History of the game in Pittsburgh

Approximately 20 years after the first paddle court was installed at the Fox Meadow Club in Scarsdale, New York (November, 1931), a few newcomers to Sewickley, a suburb northwest of Pittsburgh, were planting the seeds for what was to become the first known paddle court in the Pittsburgh region.

The Ramsburgs had moved to Sewickley from New Canaan, where they had been members of the Country Club that housed one of the first few paddle courts in the country. In 1951, Chassie Ramsburg talked Henry Chalfant into allowing him to build a paddle court using the concrete base of a greenhouse that had been torn down.

Ramsburg ordered architectural plans from R.J. Reilly in Rye, New York then turned over those plans to a local contractor in Sewickley.

According to a report, the contractor used “reject pipe from the Spang Chalfant plant along with some sort of wire.” When Chassie asked for a more specific description of the kind of wire they used, he was told, “Any kind of wire we could get.”

Once the court was complete, the Ramsburgs and Chalfants played regularly on Sunday afternoons. Many other friends were swept onto the court by the popularity of the game, including Pam and Wooley Bermingham.

So enthusiastic were they that Milton Fenner, who was Edgeworth Club president at the time, claimed that if it hadn’t been for “the continual prodding, informing, and well-directed urging of the Berminghams, we wouldn’t be enjoying this foolproof remedy for the winter blahs known as platform tennis.”

A native of the birthplace of platform tennis, the Rye/Scarsdale area of New York, Wooley Bermingham saw fit to include the “1958 Standard Specifications for Paddle Tennis Courts” in his briefcase before leaving that area to move to Sewickley in the late 50′s. Through a close friend, who was vice president and racquets chairman at the time, the Berminghams engendered enough enthusiasm for the sport that the Edgeworth Club board approved plans for building a paddle court at the Club in February,1962. A second court was added by the fall of 1964 to accommodate the increasing popularity of the game.

Tournaments Begin
On April 7, 1963, Edgeworth Club held its first Women’s and Mixed Doubles Championships with Wooley Bermingham as tournament chairman. Pam Bermingham and Mary Fenner won the Ladies event, while Jan and Prill Meyer won the Mixed Doubles championship. Two years later, paddle enthusiasts were inviting friends to the first annual Sewickley Invitational Platform Tennis tournament, better known as SIPT, that occurs on the last full weekend of February and is still considered the highlight of the paddle season in the Sewickley area.

While the Berminghams were generating enthusiasm for paddle in Sewickley, Phil Osborne was creating his own melting pot in Fox Chapel. Phil and his wife, Pat, had been playing paddle at the Englewood Field Club in New Jersey before moving to Fox Chapel in 1960. “There was a time during the 30′s and 40′s,” said Phil, “when no one owned his or her own paddle.” Paddles were kept in a wooden box with balls outside the courts. Players returned their paddles and balls to the box after playing. Eventually, as players become more competent, they wanted to own their own paddles

Paddles cost $7 in those days, said Phil. And “balls were so cheap they weren’t any good,” he added. Through contacts he had established in Englewood, Phil enlisted R.J. Reilly to build two courts at Fox Chapel Racquet Club during the fall of 1964. After construction was completed, Phil made arrangements with Wooley Bermingham to set up an exhibition game whereby he and five other aspiring players from Fox Chapel could enjoy a demonstration of how to play the game. Phil continued to engender enthusiasm for paddle through his own teaching of the game. Awards that decorate his office recall how beloved he was as a teacher. One jokingly said, “Thanks for taking us from being abysmal beginners to miserable mediocrity.”

Innovations And Expansion
Affectionately dubbed “father of the aluminum court” by Dick Reilly of R.J. Reilly, Inc., Phil Osborne was singularly responsible for introducing the idea of using aluminum on the deck of a paddle court. Hesitant at first, Reilly eventually enlisted the help of two engineers from Princeton who spent a year designing and redesigning a complete aluminum court.

[Note: This account is not accurate see R.J. Reilly pioneers the aluminum court deck] ‎

Oakmont Country Club was the first to install two aluminum courts in 1971. Largely due to this innovation, in addition to his many other achievements as a player, coordinator, and administrator of paddle tennis tournaments and programs, Phil Osborne was recognized as the “APTA Honor Award Winner” in 1972.

By 1967, the beginnings of a paddle explosion began to take shape with the establishment of the Western Pennsylvania Platform Tennis Association. Founded by Wooley Bermingham, the organization served as a model for other associations which have formed since, such as the Middle Atlantic Platform Tennis Association for the eastern seaboard, and the Western Platform Association for the West coast.

The original members of WPPTA were Edgeworth Club, Allegheny Country Club, Fox Chapel Racquet Club, Fox Chapel Golf Club and Rolling Rock in Ligonier. Currently, there are 17 clubs and public parks participating in men’s and woman’s WPPTA interclub competition from September through March. There are seven divisions in the women’s league and four divisions in the men’s. An evening league, with two divisions, was added for the 1992-93 season to accommodate the increasing population of working women.

