Dear Platform Tennis Community,
On behalf of my wife, Nancy, and the entire McAvoy family, thank you very much for all your support over the past four months.
Since my Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis in November last year, the outpouring of love and positive energy has been inspiring. As I have told several friends,
I never felt alone during all of my treatments, including my 17-day stay at the spa in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The doctors there had never seen someone respond to treatment and recover from treatment more quickly than me and when I returned home on March 10th, I began my recovery process to get back into the game - which is still ongoing but feels great!
Given my ongoing recovery, I am pleased to be able to step back in to "active duty" with the APTA, effective Friday, April 1st. [enlarge image to read the full letter]
Growth is a good thing, but requires management. So, after careful consideration and planning, the Professional Platform Tennis Association President, Nate Parsons, has announced that effective August 1, the PPTA has hired Missy D'Alise as Member Services Administrator.
D'Alise, a PPTA pro from Hinsdale, Illinois, has been a long-time friend to the PPTA, helping out with the organization's needs behind the scenes whenever possible, Parsons said.
"Some of the changes that we'll be making next year, including [Missy's] role, are all based on the fact that the PPTA has seen growth by a factor of 30 to 40 pros this year. Administration is a huge job," Parsons said. "Missy is one who's a PPTA pro, helped in the area, has a good background, so I approached her as becoming a director of everything as far as the PPTA home office is concerned."
D'Alise will tend to member services, as we[...]
March 10th was the day and Chicago was the place that kicked off the year's most exciting week for platform tennis... the 2011 APTA National Championships. The Glenview Club, located in Chicago's northern suburbs, was well-prepared to be the host site for the week-long paddle festivities.
Under Nationals Chairmanship of Shannon Vinson, Matt Garavaglia and John Noble, qualifying members for the 2011 President's Cup began play on Thursday morning. For the first time, all seven regions fielded both Men's and Women's teams.
Defending champions, Men's Region V (Illinois, Michigan and the Midwest) and Women's Region I (Eastern New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) were looking to repeat last year's performances.
Region V Men repeated their 2010 performance in capturing the President's Cup and Region V Women won their Cup in front of their hometown crowd.
Matthew Porter
Age: 33
Residence: Boston, MA
Profession: Financial Advisor - Merrill Lynch
Achievements in tennis/platform tennis: Tennis - #700 world singles 1998. Division II National Champion 2001 Rollins College; Court Tennis - 2009 #1 US Amateur Court Tennis; Platform Tennis - 2011 National Finalist. Finalist in 2011 Boston Open.
Hobbies off the courts: Racquet sports, snowboarding, reading financial books, travelling Europe and eating (mozzarella in Italy the best)
Personal Platform Tennis: Play as a team and push the boundaries of the sport
The 2011 Chicago Nationals saw many surprising teams come to the forefront to compete against teams that we're all used to seeing. One new face in the Men's Finals was Australian tennis whiz, Matthew Porter, who played with partner, Johan du Randt.
PTM caught up with Porter to see how his new partnership evolved into becoming t[...]
Family and Sports Go Hand in HandFor a man with many accomplishments, Scott Estes, Sr., is remarkably humble about his feats. He hopes to defend his Men's 65+ Nationals title this year, with partner Doug Barrow, and his Men's 60+ Nationals title with Lloyd Ucko. "First of all, to win a title is great, but defending a title is even more rewarding. Secondly, you know what made last year's 60+ Nationals special? It was Lloyd's first national title" From a man with 15 Senior National titles out of 29 finals, remembering what it was like to be a first-time winner must be a distant memory.
For the past four years, the APTA Men's 45+155+165+ Nationals were played in Estes' hometown of Chatham, New Jersey. And for those years, Estes has been the tournament director as well as a competitor. This year, the tournament will be held in Cincinnati. "A year off from running the tournament? I'm looki[...]
Men’s 45+ Nationals – Winners: Mike Gillespie, Bob Conklin. Finalists: Rob Pierce, Leo Power
Men's 50+Nationals - Under sunny skies, Scott Bondurant (Winnetka, IL) successfully defended his 50+ National Championship with a new partner, Bill Fiedler (Chicago, IL). Scott had won the two previous years with APTA President Tim McAvoy. Bondurant's forehand and Fiedler's blitzing were the difference makers in their two-set win over Fritz Odenbach (Rochester, NY) and Rusty Wright (Pelham, NY). The win for the Illinois duo avenged their loss to the New York players in the 2006 45+ title match. In the first set, Bondurant and Fiedler went up a break but Odenbach and Wright fought back and took it to a tie-breaker. The second set was hard fought but Bondurant and Fiedler kept the foot on the pedal and won 7-6, 6-1.
Men’s 55+ Nationals – Winners: Mike Sullivan, Scott Pecor. Finalists:[...]
Women’s 40+ Nationals - Winners: Bobo Mangan Delaney, Judy Takach. Finalists: Laurie Hissey, Cooey Lyon. Score: 6-2, 7-6
Women’s 50+ Nationals - Winners: Judy Takach, Bobo Mangan Delaney. Finalists: Judy Arden, Susan Lovejoy. Score: N/A
Women’s 60+ Nationals – Winners: Louise Cash, Diane Straus Tucker. Finalists: Helen Garrett, Sandy Simmers. Score: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
Women’s 70+ Nationals – Winners: Birgit Maio, Ginny Sniatkowsky. Finalists: Sharon Hummers, Pat Fallon. Score: 6-4, 6-2
The American Platform Tennis Association's Women's 70+ Championship finally took place on February 16th at Fox Meadow Tennis Club. It was rescheduled twice because of heavy snowstorms on the scheduled tournament dates. Several ladies were not able to participate, including the defending champions, Helen Garratt and Mary Jane Parks. They were very disappointed and believed to be hoping fo[...]
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