Player Profiles: John Embree and David Kjeldsen

John Embree has been involved in sports, and more importantly – racquet sports, since he was a child. In college, John was a four-year letterman in both soccer and tennis. He was even voted MVP and senior athlete of the year.

In the early 70s, John went on various professional tennis tours, included in this was his participation in the 1976 Australian Open. John’s enthusiasm for tennis was recognized by the USTA when they hired him in 1980. John soon after developed and implemented the new USTA League Program. Today, John’s baby has 400,000 annual participants.

Wilson saw John’s potential and hired him soon after. He worked his way up to become the V.P. and G.M. for Wilson Racquet Sports. One day in 1994, Wilson’s President asked John if he knew of any new business ventures the company could get involved with. Citing service and quality-related problems from platform tennis’ primary manufacturer, Marcraft, John got Wilson involved in the paddle market with the plan to utilize their existing sales reps. Wilson’s initial paddles were the first full-graphite composites made. The paddles were superior to the previous paddles; however, the abundance of power coming from the paddles caused Wilson to switch from graphite to EVA foam in 1997. John chose to get involved in the ball market because the existing Vittert balls were too lively. Wilson bought out Vittert and softened the balls. With lack of consumer support and a small market not large enough to be divided, Wilson sold off the ball market to Viking in 2001.

John’s future commitment to platform tennis is as strong today as it was ten years ago. Aside from paddles, Wilson’s “Surround The Athlete” philosophy includes offering shoes, gloves, hats, bags, grips, etc. “I will continue to support platform tennis as long as I am at Wilson,” John stated. He added, “I am certainly committed to the future. This sport is less than 1/1,000 of Wilson’s racquet business; however, it is something I am passionate about.” As a result, Wilson’s paddle business has increased 20% per year since 1999. Wilson endorses the Performance Paddle Camps, Connecticut Classic, and Chicago Charities Events. As a player, John won the 1995 Illinois States and 1999 45+ Charities Open. John has been ranked nationally in the APTA’s top-ten list several times.

David Kjeldsen: There he was, the world’s biggest couch potato, out on the platform tennis court for the first time playing mixed doubles on a Friday night. Paddle in one hand, cigar in his mouth, a beer in the other hand. Who would have thought that thirteen years later David Kjeldsen would be the largest supplier of balls and paddles in the world?

Friday night platform outings got David’s interest piqued. He started playing platform every Saturday in his club’s morning round robins and then in a league. Through it all, he was using up balls as if they were free. At $15 per sleeve he knew there had to be a better way! He called Hedstrom Corporation, the manufacturer of the Vittert ball, and asked if he could purchase balls by the case. Sure enough, they shipped him an order. When his platform partner heard about his purchase, he asked if he wouldn’t mind getting him and his wife a few cases. When David phoned Hedstrom to order more balls, they informed him that he was now eligible for discount pricing. Shortly thereafter, David ordered a paddle for a friend. Marcraft, without hesitation, supplied David dealer pricing. By 1990, David was officially in the platform tennis business.

In February 1996, David formed Viking Athletics, Ltd., with the sole mission of supplying the highest quality platform tennis equipment available. David claims that at the 2002 APTA National Championships, over 80% of the players used Viking paddles.

Six years ago David introduced the Viking ball and in 2001 he monopolized the market when he bought out Wilson’s ball business. David doesn’t believe that his top accomplishment is his ball monopoly. He proudly recalls one weekend where he reached the finals of an APTA-sanctioned Men’s National Ranking Tournament. If you must know where and when, he’ll be happy to personally give you the details.

Today, Viking is involved in every aspect of the game, from manufacturing balls and paddles, to silk-screening and embroidering hats, shirts, team uniforms, etc., for tournaments, to custom imprinting balls and supplying free tournament draw sheets. Viking supplies everything but the refreshments…and David takes solace in the fact that his headquarters is in an old brewery.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 4, Issue 3, January, 2003