History of the Game | Platform Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame

1996

Competition breeds conflicts over paddles

The APTA had been wrestling with a conflict between manufactures. The Mid-Winter issue of Platform Tennis News in 1996 carried a note to readers on the situation.

1996

President’s Cup – Region I Men and Region IV Women

Two unexpected regions walked away with the President’s Cup Championships. In the Men’s event, Region I edged Region V by five points, despite a makeshift line-up that changed constantly almost up to the last minute. In the Women’s, the “local” triumph for Region IV, which included Rochester, was feted all weekend with numerous cocktails and toasts to the team members.

1996

National Championships and coverage of Men’s and Women’s

PTN Spring 1996 covered the Men's and Women's Nationals: The old Post Office adage of “neither rain nor sleet, etc.” came into full force at the 1996 men's and women's APTA National Championships, and it turned out to be true. Nothing prevented the hardy paddlers from completing their appointed rounds and matches in Rochester. With over 150 sponsors, Fritz Odenbach and his team were able to run a Nationals the way he thought it should be run: with the emphasis not just on the play, but on the playing afterwards. The lunches, the parties, the President 's Cup events, even the informal get-togethers at the Shadow Lake bar, all added up to an unforgettable event. Michigan's Scott Mansager combined with fellow Wolverine Flip Goodspeed to snatch the men's title with a steamroll run to the championship that included not a single lost set all weekend. Mansager's firepower from the[...]

1996

R.J. Reilly, Inc. to the rescue

Just a couple of weeks before the Men's and Women 's National Championships, and despite altering schedules and expanding play to Friday night for the first time in years, it was realized that one more court would be needed. That's when Jim Reilly of R.J. Reilly stepped into help. His company had put up the extra “stadium” courts at the host Shadow Lake Club, where the main matches were to be played, but it was apparent one more was needed. “Jim really hit a home run for us this time,” said co-chair Fritz Odenbach. “He not only came through with his usual timeliness and quality on the two courts we originally contracted for, but he went out of his way to get us that one additional court that made all the difference in our eventual schedule. To be honest, he and his organization deserve one of those APTA medals for being a winner here at Rochester, because that's exactly wha[...]

1996

APTA Annual Business and Board Meetings

The BOD Minutes reflected the vote to approve designating all present recipients of the APTA Honor Award as Charter members of the newly created APTA Hall of Fame. It was also minuted that: "The current APTA office does not have enough morn to display the memorabilia that has been collected over the years, and which resides in Walt's (Peckinpaugh) garage and various other locations. The idea of a Hall of Fame was considered by the Fox Meadow Terms Club about 25 years ago. The Board passed a motion to designate Chuck (Vasoll) as the point person charged with researching and writing a proposal for a Hall of Fame that will address a site (temporary and long term locations), fundraising requirements and curator arrangements."

1996

Establishment of the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame that now replaces Honor Award

In 1996, the APTA Board, on the recommendation by President Charley Stevens, formally established the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame to replace the Honor Award designation established in 1965 to recognize outstanding achievement in platform tennis. At its meeting at Short Hills, halfway through the season, the Board acted to officially change the designation of the “Honor Award” to recognize recipients as inductees into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame. All those who had won the award were automatically members of the new “Hall of Fame.” It was the opinion of the Directors that the new name was more distinctive and indicative of achievement, and more easily recognized and understood by everyone. By decision duly made and seconded, the Board unanimously approved formally inducting all previous Honor Award recipients into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame. Apparent [...]

1996

No-Let serve started – two year trial period to assess player reaction

After a lengthy discussion and extensive presentation by Bob Brown at the Annual Meeting on May 11, 1996, the APTA Board voted to modify Rule 13, which called for the replaying of a point when the service touched the net cord, center strap or band, and landed in the proper service court. The rule was modified to eliminate the replaying of the point when this happens, thus putting the ball in play. Several other rules where this situation could be described were also reworded to conform to the new decision. Before the change, a portion of Rule 13 stated: "In all cases where a let is called, the point is to be replayed. The service is a let if: (a) It touches the net cord, center strap or band and then lands in the proper service court; (b) After touching the net, band or center strap, it touches either member of the receiving team or anything they are wearin[...]

1996

Foot-Fault awareness

In the strongest statement yet on the chronic problem of foot-faulting, the Board of Directors approved a proposal by League Coordinating Director William Jones, that, for one year, leagues and others in casual play may call a "let" every time the server violated the foot-fault rule rather than taking the loss of point. The purpose of the suggestion was that a "kinder and gentler" approach to the violation was needed and would increase the awareness of the problem for the player involved. Source: Platform Tennis News, Summer 1996

1996

Viking Cup Adult/Junior Tournament

An Adult/Junior platform tennis tournament was conceived by Robin Rich Fulton following her experience running the National Junior Championships the previous season at the Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut. She enlisted the assistance of Bob Callaway in the venture, and had the support of David Kjeldsen of Viking Athletics as the title sponsor. The goal of the tournament was to promote the game among the younger set by giving them an opportunity to play with adult partners; learn from them; enjoy the camaraderie and ambiance of a tournament; and inspire juniors to continue to practice and play. The National Junior Championship would follow the event on the APTA schedule. The concept was to have regional play in as many locations as interest could be generated. Four sites had already signed up and winning teams from these locations would be invited to a central location play[...]

1996

Midwest paddle booms

Although the sport was born and bred in the Northeast, fifty years later the rebirth of paddle was taking place in America's heartland. The Midwest had witnessed a surge in paddle over the past five years, signaling good news for the health and well- being of the sport. Growth in the region's paddle community was evidenced by strength of play and players. As opposed to years past, many of the top-ranking competitors were from points west (Mansager and Goodspeed, men's double champs from Michigan and ranking contender Bill Fiedler from Chicago, to name a few). Tournament participation was up, as well as the number of mid-west-based facilities. The APTA now had five board members from mid-western states. Most telling was the fact that APTA membership in the Midwest had outpaced that in the East. Yet, while the numbers proved a point, they did not tell the whole story. Growth cam[...]

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