General Rules of Play and Court Etiquette

If questions or concerns arise that are not covered in the rules below, please feel free to contact your tennis chairs.

The golden rule to remember is to schedule your play on the club calendar.  If it is not on the calendar your game can be bumped at any time by any member that does schedule play for that time.  Scheduled play takes priority. 

General Court Reservations

Reservation Guidelines – Reservations may be made on the hour for TWO hours using the reservation features on the club calendar on our website – Mill Glen.org.    If reserving for a lesson or lessons, do not exceed the two hour time limit (this includes families taking a series of lessons).   

Courtesy Rules – Shirts and tennis shoes are required.  Please make sure that all used tennis balls, cans, and other trash is disposed of properly before leaving the courts anytime you play.  If the net trash cans are full, please take a moment and empty them.  This applies to any time you play, not just after team matches. 

The tennis courts may not to be used after 11:00 PM.  Whenever you leave the courts, please turn off the lights and lock the gates

If you have a reservation, or practice scheduled, you will not use, please cancel at least 24 hours in advance, or as soon as you know, so others may reserve it.   Multiple unused and un-cancelled reservations may result in the suspension of the right to make future reservations at the total discretion of the Tennis Chairs.

Monday through Friday, for courts 1 & 2, reservations must be 6-8 PM or 8-10 PM so we can optimize playtime on the lit courts.  You may book up to 2 hours on courts 3 and 4 starting at any time.

NOTE: We are running a trial to accommodate “flex league” (T-2,, Ultimate, etc).  For courts 1 & 2, schedule your play from 8 to 10, Monday through Friday.  If the court is available at 6 PM the day before you are scheduled to play you may reserve the court from 7 to 9 or 7:30 to 9:30.

Priority for Use of Courts

1. ALTA or USTA Matches

2. ALTA or USTA Make-up Matches

3. ALTA or USTA Practices

4. Mill Glen Singles League

5. General Reservations, ‘Flex’ Leagues or ALTA or USTA Matches Played before regular time

6. Open Court.

Team/League Play (ALTA & USTA) 

MGSTC supports team and league play at our club.  The more members from MGSTC on the courts, the better!  In doing such, the club extends court reservation priority for team practice and home matches.  Please see details below.

Joining a team – MGSTC supports all ALTA & USTA team play.  Any active member of the MGSTC may join any ALTA or USTA team played out of our club given they meet the necessary requirements as put in place by ALTA and USTA.  Captains DO NOT have discretion as to who may join a team or who may not.  While the Captain may not turn down any active member who meets the necessary requirements, that does not guarantee any member will play in matches.  Line ups for match play are solely at the discretion of the Captain.

A list of active teams and their captains can be viewed here. 

Team Practices – Teams may reserve two courts for 2.0 hours once a week for practice.  Team practices are not allowed to be scheduled on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.  

As a general rule we rotate evenings for team practice each calendar year.  For courts 1 & 2, practices must be scheduled from 6-8 or 8 -10 Monday through Thursday. Teams may ‘swap’ nights with another captain.  If there are open times, requests for a specific day and time should be submitted to the tennis chairs. Each season, for courts 1 & 2, we will rotate the time and day of play to accommodate as many teams as possible.  Rotation Schedule if there are more than four (4) teams

If a team would like to move to an open slot, they should contact the tennis chairs to move to their time for the season.  If a new team wants to start practicing such that there are more than four (4) teams, this rotation schedule will be used for that season.

Practice times begin two weeks before the first scheduled match and run through the playoffs for that season.

Home Matches – MGSTC reserves 2 courts for each home match.  It is the responsibility of the team captains to distribute their home match schedule for the season to the tennis chairs once it’s available. The tennis chairs will then schedule the home matches for all teams on behalf of the captains. Teams may not reserve more than 2 courts per home match.  If neither of the other two courts are reserved by the Wednesday before the weekend matches, the home team may reserve one of the two open courts (leaving one court still open).  The home team may use the fourth unreserved open court during match play, but can be bumped by any club member who wishes to play at that time. 

Make Up Matches – All make up matches are required to be put on the club calendar.  Failure to do so does not constitute scheduled play and can be bumped by any member who does schedule play on the calendar at that time.  Make up matches do take priority over pick up play, lessons and practices.  However, it is the responsibility of the make-up match scheduler to contact whoever they are trying to bump and communicate their intention.  Failure to do so does not constitute a scheduled make up match.  Make up matches do not bump any play next to it.  It is expected that all players regardless of the kind of play to be respectful of those around them by trying to keep their balls in their own courts etc.  Make up matches that are trying to be scheduled prior to their original play date are not extended the priority of a normal make up match.  Such a situation is considered to be treated as a general court reservation.  It is recommended as a general guideline for make-up matches to not be scheduled any closer than 1 hour prior to a scheduled team practice, home match or other make up match.  If a make-up match needs to be scheduled closer than the 1 hour window it is the responsibility of the make-up match scheduler to contact the other party and communicate their situation.  If a match is running over into someone else’s scheduled time it is expected those involved can work it out. 

