The Tenacity Cup is a tennis and fundraising competition to support Tenacity programs. Competitive and fun play will be designed for teams and players of all abilities. Teams will be comprised of adult players, celebrities, advanced players, and Tenacity students. There will be two, six- or eight-team flights vying against each other for the Tenacity Cup while raising money and awareness for Tenacity.

Longwood Cricket Club, with its beautiful grass courts and elegant clubhouse.

Each of the two flight divisions will have six or eight teams that play intra-divisional round-robin sets to determine a flight winner. Flight winners will square off in the finals to determine the Tenacity Cup champion.

Each team will be led by a captain who will help recruit and rally team members. Teams will have six doubles pairs comprised of one elite pair, four pairs of amateur players, and one pair of Tenacity students.

Matches will be eight game pro sets with no-ad scoring.

Below are some guidelines to help determine your likely playing level based on NTRP guidelines. We are asking players and captains to categorize themselves as A level, B level, C level, or D level based on the following: A level is 4.5 to 5.0; B level is 4.0 to 4.5; C level is 3.5 to 4.0; D level is 2.5 to 3.5.

• 2.5 Learning to judge where the ball is going although court coverage is weak. Can sustain a short rally of slow pace with other players of the same ability.
• 3.0 Fairly consistent when hitting medium-paced shots, but is not comfortable with all strokes and lacks execution when trying for directional control, depth or power. Most common doubles formation is one-up and one-back.
• 3.5 Has achieved improved stroke dependability with directional control on moderate shots, but still lacks depth and variety. Starting to exhibit more aggressive net play, has improved court coverage and is developing teamwork in doubles.
• 4.0 Has dependable strokes, including directional control and depth on both forehand and backhand sides on moderate shots, plus the ability to use lobs, overheads, approach shots and volleys with some success. Occasionally forces errors when serving and teamwork in doubles is evident. Rallies may be lost due to impatience.
• 4.5 Starting to master the use of power and spins and beginning to handle pace, has sound footwork, can control depth of shots and is beginning to vary game plan according to opponents. Can hit first serves with power and accuracy and place the second serve. Tends to overhit on difficult shots. Aggressive net play is common in doubles.
• 5.0 Has good shot anticipation and frequently has an outstanding shot or exceptional consistency around which a game may be structured. Can regularly hit winners or force errors off of short balls and can put away volleys, can successfully execute lobs, drop shots, half volleys and overhead smashes and has good depth and spin on most second serves.

The Tenacity Cup fundraising goal for Worcester is $25,000 and the Worcester tennis, business and philanthropy community can do it! Teams will compete on the court, but the real competition is to see which team spreads the word the most, attracts the most donors, and sets the highest bar for funds raised. Team captains and players rally together as a team and also compete individually in the fundraising arena. Team captains commit to raising at least $5,000 and players commit to raising at least $1,000 each. Most importantly, teams are challenged to raise as much as they can to support the hundreds of Worcester youth served by Tenacity. Each team should feel great about raising at least $25,000. But the mission is worthy of much more. Teams, captains and players have individual online fundraising pages through which friends, family and colleagues can donate. Tenacity helps captains and players set up their pages and provides tools like email templates and social media tools that captains and players can use to engage their networks.

There are many ways to support the Tenacity Cup:

• Make a donation or donations to players, captains, and/or teams
• Become a lead event sponsor, flight sponsor, or team sponsor