APTA Volunteers – Andy Sikorovsky, Lissy Hill and Brian McCreary

The Cleveland Masters tournament is a long running classic in platform tennis. Hall-of-Famer Walt Peckinpaugh and his wife, Marilyn, were the long-time chiefs.

Along came a group of players to help take over the job when the Peckinpaughs were ready to step down, and running a tournament by committee seemed like a good idea.

Andy Sikorovsky and Lissy Hill and Brian McCreary each bring their own area of expertise to the events—they also run the Cleveland Cup and the Sadie Hawkins tournaments—and a collective energy.

Hill commented, “Andy keeps us rooted and fiscally responsible and is the glue to the GCPTA (Greater Cleveland Platform Tennis Association). Brian and I get the troops fired up! It’s a good marriage.”

“There has been paddle in Cleveland beginning shortly after WWII,” Sikorovsky said. ‘And I’ve been playing it since I got out of college in the late 80s. And it seems like I’ve been doing this [running tournaments] for so long.”

Sikorovsky is a strong proponent of encouraging others to get involved. “As a volunteer, I find that those who participate in the sport benefit most from giving back to the sport.” [enlarge image to read more]