Pro Circuit Website. For any other questions please contact the tournament director.

The winners of the Girls 14's, 16's, & 18's will receive a Wildcard into the Colonial Family Practice USTA Regional Tournament to be held at the Palmetto Tennis Center from Aug 31-Sept 2. The Tournament is a USTA Level 3 National Event. In order to qualify for the Wildcard players must be age eligible for the August tournament. If the winner declines the Wildcard we will then offer the wildcard to the runner-up in that divison. Please visit the Tournament Homepage to find out more information about the event.

The seeding method set forth by the USTA SC Junior Competiton Committee will be used for seeding the event. If you have any questions regarding this process you may contact the tournament director or head referee.

All Singles draws will be a full-feed in consolation. Doubles will be Single Elimination. All main draw matches will be best 2 out of 3 tiebreak sets. All consolation matches will be best 2 out 3 sets with a 10-Point match tiebreak played in lieu of a 3rd set. Doubles will be an 8 game Pro Set with a 10-Point match tiebreak played at 8-8.

All 10's events will be played using the approved USTA Quickstart format. Matches will be played on a 60 foot court. They will play the best 2 out of 3 short sets (first one to four) with a 7 point tie-break at 4 all and will play a 7 point tie-breaker in lieu of the 3rd set. We will have court monitors available for ALL 10's matches. We will play the entire tournament on Saturday unless the number of players is too big.

All players will receive a tournament t-shirt and a lunch coupon to Jersey Mike's in Sumter. Lunch will include a sandwich, chips and beverage. The coupon must be used during the tournament dates. Fruit will be available each day for the players at the site.

For draws of 7 or more we will have awards for Champion, Finalist, Consolation Winner and Consolation Finalist. For draws of 5 or 6 we will have awards for Champion, Finalist and Consolation Winner. For draws of fewer than 5 we wil have awards for Champion and Finalist only.