APTA raises Juniors’ profile – Gatchell Bowl established for National Junior Boy’s

During his tenure on the APTA Board in the early 1960s, John Ware began looking at clubs with dedicated junior programs. In an effort to learn how to encourage other clubs to strengthen their programs, he visited the Englewood Field Club in New Jersey to observe its program. Ware found it to be so impressive that he suggested the APTA sponsor a tournament for boys.

In 1963¹ Fox Meadow hosted the first National Boys’ Doubles, chaired by Rawle Deland and John Ware (both, appropriately enough, sons-in-law of the game’s founders).

The APTA named the Championship trophy for the recently deceased Hall of Fame inductee Earle Gatchell, a player who had done much to help young players.

His wife, Bertha, presented the first Gatchell Bowl to the winners who, predictably enough, came from Englewood, which had the most active junior program at the time.

Note 1: The Junior Nationals were usually in December, so this event was part of the 1964 tournament season