As we approach the start of the state tennis tournament, you may notice that the play “windows” are a day shorter this year than last. The only Saturday the Rome Tennis Center at Berry College was available for the state finals this year was May 4, so we had to compress the playoffs by a few days in order to secure that wonderful facility.
We are asking for everybody’s cooperation to work together in scheduling your matches and keeping the playoffs on schedule, and we know it will probably require some compromises. Please remember that the “play by” date is the date by which the match must be completed and reported to the GHSA. The final day of a “window” is meant to be a last resort if rain has prevented you from playing earlier!
Please do NOT wait until the last day of a “window” to schedule your match and then ask for an extension if you are rained out on that last day. You risk BOTH teams being forfeited out of the tournament!
Try to play early during the play window. Remember that the restriction on playing during the school day is waived for the state playoffs. You do not have to wait until school lets out to begin play.
To remind you, here are the windows and the potential playing dates:
First Round (and Area for Class A): April 15, 16 & 17 – April 18 is rain day.
Second Round (first for Class A): April 19, 20 & 22 – April 23 is rain day.
Quarterfinals (all classes): April 24, 25 & 26 – April 27 is rain day.
Semifinals (all classes): April 29 & 30 – no rain day.
As you can see, there are three (3) potential playing dates BEFORE the final day of each window with the exception of the semifinals, where there is a deadline to get rosters and t-shirts printed for the finals. So there is no need for anybody to wait until the final day of a window to schedule a match!
Please report your results promptly so that we can keep the brackets on the GHSA web site up to date. You can e-mail results to Tennis Coordinator Steve Figueroa at stevefig@ghsa.net or fax them to the office at 706-647-2638.
You can view the brackets by clicking the links below:
