Mike Dougherty reported from Colorado and Eric Stern from Gaeufelden, Germany.
Letter to Chuck Vasoll from Mike Dougherty:
“Chuck,
Things are moving forward on the paddle front out here (Colorado). I've placed a couple of ads for platform tennis courts, adult leagues and have a junior program January 24th at the Boulder courts. Viking is donating eight junior paddles. We hope to run 96 Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and other area youth……”
Letter from Eric Stern to Carolyn Tierney:
“Dear Carolyn:
My father, Harold Stern, has successfully installed the first two R.J. Reilly aluminum platform tennis courts in Gaeufelden, Germany. At the opening in 1996, we had some of the top U.S. players showing us how the game is being played on beginners' and competitive levels.
George Zink did a terrific job in demonstrating this new sport. His enthusiasm infected a lot of players [...]
Viking had started making balls soon after they acquired the Marcraft platform tennis business in 1995. C0-incidentally, Wilson had acquired the Vittert V30 ball business from Hedstrom about the same time and decided to stop selling balls to Viking, which had been a long-time reseller, as they were a competitor.
The New Viking ball was well received and was used in the 1997 Men's and Women's Nationals but later batches were even better! They were on a roll.
However the ball manufacturing business was a difficult one and bad batches of balls had a habit of showing up unexpectedly.
David Kjeldsen recalls Viking's experience just when he thought he had finally found the "perfect" ball……..
"No matter who the manufacturer was, there always seemed to surface a bad batch of balls. In the Hedstrom days bad would mean excessive "chunking". In the early Viking days it would mean [...]
During October, local tournaments were held in six states at thirteen different clubs. The winners from each tournament—35 teams—arrived at Fox Meadow Tennis Club for the finals in November. Robin Fulton had conceived of the event and was the tournament chair.
Viking Athletics was the primary sponsor, and David Kjeldsen, CEO, spent the day at Fox Meadow supporting all the activities.
Carly Swain filed this report in the Mid-Winter edition of Platform Tennis News:
“The field was very strong on the ‘senior’ side, with many nationally ranked players in the draw, but it was the ‘juniors’ who were the stars. Twelve teams competed in the 12 and under category. The final four were Tim McAvoy/David Hissey, up against Phil/Tyler Gaffney. The final score was in favor of repeat winners, McAvoy/Hissey, 6-1, 6-1. The 15-and-under draw was the largest, with 15 teams and the "c[...]
Thanks in great measure to the tireless efforts of Winnie Hatch who reportedly wrote every female senior paddler on the APTA list, and anyone else she could think of, the APTA now has a new senior age group for women, the 60+.
The first attempt at a Women's 60+ Nationals was during the 1991-1992 season in Philadelphia. For the next five years Ann Brown at Fox Meadow Tennis Club tried to get enough teams for the event without success and finally Ann Brown and Winnie Hatch gathered together enough participants to hold a National Tournament at FMTC in March 1998.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1998
PTN Spring 1998 covered the Men's and Women's Nationals:
Chicago brought its own special flavor to the 1998 National Championships. Players beat an early week blizzard and braved exceptionally cold weather on both Saturday and Sunday. The Saturday night party was stylish with a swing band, very special speeches, and even a hand-made sweater for Chairperson Sonja Fischer. The night brought old friends together and helped new acquaintances to form.
With a men's entry of 128 teams and an unprecedented women's draw of 96 teams, Chicago hosted more players than any of the previous Championships. All matches were outstanding, with topnotch play from the early rounds on. Flip Goodspeed/Scott Mansager came out on top again in the men's play. The crowd's loudest cheers, however, were for former champion Dave Ohlmuller who returned to action after being severely injured in a hit and run[...]
Mark the date ...March 27, 1998 ... and the place ... Sleepy Hollow Country Club in Scarborough, New York . . . as history was made when seven men's teams age 70 and over took the courts for the first recognized APTA Senior Championship for this age group.
Henry Markey (age 80) indicated that he had been "hanging around" for 10 years waiting for the creation of this event. And it was fitting that he, with his long-time partner, Stari Sauerhaft, won the consolation (Note 1).
Note 1: This Platform Tennis News report was not accurate, as a Men’s 70+ had been held in 1982, but had lasted only a few years.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1998
In two separate presentations, the APTA Hall of Fame was increased by four honorees. The first ceremony was held at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club on February 28, at the time of the Men's Senior Nationals, and the surprised recipient was Chet Kermode.
The second induction was held on March 14 at the Exmoor Country Club in Chicago, during the Men's and Women's National Championships. The three individuals honored were Hilary Hilton Marold, Yvonne Hackenberg, and Jack Watson, all of whom were also unaware that they had been selected to be honored.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1998
Chet Kermode was a fine tennis player and had represented the US against Canada on an international tennis team, but had never seen platform tennis until well into his 40s. When he did pick it up, he was competing successfully in regional senior events within two years and won many 45+ events, inclu[...]
The 1998 Junior Nationals Championships, hosted by The Beacon Hill Club in Summit, NJ, were a huge success thanks greatly to the sponsorship of R.J. Reilly, Viking Athletics, and Wilson.
Eighty-eight juniors participated in the four different age groups to make it one of the best attended junior events in recent years.
More ball issues were discussed but the big decision was the vote on "No-Let"
"Also, after two years of trial use, the NO-LET rule on service was voted in as a permanent rule. Prior to the vote, all members were polled, and the results of the APTA survey were discussed. The Board did not act on a suggestion to address the "dribbler" factor, a major complaint against the no-let rule where a loss of point is due to a "dribbler".
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