Mini Tennis Competitions

Mini Tennis Ratings are designed to support competitive tennis for children. They reward players for competing, inspire them to develop their game and motivate them to compete more regularly.

To get a Mini Tennis rating your child needs to join the British Tennis Membership scheme. Find out more about British Tennis Membership.

Mini Tennis Competition

Mini Tennis Red Competition

Mini Tennis Red players are encouraged to compete for fun and are rewarded with a Mini Tennis Red t-shirt when they have played 20 recorded matches.

Orange Ratings

When a player is eligible to compete in 9U orange competitions, they will be assigned an Orange 4 rating. A player's rating will then change as follows:

• Player will move from level 4 to level 3 once they have played in 6 matches
• Player will move from level 3 to level 2 once they have played a further 20 matches
• Player will move from level 2 to level 1 once they have played a further 40 matches including a minimum of 20 wins against level 2 and 1 rated players.
• Player will move from a level 1 to level 1* once they have recorded a further 20 wins against Orange level 1 or 1* players in competitions graded 1 - 5.

Green Ratings

When a new player starts competing in 10U green competitions, they will be assigned a Green 4 rating. A player's rating will then change as follows:

• Player will move from level 4 to level 3 once they have played in 6 matches
• Player will move from level 3 to level 2 once they have played a further 20 matches
• Player will move from level 2 to level 1 once they have played a further 40 matches including a minimum of 20 wins against level 2 and 1 rated players
• Player will move from level 1 to level 1* once they have recorded a further 20 wins against Green 1 or 1* players in tournaments graded 1 - 5.

If a player has previously competed in 9U orange competitions, they will be assigned a green ratings as follows:

• Orange 4, 3 or 2 - Green 4
• Orange 1 - Green 2
• Orange 1 * - Green 1

Key information

• Remember a match can only count once, and a match only counts as a 'win' if it is against a player rated the same as you or higher
• A ‘win’ for a player moving from a level 2 to a level 1 also counts as a participation match
• Mixed gender matches count at Red, Orange and Green
• Doubles matches count towards played matches but not total wins
• Player ratings will change automatically as soon as they have recorded the correct number of matches and wins if required.

Download the Mini Tennis Ratings Diagram to find out more.

Mini Tennis is for children aged 10 and under and is split into the following age groups:

• Mini Tennis Red: 8 and under
• Mini Tennis Orange: 8 - 9 years old
• Mini Tennis Green: 9 - 10 years old 

Mini Tennis age groups are aligned with the same competition seasons as Junior Tennis. A player's season age, and in turn their competition age group, is determined by the player’s age on the last day of the season.

The competition season dates are:

• Winter Season: 1 September - 31 March
• Summer Season: 1 April - 31 August

What does this mean?

• If your child is aged 8 (or under) on the last day of the season, they will play in Mini Tennis Red competitions for that season.
• If your child is aged 9 on the last day of the season, they will play in Mini Tennis Orange competitions for that season.
• If your child is aged 10 on the last day of the season, they will play in Mini Tennis Green competitions for that season.

Example:

If your child’s date of birth is 20th April 2009, they will be aged 9 on the 31st March 2019 (last day of the Winter Season). This means that your child would play in Mini Tennis Orange competitions for the Winter Season (1st September 2018 – 31st March 2019). Looking forward to the Summer Season, your child would be aged 10 on the 31st August 2019 (last day of the Summer Season) and therefore would move up an age group and play in Mini Tennis Green competitions for the Summer Season (1st April 2019 – 31st August 2019).

Access our Age Group Calculator to check which age group your child is in for the current and upcoming seasons.

Note: Players who achieve a certain rating are able to ‘Play Up’ an age group. More information on this can be found under ‘What Are The Playing Up Rules?’

There are loads of different types of competition for your child to get involved in! 

Tennis competitions are graded between 7-1 to give an indication of the standard of play and to make it easier to identify suitable competitive opportunities. 

For Mini Tennis Players who are new to competing, we would recommend finding a Grade 7, Grade 6 or Grade 5 competition to start off with. 

• Grade 7 competitions include local competitions such as club or squad box leagues and offer an opportunity to start gaining competitive experience. 

• Grade 6 competitions are usually match-play events for players to play against opponents of a similar standard or rating. 

• Grade 5 competitions are local club or county level, and where applicable, count towards a player’s rating and ranking. 

Find out more about Competition Grading on our Start Competing page.

There are also a variety of local, club-based recreational competitions taking place throughout the year: 

• Team Challenge is a fun, team competition aimed at mini and junior players in club programmes who are new or inexperienced to competition. Find out more about Team Challenge. 
• Quorn Family Tennis Cup (Red Ball) provides families with the opportunity to play tennis in an informal, fun competition run by their local venue. Find out more about the Quorn Family Tennis Cup.

Use our Find a Competition tool to search and enter a competition – you can filter your search preferences to find the right competition for your child.

You can keep a track of matches played and wins by checking the Mini Tennis Dashboard which is located in a player's British Tennis Members' area. If a player is Orange level or Green level they may also want to know about Recent Form which is used for determining acceptance and seeding for competitions.

Recent Form is used to determine acceptance into Mini Tennis Orange and Green level competitions, graded 1 – 5, and is also used for seeding draws.

A player's Recent Form figure represents their best individual tournament performance in the past 3 months.

Acceptance is made according to Mini Tennis ratings and Recent Form as they stand when the competition closes for accepting entries.

Seeding of event draws is usually made according to ratings and Recent Form as they stand when the competition draw is made.

Find out more about Recent Form.

Mini Tennis Red

In a player's second to last & last competition season, if they have played 40 Mini Tennis Red matches, they will move to Orange level 4 immediately and can start to compete in Orange ball competitions. They can also continue to play in red ball competitions.

Mini Tennis Orange

In a player's last competition season, if they have an Orange 1 rating or Orange 1* rating, they can start competing in Green ball competitions, however their rating will not change to a Green rating. They can also continue to play in orange ball competitions.

Mini Tennis Green

In a player's last competition season if you have a Green 1 or Green 1* rating they can start competing in yellow ball competitions (12&U only) however their rating will not change to a Yellow Ball rating. They can also continue to play in green ball competitions.

Player passports, which are managed by the Talent Performance Teams, are awarded to players who have achieved strong competition results and whereby receiving one, would benefit their progress and overall game development. This is reviewed as part of the on-going regional and national camp program.

Mini Tennis Player Passports are awarded to players based on the criteria below:

Competitive profile

Players will need to be demonstrating that they are competing to a high level in grade 3s and 2s. They will also be demonstrating behaviours such as:

• Spirit, determination and a fair attitude to match play
• A willingness to compete positively when under pressure

Great approach to training

Players will be demonstrating that they are the strongest players attending regional camps and or inter-regional/national camps.

Behaviours to observe would include:

• Great work ethic
• Listening well and responding positively to instruction
• The ability to focus on the process of training
• Great attitude to chasing every ball, challenging themselves to never let the ball bounce twice.

Players are nominated and approved by the LTA Performance Team.

Upon receiving a Player Passport, a player will be able to play in the next age group or ball colour above. Read more about our Mini Tennis Player Passports Rules.