Jay O’Meilia sculpture for the Tribuno World Paddle Championship
Back to TopJay O’Meilia sculpture for the Tribuno World Paddle Championship
The APTA had been given a beautiful sculpture by Jay O'Meilia in the spring and had asked for background information about why the piece was created. Brad Drowne of Short Hills, NJ provided the history.
The “First Tribuno World Paddle Championship” was contested on April 3rd, 1976 at the West Side Tennis Club, better known in the tennis world by its location, Forest Hills. The sculpture was commissioned to be the trophy for the event. However, Jay O'Meilia, a noted sports artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, did not complete the trophy by the date of the championship final. Instead, he was to send a plaster model to Forest Hills for the presentation. Unfortunately, this was lost by the airline.
The May 1976 issue of Paddle Talk (predecessor to Platform Tennis News) confirms this account when it stated, “Russell and Gray received a check for $4,000.00 and the promise of a trophy for[...]
Philip Jay O´Meilia was born in 1927 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he still resides today. Between military stints in WWII and Korea,serving as a Navy artist, he attended the Art Students League in New York (1945-46, 1947-49) and the Chicago Academy of Fine Art (1946-47). He also attended the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, MA, George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the University of Tulsa. O´Meilia also received special instruction from Eliot O´Hara and Frederic Taubes.
O´Meilia's work has been displayed in galleries and museums across America, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Design in New York, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. His sculptures, paintings, serigraphs, and prints are in the permanent collections of more than 500 private and corporate organizations worldwide.
A lifelong sports enthusiast, O´Meili[...]
Bob Brown, reporting for the Rules Committee, requested and obtained approval for an experimental rules clinic at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, NY.
The most intriguing proposal involved the modification of the court by placing diagonal screens in the four corners. The Board approved an expenditure of $1,000.00 for this program, which included the manufacture and installation of the temporary screens to experiment with this suggestion.
Other proposed rule change suggestions, including no-let on serve, and different scoring procedures, were also to be given an experimental test.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1995
The committee (Robert A. Brown, Walter Peckinpaugh, Charles J. Stevens and Charles E. Vasoll) recommended that the APTA Board consider implementing the “no-let” rule in the 1996-1997 season; that the diagonal corner screens were not a practical innovation the Board should consider further; and, that the no-ad rule, which had been favorably received, should be given further consideration.
A full report on the experimental clinic was included in the Mid-Winter edition of Platform Tennis News.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1995
In the continuing struggle to contend with the foot-fault violation, and possibly clarify the foot-fault rule, the APTA Board again considered the matter.
The discussion focused on two questions: (1) What could be done to control/reduce the incidence of foot-faulting among players? and (2) Should there be any change or changes in the foot-fault rules?
It was decided that, starting with the 1995 season, all National Championships should have a foot-fault judge in all matches from the quarterfinals on, unless there was a chair umpire. While it was recognized by the APTA that this would be a difficult chore for both the committee and the appointee, it was felt that it can and should be done in order to further curb the incidence of foot-faulting.
With regard to the second question, the discussion focused on the current wording of the foot-fault rule (Rule II) in the Rules Book. Th[...]
Over the past few years, Canadians had begun to leave their mark on the paddle scene, and not just due to their long-standing reputation to be the last to close the bar at Shadow Lake (Penfield, NY, near Rochester) at Halloween.
Consequently, the Executive Board of the Canadian Platform Tennis Association (CPTA) felt it timely to begin to introduce the members of the APTA to Canadian goings-on.
[Note: Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Baird had spent some years in Toronto when he was with International Nickel Company of Canada (INCO) in the 1970s and had served on the Canadian Platform Tennis Association and was instrumental in getting them to join the APTA]
The Winter edition of Platform Tennis News ran the report from the CPTA.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Winter 1995
Instead of gala balls and celebrity-studded formals, charities around the country are finding that platform tennis can be an important vehicle for both raising funds and enhancing their visibility and image.
Paul Delaney, who played out of Bronxville, arranged a mixed tournament to support the Visiting Nurses Services of Westchester and received lots of positive reaction because of the good cause and the popularity of mixed events in Westchester. He hoped to make this an annual event, and it still is.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Winter 1995
1995 marked the first year that the draw was prepared by the APTA office, rather than by the National Championship Committee at the host site.
Local input on the ability of unknown teams was still sought by the draw committee, but otherwise the selections were to be made in strict conformance to the guidelines published by the APTA.
National Championships and coverage of the Men’s and Women’s Nationals
Back to TopGarden State Nationals, March 23 - 26, 1995
PTN Spring 1995 covered the Men's and Women's Nationals:
For one 96-hour period, all platform tennis roads led to New Jersey, as the Garden State Nationals and concurrent President’s Cup events were hosted to perfection by Montclair Golf Club and Short Hills Club.
Players and spectators came from every point of the compass, and play reached its usual outstanding levels. But there were differences this year. For one, the Children's Specialized Hospital of Mountaindale (NJ) was the recipient of the generosity of the sponsors and advertisers who supported this year's Nationals, and received in excess of $10,000.
Another new wrinkle at this year's event was the presence of the omnipresent eye - television. Spearheaded by sports editor Paul Spychala, Suburban Cablevision taped both the men's and women's finals for showing to some 2.5 million subscribers on its system. The tap[...]
© 2024 Platform Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame Foundation, All Rights Reserved.