In case of conflicts in scheduling make up matches, please contact Tennis Chairs.

T2, Ultimate and Other ‘flex’ Leagues

MGSTC supports flex league play at our club.  In doing such, the club extends court reservation times for home matches to two hours.  Only two courts may be reserved at any given time for flex league play (or any combination thereof) matches.  Other than the court reservation time of two hours, flex league matches are to be treated as a general reservation. See  General Court Reservations above.

Club Membership Status

In order to play on a Mill Glen ALTA or USTA team, the player must be a current active Mill Glen Swim & Tennis Club member in good standing. Senior membership status allows for tennis play, whereas, inactive status does not. Since it is difficult for individual team captains to know the current Club status of each player, all team captains must send a copy of their final team rosters to one of the Tennis Chairpersons prior to season play. The Tennis Chairpersons will let the team captain know if there are any problems. If membership status is in question prior to roster submittal, either the team captain or the Tennis Chairperson may review membership status with the Membership Chairperson.

Non-Member Tennis Play Policy (Revision 2026) 

Mill Glen’s tennis program exists first and foremost to serve Club members. From time to time, teams may experience roster shortages that make it difficult to field a full team or avoid match forfeits. In those limited situations, non-member participation may be approved as a short-term, last-resort solution. 

This policy clarifies expectations to ensure consistency, fairness, protect member priority and access, and reinforce that non-member participation is temporary rather than an ongoing alternative to Club membership. 

Our Club relies on membership and associated fees to maintain and enhance our facilities and programs. This policy helps ensure that the benefits of participation remain aligned with membership while still allowing limited flexibility for teams with genuine roster needs. 

General Principles 

• Club members always receive priority for team placement. 
• Non-members may only fill roster positions not claimed by members. 
• Non-member participation is intended to be temporary and limited in duration. 
• Captains are responsible for ensuring this policy is followed. 
• Residents of Mill Glen, as defined in the bylaws, are not eligible to apply as non-members. 

Junior Teams 

• Non-members playing on junior ALTA/USTA teams are exempt from non-member fees. 
• All junior teams must be coached or captained by a current Mill Glen member in good standing. The member coach/captain is responsible for team oversight and ensuring adherence to all Club rules and policies. 

The following steps must be taken by the ALTA team’s captain before non-member participation will be approved: 

Step 1 – Member Recruitment (Required First) 

Before requesting any non-members, captains must make a good-faith effort to recruit from within the Club. 

Two weeks before rosters close, Captains must: 

• Work with the Tennis Chairperson(s) to send an email to all active members advertising open roster spots, and 
• Allow a reasonable opportunity for members to respond. 

Non-member requests will only be considered after this outreach has occurred. 

Step 2 – Request & Approval Process 

If roster needs remain after member outreach: 

1. The captain must complete the Non-Member Team Request form. 
2. Requests must be submitted at least 3 days prior to the scheduled Board meeting which occurs immediately prior to the ALTA/USTA roster submission deadline to allow adequate time for review.  Board meetings occur the second Tuesday of every month. 
3. The Tennis Chairpersons will present the submissions to the Board and communicate a decision to the team’s captain. 

Non-members may not be added to a roster or participate in practices or matches until: 

• Formal approval has been granted, and 
• The required fee has been paid. 

Submitting a form or payment alone does not constitute approval. 

Duration of Participation  

Non-member participation is intended to provide short-term relief for teams within the club. Any individual may participate as a non-member for no more than three (3) total seasons within a 24-month period. 

• After reaching this limit, the individual must: 
• Become a Club member to continue playing  

Transition Period 

This policy will take effect beginning with the 2026 ALTA Fall season. To provide a fair transition, participation limits will apply prospectively only. Seasons prior to implementation will not be counted, and all current non-members will begin with a fresh participation count under the new guidelines. 

Fees 

• Approved non-members must pay a $75 per season fee prior to participation. 
• Non-member fees may be credited toward membership initiation fees if the individual joins the Club within the same calendar year. 

Access Limitations 

Approved non-members may: 

• participate in scheduled team practices and matches only 

Approved non-members may not: 

• Reserve courts independently 
• Use pool, clubhouse, or other Club amenities 
• Participate in general member events or programming 

Former Members 

• Members who resign from the Club are not eligible to participate as non-members for two (2) years following their resignation date. 

Captain Responsibilities & Enforcement 

Team captains are responsible for understanding, communicating, and enforcing this policy. Captains must ensure: 

• Member recruitment steps are completed 
• All non-member participation is properly requested and approved 
• Roster limits and participation timelines are followed 
• Only eligible players participate 
• Priority is given to members over non-members when setting lineups 
• The ‘Mill Glen Swim & Tennis’ Designee account (ALTA #104-452-533) must be added to the roster 

Failure to comply or the use of ineligible players may result in suspension of tennis privileges, suspension or revocation of membership, or other Board action.