PTM Editor Wayne Dollard reported on one of his favorite tournaments:
The sun rose at 6:25 am on Wednesday, November 3rd over the Glenview Club as 76 women arrived to prepare for a long day of battle at the 33rd annual Chicago Charities tournament.
At first glance of the tournament draw sheet there were gaps that had previously been filled by top national ranking players: Aery, Shea, Hogan, Prendergast, Zink, Debbs, Mangan and Delaney. Was this Chicago Charities going to live up to the expectations set by the previous 32 events? After further review of the draw the #1, #4, #5, and #6 teams in the country were all represented. Perhaps more important, Chicago showed up with some fresh new talent taking the tour by storm.
On display the traditional first weekend of November was the power and depth of the Chicago area women's field featuring: former State Champions Sally Cottingham [...]
There's a growing trend in paddle that is helping to make the sport hotter than ever.. or at least warmer than ever. Today's warming huts are elegant, multifunctional structures with expansive social spaces both indoors and out that offer full kitchens, bathrooms and more. In fact, the term "hut" no longer does these buildings justice.
A force behind many of these new and improved huts is Chris Casiraghi, President of Reilly Green Mountain Platform Tennis. Most know the firm for their 45+ year history and innovation building of platform tennis courts; yet, they have expanded their offerings to meet the changing needs of their clients. 'We have definitely seen a shift in what our clients are asking for when it comes to warming huts," Casiraghi explained. "More than a decade ago, Reilly Green Mountain built (for the most part) modest warming huts. Today we are asked to build state-of-th[...]
Terry Miller was born in New York City 38 years ago. After tremendous success on the local junior tennis circuit, Terry jumped on the professional tour at the ripe old age of 16.
From 1983 to 1991, Terry competed with and defeated the top female tennis players in the world. Over this time period she reached the quarter-finals of the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open Grand Slam events. At one point, Terry was ranked 14th in the world.
After leaving the tour, Terry moved to Winnetka, Illinois, and became a tennis teaching professional. In 1993, she was introduced to her future platform tennis doubles partner, Jane McNitt. "I met Jane when I was teaching tennis at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka. We were then re-connected last fall when we played together at the exhibition opening of the new paddle hut at the Winnetka Park District."
Terry spoke about her new-found favorite sport, "I[...]
Brook Kindred died on January 7, 2006 after a long and brave battle with cancer.
He had the distinction of having served the cause of platform tennis for more years than practically any other living individual. Dating back to the early 1960's he was a tireless, unselfish and dedicated contributor to the support and promotion of the game.
He was elected to the APTA Board in the early 1960's and served on the Board for 16 years. He was Treasurer, Tournament Director, and single- handedly produced the Newsletter for many of those years. He also served on many National Championship committees and was the Tournament Chairman of the 1968 Men's Nationals.
He was instrumental in the formation and administration of the APTA Umpires Committee in the 1970's, and although that activity no longer formally exists, he still continued to go far and wide to officiate at APTA Championships and ot[...]
Mark Brosnan reported for PTM:
On Saturday, December 17, 2005, the Long Island Platform Tennis Association hosted its 3rd Annual Viking Junior Tour tournament at the Garden City Country Club, the Cherry Valley Club and the Garden City Community Park. With Christmas only a week away, the children received a surprise early morning visit from that jolly old Nordic man with rosy cheeks and a little round belly - that's right, David Kjeldsen, founder and chairman of Viking Athletics, was there to provide his support, wearing his trade-mark "horns"! Among the four age divisions, there were forty-two (42) teams participating (84 kids!), and countless parents and grandparents cheering. The level of paddle was extraordinary, the good sportsmanship was commendable, and the smiles were constant! John Cerga, Alex Bancila and Steve Bromley, the Directors of Racquet Sports at the Garden City Countr[...]
On Saturday, December 10th the New England Junior Open was held at The New Canaan Field Club. It was one of the first ranking event of the junior paddle season. Seventy four children participated, representing four states in the general area.
