What's New with UTR Sports

Summary

Chase Hodges, Senior Vice President at UTR Sports (formerly Universal Tennis), joins Lisa Stone to discuss the latest developments at UTR Sports. The conversation covers UTR’s expanded high school state association agreements (now 30, up from 18-19), the growth of the PTT pro tour (now in 30+ countries with match counts doubling in 2025), new color ball events for beginner players, college circuit events increasingly attracting junior players, and how the UTR rating should be used as a tool rather than an obsession. Chase also addresses the relationship between UTR and WTN (World Tennis Number), the USTA data-sharing partnership, and offers his personal contact as a resource for families navigating college tennis opportunities.

Guest Background

Chase Hodges spent 25 years as a college tennis coach, serving as head men’s and women’s coach at Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) — the winningest NAIA college tennis program in history, bringing home national championships on both sides. He is now SVP at UTR Sports overseeing the high school division, college division, pickleball division, flex leagues, and global clubs. Connected to INTENNSE network via Hannah Keeling and Jordan Cox episodes on ParentingAces.

Key Topics

• UTR High School Expansion: 30 state association agreements now in place (up from ~18-19), either mandating or recommending high school results be entered into UTR. Chase invites parents/coaches in non-participating states to email him directly to help initiate agreements.
• Color Ball Events: New UTR-rated events for red/orange/green ball players, creating a pathway from introduction to competitive junior tennis.
• Match Ducking & Withdrawals: UTR now shows walkover counts on player profiles. College coaches treat high withdrawal numbers as a red flag. The algorithm only factors matches within a 2.0 UTR window, but results retroactively count if players later enter that window.
• PTT Tour Growth: 200+ events on college campuses, 25K prize money events, guaranteed matches and prize money, now piloting on-court coaching. All matches streamed on Amazon Prime Video. Available in 7-day and new 4-day formats.
• WTN vs. UTR: Chase positions UTR as the “gold standard” for college recruitment. Notes UTR is a data/technology company (140 employees, mostly in data science). College coaches overwhelmingly continue using UTR despite ITA adopting WTN.
• College Circuit Events: Open to all ages and levels, increasingly popular with 14-18 year old juniors. Flight-based play (top 32 in A flight, 33-64 in B flight).
• College Tennis Advocacy: UTR Sports sponsoring NAIA nationals, running NIT championships for top D1 teams that miss NCAA tournament, and supporting all five college divisions.

Actionable Advice for Families

1. Don’t obsess over the rating — focus on development and increasing match count. If you’re putting in the work, ratings and rankings take care of themselves.
2. Don’t duck matches — higher-rated players still gain from beating lower-rated opponents. Walkovers show on profiles and college coaches notice.
3. Search UTR events by zip code — find junior circuit events, college circuit events, and PTT events within your radius.
4. Let the player initiate college coach outreach — Chase emphasizes this from 25 years of college coaching experience. Players who led their own recruiting were best prepared when they finished college.
5. Explore all five college divisions — some NAIA and JUCO programs have unused scholarships. Widen the funnel beyond name-brand schools.
6. Contact Chase directly (chase.hodges@utrsports.com) for help connecting with college programs or getting your state’s high school results into UTR.

INTENNSE Relevance

• UTR as infrastructure partner: UTR’s expansion into high school data, color ball ratings, and PTT tour represents a significant platform play in tennis data infrastructure — directly relevant to INTENNSE’s sports technology thesis.
• GGC connection: Chase’s history at Georgia Gwinnett College creates a network overlap with INTENNSE through Hannah Keeling and Jordan Cox.
• College tennis sustainability: UTR’s multi-division support strategy (NIT for D1, NAIA sponsorship, JUCO engagement) aligns with INTENNSE’s interest in the college tennis ecosystem’s health amid program cuts.
• PTT tour + Amazon Prime Video: The streaming/prize money model for developing pros is a case study in new competitive pathway infrastructure.
• Level-based play philosophy: UTR’s core thesis (level-based over age-based competition) is a recurring theme across the junior tennis development landscape INTENNSE tracks.

Notable Quotes

“Don’t be overly fixated on the rating. Go out and compete. If you’re putting in the work, if you’re out there improving 1% every time you’re working on your tennis, the ratings and the rankings are going to take care of themselves.”

“How about you just increase your match count? The higher the match count, the more likely you are to improve. So as a parent, maybe — hey, I want my son or daughter to get maybe 10% more matches this year.”

“The ones that allowed their child to initiate were the ones that typically were best prepared when they finished college. Let these kids find their way. Don’t be a helicopter parent.”