APTA starts National Rankings for Men and Women

The December 10th, 1971 APTA Paddle Newsletter published the first ranking for Men and Women "National Rankings were initiated this year for the first time. Men's teams were ranked on the basis of play in at least 3 of 7 specifically selected tournaments during the year and the Women's on the basis of 2 of 5 tournaments. The tournaments were selected and weighted on the basis of the size and quality of the draw." Gordon Gray and Jesse Sammis III were ranked first in the Men's and B. J. DeBree and Gloria Dillenbeck were first in the Women's [click image at left to enlarge and see full list] Source:The APTA Paddle Newsletter, Vol 3, No 1, December 10, 1971

APTA Annual Meeting highlights significant progress

The Princeton Club in New York City played host to the 1972 Annual Meeting, with 132 people in attendance. President Peter Thistle reported on the escalating growth of the sport; the increasing tournament activity; the establishment of the Equipment Committee to ensure uniform playing conditions for the game, and the success of the new initiative to include individual membership in the APTA. Dues and selling plans and specifications for courts provided most of the total income of $14,274.74 and contributed to a healthy profit of $7,722.37. The net worth of the APTA now stood at $19,267.27 Secretary Robert A. Brown provided a detailed account of the activities of the Secretary’s Office – answering requests for literature and information on the game, providing plans and specifications for courts (at a price of $30), and a summary of how these requests had grown over the pas[...]

APTA Honor Award: Osborne

Philip W. Osborne had been an active player in the New York metropolitan area at Englewood Field Club, NJ until he was relocated to Pittsburgh, which at the time was a platform tennis desert. He set about changing this and he did. Initially he tried to convince clubs to build courts but was turned down. So, he built his out facility, Fox Chapel Racquet Club, and that was the start of what has become one of the most active regions for the game in the country. Osborne, who worked for Alcoa, was a keen supporter of the aluminum deck that became the standard in the early 1970s. (Fox Chapel Racquet Club) Source: "Minutes of Annual Meeting" The APTA Paddle Newsletter Vol. 4 No. 1

Bob Callaway opens the first commercial platform tennis facility in Norwalk, CT

An article in the magazine Paddle World by Bob Callaway covered his experiences in opening the center

Proposal for a physical home for APTA memorabilia made to Fox Meadow Tennis Club

In the summer of 1972 Robert A. Brown, Secretary of the APTA, approached Fox Meadow Tennis Club with the idea of constructing a space to house APTA files and memorabilia. Although the concept was initially well received and discussions went as far as developing a conceptual drawing, the project ultimately did not proceed. This was the first attempt at developing a Museum and Hall of Fame. Letter Aug 4, 1972 from APTA to FMTC re space Source: Personal communication from Robert A. Brown, 2013

Publishers of Golf World propose a new magazine Paddle World to APTA

Marcraft works on new ball

The game grows in the Wild West and reaches the West Coast

In 1972 Web and Dottie Otis returned to Ross, California, from a government assignment in Washington, D.C., where they had been introduced to platform tennis. Armed with plans for a court, they employed a local contractor, Bim Lansill, to erect an all-wooden court over a small swimming pool on a hillside above their home. Two more private courts were soon erected in Ross, and in 1975 an amorphous group calling themselves the Ross Valley Hunt Club conducted the first tournament in Northern California. By 1978 Ross, with a population of 2,700, had a public court in the town park. In addition to Ross, the 1970s were a time of growth throughout the region. San Jose Steel constructed grade-level courts on a tennis court surface in various locations from San Diego to Salishan, Oregon. The facility that drew the most attention was the Cabrillo Athletic Club in San Diego. The manager a[...]

Robert R Kingsbury Scrapbook – a source for some historical artifacts during the 1970s not otherwise available

During his active playing career Bob Kingsbury's wife keep a scrapbook of tournament records, newspaper article, photographs, etc. The scrapbook also contained information on events at Kingsbury's home club, Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale NY. A number of newspaper articles are from local Scarsdale papers and these have been difficult to find as newspaper editions during the 1970s have yet to be digitized. As such the scrapbook provides some valuable historical records not available elsewhere. Source: Donated to the PTMHOFF by Robert R Kingsbury

Cleveland hosts Nationals – the first time Nationals held outside of NY Metropolitan Area

Up until 1973, all National Championships had been held in or around New York City, primarily at Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, which had the most courts. The other two founding clubs of the APTA—The Field Club in Greenwich, CT, and Manursing Island Club in Rye, NY—also hosted, as did the Englewood Club, in Englewood, NJ. In the fall of 1971, the Cleveland Committee, headed by Carrington Clark, submitted a comprehensive proposal to the APTA Board to host the Men’s National Championship. After some consideration, the Board approved the plan to move the Nationals. The 1973 Men’s Nationals in Cleveland were highly successful, and it signified the start of an era when the Nationals moved to a different location each year. It returned to Fox Meadow from 1974 to 1979; Montclair, New Jersey, from 1980 to 1982; New Canaan, Connecticut, in 1983; and Cleveland, Ohio, in 1984. [...]