New Opportunities For Play
By the mid-70′s, platform tennis broke the barriers of being an exclusive game for country club members. Batty Weil, a sales associate with Precision Courts of Cincinnati at the time, remembers building six private courts in the early to mid-70′s, and through her employer, installed courts in North and South Parks, Upper St. Clair Township, Pennsylvania State, Indiana State University, and Chatham College of Pittsburgh. She also built the first court for an industrial firm, Beckwith Machinery in Murrysville. The court was later moved to Shadyside Academy in Fox Chapel.

In recalling the beginnings of paddle in Mt. Lebanon township, Gretchen Brown said she spent an entire year attending park commission meetings in Mt. Lebanon before the commission authorized the building of two paddle courts, which became part of a pre-existing tennis facility. By 1975, Mt. Lebanon had its first two paddle courts. By 1972, the Sewickley YMCA had built its first paddle court, largely due to the encouragement of Pam Bermingham. She offered to teach beginners and conduct clinics for anyone interested in learning how to play the game.

Under the pet name “Paddle Plus,” Pam and Jenny Scott, an accomplished player and sales associate with R.J. Reilly of New Canaan, Connecticut, at the time, took their paddles on the road to conduct beginning to advanced clinics in Birmingham and Detroit, Michigan; and Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio. Eventually, Anne Jackson, a finalist and winner of a number of WPPTA tournaments with Pam, took Jenny’s place in teaching paddle.

Juniors On The Scene
At this point, the focus of their teaching revolved around their kids and their peers who had the time and talent to devote to improving their respective games. The results of their teaching, and David Schaff’s dedicated supervision had much to do with the Edgeworth Club hosting the first tournament for boys and girls in 1972. David was the first official referee for platform tennis in western Pennsylvania. As chairman of the junior division of WPPTA, David inspired young competitors like Diane Prine and Betty Ann Doyle of Sewickley, and many talented teams from Fox Chapel to compete in the National Junior championship at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, New York in 1974. Diane and Betty Ann surprised themselves by going all the way to the final and winning the championship. The indomitable combo of Harrison Lauer and Tom Bell from Fox Chapel won the National Boys Doubles Championships in both 1973 and 1974. Brent Baxter and Phil Osborne distinguished themselves in the senior competition by winning the National Veteran Doubles in 1976. Such achievements as these garnered the Edgeworth Club enough recognition to host the National Junior Championships in 1977. Approximately 250 boys and girls competed at clubs all over Pittsburgh. Kristen Kelhofer and Patty Koch of Fox Chapel won the junior nationals in the 15 and under category, which the latter’s Dad, Vern Koch, enjoyed watching as co-chairman of the tournament with David Schaff.

The Paddle Fever Spreads
Paddle fever reached epidemic proportions, spreading throughout the major suburbs of Pittsburgh. By 1968, Allegheny Country Club installed two wooden courts that were replaced by aluminum courts in 1984. After viewing a tape composed by R.J. Reilly, Roger Brown and Dave McCandless convinced the board of directors at St. Clair Country Club in the South Hills to approve the construction of two paddle courts in 1970. By the early to mid-70′s, other clubs followed suit, building their own courts, including Shannopin, Longue Vue, Edgewood, Churchill, Valleybrook, Peters Creek and Nemacolin Highlands in Ligonier. While Pam Bermingham and Anne Jackson were conducting paddle clinics in Sewickley, Fran Rollman of Sewickley was teaching in the South Hills, East Liverpool, Ohio, and on the newly constructed courts at Chatham College in Pittsburgh. Adopting the name “The Traveling Paddles,” Christi Hays joined Fran as a business partner in 1978. In addition to cultivating a large following of students in the Pittsburgh environs, Fran and Christi spent the first five to seven years teaching on the road in major suburbs of Maryland, Ohio, and Michigan. Time off from teaching meant time on the court for these two skilled paddle players, who achieved considerable local, regional and national recognition for themselves. In 1979-80, they were undefeated in 10 Division I matches in the Western Pennsylvania Women’s Interclub League, garnering a second consecutive Division I interclub championship in WPPTA. Fran and Christi dominated Midwestern region IV, ending the season with a No.1 ranking in the Midwest. Their most cherished “claim to fame” was in 1981-82, when they achieved the ranking of number four in the country. As former presidents and members of the WPPTA board, Fran and Christi have enlarged the arena of interclub competition to include a “B” tournament that attracted teams from Division II through IV to compete in January, and a “Spring Fling” tournament for Divisions II through IV in early March. According to Fran, this is one of the major accomplishments Pittsburgh has contributed to paddle, allowing everyone to compete within their own range of ability.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Winter 1997