Philip E. Beekman, President of Joseph E. Seagram & Sons, Inc., announced that Calvert Distillers Co. & Passport Scotch would be the sponsors of a tour for men and women during the 1977-78 season, offering prize money of over $140,000.
In October, the Seagram Building on Park Avenue in New York City held two days of matches. Platform tennis enthusiasts in the New York metropolitan area were encouraged to stop by and watch the top teams in action.
Source: Paddle Talk, Vol. 3 No. 1 (September-October)
Calvert Distillers Company, the producer of Passport Scotch, agreed to sponsor the Passport Platform Tennis Playoffs, which consisted of six men’s events and five women’s events, all leading up to the $50,000 Passport Platform Tennis Classic in March 1978 at the Orange Lawn Tennis Club, South Orange, NJ.
The Platform Tennis Playoffs were announced at a series of exhibitions at the Seagram Building on Park Avenue in New York City to start the 50th anniversary celebration of Platform Tennis.
“Me? You gotta be kidding! What's it gonna do for me? I'm just a cannon fodder type!"
Sound familiar? It sure is! But the answers to those questions are easy. They are "Yes." "No!" and "Lots!" In other words, yes, you ought to join. No, we're not kidding. And joining the APTA will do a lot (a) for you and (b) for this 50-year-old sport.
The APTA entered the 1976-1977 season with 3,589 members. In 1973, it had 810. The goal for the next season was 7,000. That didn't seem unrealistic for a game that had blitzed the landscape from San Diego to Georgia, North Carolina, and the entire northeast.
Source: Paddle Talk, Vol. 3 No. 1 (September-October)
Charles Millard of the Coca-Cola Bottling Company of New York approached the APTA with the idea of Tribuno Vermouth becoming the title sponsor of the professional circuit for the 1977-78 season. This idea was an enormous success and brought platform tennis to an even wider audience.
Hicks started playing platform tennis at the Manursing Island Club in Rye back in the 1930’s and in 1940 he captured the APTA National Men's doubles title with Witherbee Black. He had been featured in a 1940 Life Magazine article of the game that had been arranged for by Ken Ward. The photographs for the article were by the noted Albanian-American photographer Gjon Mili who was a pioneer in the use of stroboscopic instruments to capture a sequence of actions in one image.
Hicks died suddenly at his home in Rye, NY, on September 24, 1977. The 74-year old insurance executive, a paddle pioneer, was a member of the Class of 1926 at Princeton and had enjoyed many tennis triumphs. He captained his college team in his senior year when his doubles partner was sophomore John Van Ryn ('28). Van Ryn gained later fame on the courts by winning both the Wimbledon and U.S. Open doubles champions[...]
The APTA Concept:
A Grand-Prix tour of Men's and Women's APTA sanctioned tournaments leading up to a Grand Prix playoff Championship. Players would earn points at each tournament during the season to become eligible to play in the Grand- Prix event at season's end. Each tournament would have a purse with a larger purse to be apportioned at the Grand-Prix Championship. A "leader-board" would be posted at each tournament to show the current standings of the competing teams.
For the men's tour, the number of qualifying tournaments might be as many as eight - for the women, as many as five. They might be selected from the following markets:
Chicago: November 5 & 6
Philadelphia: November 12 & 13
Cleveland: November 19 & 20
Boston: December 3 & 4
Rye: January 7 & 8
Short Hills, N.J.: January 21 & 22
New Canaan, Conn.: February 4 & 5
Washington: February 11 & 12
The proposed bu[...]
The APTA established the relationship with Hertz to stimulate interest in the “Amateur” regional circuit of tournaments that had been conceived as competitive opportunities for the “weekend player.” The Hertz Corporation, the largest vehicle rental and leasing company in the world, agreed with the APTA that these players deserve support.
The agreement called for Hertz sponsorship of the four Regional Championships and the Presidents' Cup. Prize money was not a part of this tour, but the cost of the trophies for the Regional Championships was to be underwritten by the Hertz Corporation. In addition, travel expenses for the regional teams to the Presidents' Cup, as well as a reception honoring all former APTA Presidents, would also be paid for by Hertz.
The Manhattan Platform Tennis Club on East 48th Street in New York City was the venue. Eight teams competed for $4,000 in prize money.
Tournament Brochure
This event grew out of the support from Hertz for the "week-end" player. The event was initially just for Men and was to become one of the highlights of each season with great competition and camaraderie. The Women's President's Cup was started in 1983
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