Robert A. Brown elected APTA President (1973-1975)

Platform tennis came of age while Brown was President, and he had a major influence on the APTA’s policies and plans as both an Officer and Director.

During his term, the APTA published its first official “Rules of Platform Tennis” booklet, under the lead of Bill Ballard.

He hired the association’s first full-time Executive Director, got the APTA on sound financial footing, and instituted detailed record-keeping of National Championship results.

He also engineered the transition during 1973-1974 from orange to yellow ball, which was used for the first time in the Nationals in 1975, and authored the booklets “The Etiquette of Platform Tennis” and “How to Conduct a Tournament Draw.”

APTA President Mike North noted, when thanking Brown for his service to the organization at the end of his tenure as President, “Brown has just begun his contribution to platform tennis.”

That was prophetic as Bob became very active in chairing, as well as competing, in Senior Tournaments, and as chairman of the Hall of Fame.

He also served again on the APTA Board in the 1990s as Region I president and as Rules and Equipment chairman, resulting in a total of 22 years of service on the APTA Board, a record that is not likely to be broken.

Brown was a major force behind the Board approval, in 1998, of the no-let rule on service.

Source: Paddle Talk, No. 2, November 1975