Columbus Platform Tennis League Information
Welcome back. This will be the twelfth year for the COPTA League. Welcome for the first time to The Country Club at Muirfield Village. This is their first year of participating in the league, and they will start with a 3.5 level team. Swim & Racquet and Brookside have additional 3.5 level teams this year.
Captains will use PlatformTennisZone to prepare line-ups prior to coming to the match, share line-ups when they arrive, and submit their scores after the match. The Home captain is to report the scores. They are also requested to enter scores on the APTA system.
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COPTA 4.0 League Results for 2023-24 | ||
Team |
Matches Won / Lost |
Match Winning % |
|---|---|---|
| New Albany Men 4.0 | 4 / 1 |
80% |
Brookside Men 4.0 | 3 / 1 |
75% |
| Scioto Men 4.0 | 3 / 1 |
75% |
Lakes Men 4.0 | 2 / 2 |
50% |
| Swim & Racquet Men 4.0 | 2 / 2 |
50% |
Elysium Men 4.0 | 1 / 4 |
20% |
| Worthington Hills Men 4.0 | 0 / 4 |
0% |
The emphasis is to not have court defaults, but it is up to the captains to determine if match timing can be adjusted to allow play to take place. Teams should not ask for delays in order to get their best line-ups on the court. Note that last year's rule change of having four teams in the playoffs, takes pressure off of captains to field their best team every week.
COVID-19 will likely never go away completely, but hopefully the 2023-24 season will not be hindered with restrictions or numerous defaults due to illness.
As was done last year, four teams from each league will be included in the playoffs on March 3. It would be a good idea for captains to remind their best players now to hang around Columbus that weekend. The four teams in the 4.0 League with the highest Match Winning % will face off. In the two-court, 3.5 League, the four teams with the highest Court Winning % will meet in the playoffs. All teams will be invited to attend the playoff / party. Players must compete three times in order to be eligible to play in the playoffs. (Defaulted matches do not count toward this total.)
COPTA 3.5 League Results for 2023-24 | |||
Team |
Courts Won |
Courts Lost |
Courts Winning % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lakes Men 3.5 | 9 |
1 |
90% | Brookside-WG Men 3.5 | 6 |
2 |
75% |
| Swim & Racquet-JJ Men 3.5 | 5 |
3 |
63% | The Country Club at Muirfield Village Men 3.5 | 4 |
4 |
50% |
| Swim & Racquet-SM Men 3.5 | 5 |
5 |
50% | Scioto Men 3.5 | 4 |
6 |
40% |
| New Albany Men 3.5 | 3 |
5 |
38% | Brookside-DD Men 3.5 | 3 |
7 |
30% |
| Swim & Racquet-MP Men 3.5 | 1 |
7 |
13% |
Players can always "play-up" from a lower level league to complete a line-up. This is also a great way to evaluate new talent. For this reason, it may be better for captains to position their lower level teams to have more players.
There was an attempt to have an Open league a couple of years ago, but there were not enough players to compete at this level. 4.5+ players typically have their own opportunities to play, but if a team has a 4.5 player(s) who wants to compete in the 4.0 League, please coordinate that with the other captain. If the opposing captain does not have sufficient firepower to make it a competitive match, it may be for the best to leave the 4.5 player at home. Most guys; however, want the challenge of facing the better players so this has not been an issue in the past. The key to using the higher level players is good communication between the captains. Note that a draft league is being introduced this year so that may give the best players another option to compete.
While these are Men's Leagues, women are welcome to compete at the 4.0 League level. Less skilled players tend to overhit the ball. There probably needs to be a 3.5 level women's league at some point.
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New Albany - 4.0 Champs - Click to enlarge |
The captains (and co-captains this year are: Robert Postma (Brookside), Tara Meadors (Elysium), Mike Lindell (Lakes), John Archer - Shaun LaJeunesse (New Albany), Bill Cseplo (Scioto Country Club), Rob Martin (Swim & Racquet), and John Lindaman (Worthington Hills Country Club).
The 3.5 captains are: David DeBord (Brookside-DD) and Will Ghidotti (Brookside-WG), Rusty Storrer (Lakes), Sean Morrison - Eric Verbic (New Albany), Matt Skellan (Scioto Country Club), Shawn McKenna - Jon Cartlidge (Swim & Racquet-SM), and Michael Plessinger (Swim & Racquet-MP), and Jim Jones (Swim & Racquet-JJ).
Click to obtain the contact information for the League Captains.
The schedules for each team are available via the Team Report pages.
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Scioto Country Club - 3.5 Champs - Click to enlarge |
The cost to participate this year is $150 for the three court, 4.0 team, and $100 for the two court, 3.5 teams. Clubs may charge whatever they wish from their members. Please get these checks to Rob Martin. Each club will pay the same fixed amount, but captains will determine the amount for each team. The cost will be dependent on roster size, club fees, balls, food, etc.
Last year, New Albany and Scioto Country Club won the 4.0 and 3.5 Leagues, respectively. They are included in the pictures to the right.
The teams that won their respective leagues in the 2021-2022 season were Worthington Hills in 4.0, Brookside 3.5, and Swim & Racquet-MP in the 3.0 League.
The 2020-2021 winners were Worthington Hills in 4.0, Brookside 3.5, and Swim & Racquet-MP in the 3.0 League.
Tournaments in 2023-2024 Season
Some of the major tournaments scheduled for this season include: Cleveland Masters - November 11-12; Midwestern's (Cincinnati) - January 12-14; Columbus Open - January 19-21; and Peachtree Open (Atlanta) - Feb 23-25; and The APTA Nationals - March 7-10 (in Boston).
More pictures will be added as the season progresses. Please note that the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. Names are included to promote the camaraderie of platform tennis. If you would prefer that your name not be listed, please let Scott Gerber know.