Katie Bliss
Age: 56
Family: Husband of 29 years, Mark, 2 children - Son, Taylor (age 24) and Daughter, Genie (22) both post-college.
Residence: Maplewood, NJ
Profession: I'm the owner and proprietor of Bliss-Full Gardening Services, a design, installation and maintenance firm with clients throughout Essex County, NJ. Timing is perfect for paddle players! Winters off!
Achievements in Tennis/Platform Tennis: I'm the former president of the New Jersey Women's State Platform Tennis League, a league of over 800 women. It's a 14-week season that plays from mid-October to mid-February. I spent 11 years on the NJWPTL board, holding various positions. I've also been the Tournament Chair of the Short Hills Club Platform Tennis Invitational and served on the Tournament Committee for over 10 years. I am nationally ranked #4 Husband/Wife 50+ for 2011.
Hobbies off the courts: Gardening, sewing[...]
Viking has recently announced plans to introduce a new ball which will extend the normal platform tennis playing season worldwide into a year-round sport. The new Viking Low Bounce platform tennis balls are set to arrive in March 2012, just as the platform season usually comes to an end.
Platform tennis is a sport played primarily in the northeastern and midwestern United States. Due to the solid rubber core construction of a normal platform ball, which produces a lively bounce during the cold winter months, this same ball becomes too fast and hard to control when the weather gets warm or in high-altitude conditions. Viking has just announced the introduction of a new formula that combines the current construction of the Extra Duty ball with the feel and performance athletes expect from a normal platform tennis ball.
Viking has been the Official Ball of all American Platform Tennis[...]
As a team, how did you find each other and was it an instant match?
Keri: Sue and I are both from Long Island and we played against, and with, each other often for practice before we decided to team up. I think we were a good match from the start because of our different playing styles. I tend to be more aggressive, and Sue has the ability to keep us in the points, set me up and also bring some offense when the opportunity presents itself.
Sue: Keri and I met through playing in the local women's platform league. She plays for Nassau Country Club, and I play out of the Garden City Community Park. We have mutual paddle playing friends and we played socially on many occasions. When her partner became injured, she called me to fill in as her partner in a tournament. We had moderate success and began to play a few more events together. Her partner never recovered and we decided to conti[...]
On Friday, March 16, 2012, the Huntington Country Club in Long Island, New York, was the place to be as APTA President ,Tim McAvoy received the APTA's highest honor for his outstanding efforts on and off the court. Introductions began with Nationals Co-chairman, Duane Hayden (along with Tim Mangan) welcoming the crowd and introducing APTA Hall of Fame Member and keynote speaker Steve Baird. In attendance were hundreds of players, friends and family members traveling to Long Island to show their respect and appreciation for Tim.
The transcript of the induction speech delivered by Steve Baird introducing the 78th recipient is shown in its entirety below.
Where do you start when talking about Tim McAvoy's contributions to the game? Well you start with his mom, Lucie Bel McAvoy, who was a pioneer of the game in the greater Philadelphia area and a Hall of Fame member (inducted here 20 [...]
It began with lunch. Two friends at Hajime-Sushi in Harrison, New York, were talking about one of their favorite sports. Nothing unusual in that, right? But then one of them floated the idea of starting a website for like-minded enthusiasts. The other looked up from his Tolcu-Jo and said, "Let's do it." PaddlePlayer.com was born.
That was nearly a year ago. Since then, PaddlePlayer.com has become a great website to visit for all things platform tennis.
It features articles written by the sport's most knowledgeable players and followers, video tips from pros, and full coverage of all major paddle tournaments and events— all with the goal of promoting the sport and helping players at all levels improve their game. Some of the most recognizable names in the sport—Mark Parsons, Alex Bancila, Drew Broderick and Johan du Randt— share their knowledge, tips, and opinions through inst[...]
Congratulations to the 2012 Men and Women of Chicago and the Midwest. The victories marked a repeat of the 2011 President's Cup, in Chicago, where the Region V men and women swept the competition. The victory this year in Long Island represented the Region V men's third straight title — as they were also victorious in the 2010 Philadelphia President's Cup.
The President's Cup was established in 1978. In the first few years, the event was held separately from the APTA Men's and Women's Nationals. Since 1982, the competition has been held at the site of the Nationals the day before the start of the tournaments.
To qualify for the President's Cup, players earn points for every win they receive in APTA sanctioned tournaments throughout the season. The top point-earners are awarded the privilege to play for their region. Only the top 8-ranked doubles teams are banned from competing.
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