Player profile: Rich Maier

Rich is widely regarded as the best man to ever play platform tennis and was first introduced to platform tennis at the age of 18 by his high school tennis friend, Jay Edwards. Six years later, after graduating college, Jay got Rich to take platform tennis more seriously. At the ages of 23, Rich and Jay entered their first paddle tournament. On that day a star was born. In his first round match in his first platform tournament, Rich defeated Keith Jennings and Chauncey Steel, the previous season’s national champions.

Born: Born March 2nd, 1953 in The Bronx, New York, Rich currently lives in Northfield, Illinois, 30 minutes from downtown Chicago.
Profession: Head Racquets Pro at the Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northfield for the past six years. Rich has been teaching tennis and platform tennis for over 20 years.
Family: Rodman (9), Lindsay (6), Kevin (3) and wife Susan
Men’s National Titles: 10

In The Beginning: Rich was first introduced to platform tennis at the age of 18 by his high-school tennis friend, Jay Edwards. Six years later, after graduating college, Jay got Rich to take platform tennis more seriously. At the ages of 23, Rich and Jay entered their first paddle tournament. On that day a star was born. In his first round match in his first platform tournament, Rich defeated Jennings and Steel, the previous season’s national champions.

As the years went on, Rich improved faster than anyone else in the history of the game. Between the years 1980 and 1992, Rich made it to the National Championship finals each year! Nine of Rich’s ten national titles were earned playing with his favorite partner, Steve “the other legend” Baird.

When asked about his most memorable match with Steve, Rich recalls his 5 hour and 40 minute duel with Tully and McAvoy in the 1985 Hartford Invitational finals. During this five set event, spectators were able to watch a couple hours of paddle, go eat dinner, and then return to watch a couple more. Rich is still amused when he recalls the umpire leaving the cold at 17-16 in the fifth set. Rich and Steve closed out the match the following game.

What Have You Learned?:“The more you play, the more confidence you develop. When you are confident that you can win, you will.”

Future:“I’ll continue to play as long as my body allows. Now that my kids are growing up, I look so forward to the future with them. This morning I took Rod out to the courts. His screens are already better than some of my friends.”

When asked why Rich got so involved in platform tennis, he said, “I have always enjoyed platform tennis tournaments more than tennis events because of its social aspect. In tennis you often play someone you’ve never met before. Usually the match isn’t as sociable and afterwards you don’t see them again. In platform tennis there is usually a cocktail party the night before the event; and on the day of the tournament, all of the players will sit down together for lunch. Also, something is always going on Saturday evening.., dinner, dancing, socializing, etc.”

Recently: Rich was inducted into the Hall of Fame 1n 1999.