10-and-underWinners:
Peter Simonds and Daniel Adajian both of Southport and Fairfield defeated Reed Schultz & Jack Jeffrey of New Canaan 8-1 in a pro set.
12-and-under
Patrick Newton and Carter Lovejoy from New Canaan, played a tough fought match against CJ Purse of Greenwich and Parker Connolly of Wilton. They were victorious after an exciting three setter (1-6, 6-1, 6-3).
14- and-under
Jason Ottomano and Nick Newhouse from Weston, CT pulled out a third set tie-break beating the Safford brothers from Philadelphia.
18-and-under
Terry Keegan from Fairfield and Liam Bohonnon of Westport, defeated Jay Schwab and Cole Barris of Sc[...]
Patty Hogan, Junior Nationals Director, summed up the action:
This year's Junior National Championships, hosted by The Beacon Hill Club in Summit, N.J. will be remembered for several significant "firsts".
This was the first year there were enough players to hold a separate championship for the 10-and-under girls.
This was the first time we had a player from Yale win a Junior National Title, as Brandon Kutcha took time off from his studies to team up with his brother Michael to win the very competitive Boy's 18-and-Under title. They won a thrilling three-set, third set tie-breaker over the first player ever to come back from a stroke to reach a national final. That player is the incredible Eric D'Elia, who suffered a stroke in July but was able to team up with Marc Powers to beat some very tough teams en route to the finals and the close loss to the Kutcha brothers.
It was a[...]
Back to TopJohn and Nick Gill lost in the Peachtree finals to Atlanta's Peter Lauer and Jay Bailey
Ansley Golf Club and Piedmont Driving Club played hosts to the 1st Annual Peachtree Invitational Platform Tennis Tournament January 14 & 15. This is a new APTA Region VII PCQ event that follows on the heels of last year's successful exhibition and clinic that kicked paddle in Atlanta into a higher gear. The two-day event was limited to 16 teams due to court capacity (there are currently just two courts in Atlanta). Nine players traveled in from as far away as New Jersey and Virginia to participate in the event.
Atlantans Jay Bailey and Peter Lauer took the inaugural Peachtree title over brothers John and Nick Gill (from DC & Alabama). Bailey and Lauer also won the Southern Invitational in Winston-Salem, NC, two weeks later over Mark Fischl and Alex Whaling. [enlarge image to read full story]
If the 2006 Nationals had a decidedly Chicago flavor, it wasn't lust because of the location. Men's champions Brian Uihlein and Dave Keevins and Women's champion Mary Doten are all long standing area residents and Susie Keane, though living in the Detroit area, learned her paddle skills in Chicago.
The path to the finals for both winning teams was dramatic, though in very different ways. Keevins and Uihlein had to survive four consecutive three-setters from the round of 16 on, and came from behind in every match to win. Maybe their gutsiest win came in a three-set quarter-final against Anthony Cosimano and Steve Haller when, down 5-6 and triple match point and Uihlein cramping badly, they survived in a tie-breaker. The semis proved no easier against defending National Champions Bill Anderson and Mike Stulac. Stulac showed his toughness by overcoming a sprained ankle in[...]
It seems that David Keevins must have grown up with a racquet in his hand. At 18, he received a full scholarship to play tennis at the University of Kentucky. By the end of his senior year, he was ranked #37 nationally in singles.
After earning his MBA from the University of Chicago, David was burned out on tennis. He explained, 'Tennis no longer interested me. Someone suggested platform tennis so my dad and I went to our club (Tennaqua) and played. We both liked it. I was hooked."
David knew Brian Uihlein from junior tennis. About ten years ago, Brian and John Hough began inviting David to play in their platform tennis practice games. They have been practicing ever since.
Comparing his tennis background to platform tennis, David said, "Paddle is a game of mistakes. Power has less of a premium, just look at the lobbing nature of the game." He added, "In tennis, sometimes one bre[...]
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