High School Tennis

As some of you know I am currently the varsity tennis coach at The Bishop's School. This is my first season with the girl's team and last spring was my first season with the boy's.  Several people have asked me to explain the CIF (California Interscholastic Federation) rules and high school tennis in San Diego, so here we go.

One of the major differences between high school and college tennis is the format. In college, each position (3 singles, 3 doubles) plays a match (best out of 3 sets). In high school, each position (3 singles, 3 doubles) plays 3 sets, rotating either up or down to play the other positions. For example, line 1 singles will play 3 singles sets against opponent line 1, opponent line 3, opponent line 2. There are a total of 18 sets which will determine the winner of the match. If there is a 9-9 tie, the team who has won the most number of games wins the match. For a player to qualify to the CIF team and Individual playoffs a player must have played in 50% of their league matches, not including non-league scrimmages. This rule is there to prevent the best players from just playing in the two most important matches of the season.

The first event is the CIF team playoffs. If you thought the format for each match was confusing, stay with me and I'll try to explain how this works. In San Diego County, there are 121 high schools, of which 84 have tennis teams (28 schools per division, split across 13 leagues); of those, 48 are eligible for CIF playoffs. The schools vary in size based on enrollment - Division 1 (2370 and above), Division 2 (1700-2369), and Division 3 (1699 and below).

So, for the CIF playoffs 16 teams qualify into the final knock-out tournament. The winner of the tournament will determine the Division winner. The higher seed in each draw will host the match with the finals for all divisions played at the Barnes Tennis Center. This year, the playoff breakdown is as follows (all divisions, by seeding):

After the team CIF tournament is completed there is an individual tournament for each of the 13 leagues. For this tournament players can either enter singles or doubles, and if they are able to advance to the semifinals they qualify for the final CIF tournament held at the Barnes Tennis Center.

The format for the individual tournament involves pro-sets (first to 8 games) for the first three rounds. This helps to shorten the time needed to determine who makes it to the semifinals. At that point, teams will play best out of 3 sets.

The final event of the season involves all the players who have qualified from their respective tournaments. This brings together all the best players from all of the schools across every division. Once they reach this tournament they play best out of 3 sets in a knock-out format.

Generally, any player who is competing in the CIF finals has put themselves in a good position for a possible tennis scholarship at a Division 1 university.  Of course, nothing is guaranteed but these will most likely be the elite high school players in San Diego.

It is my belief that in competition if individuals show class in victory or defeat, they will increase their chances of success in life. Good luck to everyone in CIF!

Thanks again for all your continued support.

Come by and say hi!