The 1973 Men's Championships, held in Cleveland OH, saw Kingsbury and Mangan capture their second straight title.
On the Women’s side, DeBree and Dillenback took their third victory in a row. The Mixed final was a repeat of the previous year, but this time Cecil North and Mrs. Raymond O’Connell took the title, winning the second set over John Beck and Susan Wasch 14-12.
In the Seniors, Baird and Swanberg won their second straight 50+.
In the Junior’s, Chip Baird won for the fifth time in a row, a remarkable achievement.
A full description of the events and drawsheets was given in
In the spring, the APTA announced that the Executive Committee and a specially designated By-Law Committee were going to revise the by-laws.
All member clubs in the Association were sent material concerning the changes, together with a proxy statement and an announcement of a special Association meeting to take place in July or August.
Gordon S. Gray: Gray discovered paddle in 1965, and right from the start, played to win. He was a fine tennis player and his natural talent, coupled with an analytical approach and hard work, quickly paid off with three National Mixed wins in a row (1966-1968), the third time this had been achieved.
He followed up this accomplishment with three Men’s title in a row, from 1969-1972, a feat done only once before by Hebard and Carver.
In compiling this record, Gray and his partner, Jesse Sammis, changed the game by introducing a whole new level of aggressive, but consistent, play. (Field Club of Greenwich).
During the summer, the APTA completed the incorporation of the Association and a redrawing of its by-laws. The financial records as of the date of incorporation, August 3, 1973 showed a net worth of $17,078
On July 30, at a special meeting of membership in New York City, the Association decided to incorporate under the New York State Not For Profit Corporation Law. The APTA was now the American Platform Tennis Association, Inc.
On August 3, the State Department of New York filed the certificate of incorporation of the American Platform Tennis Association, Inc.
On August 7, the incorporators met and adopted a new set of By-laws that the By- law Committee had developed and submitted for approval1. Paul Sullivan chaired the By-Law Committee and other members were Edmund Swanberg, Peter A. Thistle, Robert A. Brown and Howard Kafer. The Association engaged James M. Carlisle as cou[...]
The Minutes covered the induction of Gordon Gray, the financial status of the APTA, and comments from incoming President, Bob Brown, on the tenure of retiring President Peter Thistle and on the challenges ahead.
APTA 1973 Minutes Annual Meeting
Membership of the APTA as of August 3, 1973 included both voting members (clubs and individuals with courts) and non-voting members (those that did not own a court).
Back to TopFrom APTA Executive Committee Minutes, April 10, 1973
Ball quality had been a constant problem, and if anything, it seemed to get worse as time went on.
The APTA concluded that either suppliers were not making balls to its specifications, or the specifications themselves were incorrect.
The APTA invited sixteen top players to Fox Meadow to spend the day playing with balls in an organized testing program. Bob Brown and Amby Hardwick, who was the New Jersey Regional Vice President of the Association, chaired the project committee. Balls manufactured by Barr, Marcraft, Eagle Seamco and Robinson Bros. were tested and balls that met players’ approval were then further tested by the U. S. Testing Company so that they could draw up a set of specifications. Companies who met the specifications were issued approvals.
The APTA encouraged a number of manufacturers in the sporting goods field interested in making balls for platform tennis to[...]
Robert A. Brown elected APTA President (1973-1975)
Back to TopRobert A. Brown. Photograph taken at Fox Meadow Tennis club on January 22, 1978 at gathering of APTA's "President's Council"
Platform tennis came of age while Brown was President, and he had a major influence on the APTA’s policies and plans as both an Officer and Director.
During his term, the APTA published its first official “Rules of Platform Tennis” booklet, under the lead of Bill Ballard.
He hired the association’s first full-time Executive Director, got the APTA on sound financial footing, and instituted detailed record-keeping of National Championship results.
He also engineered the transition during 1973-1974 from orange to yellow ball, which was used for the first time in the Nationals in 1975, and authored the booklets “The Etiquette of Platform Tennis” and “How to Conduct a Tournament Draw.”
APTA President Mike North noted, when thanking Brown for his service to the organization at the end of his tenure as President, “Brown has just begun his contribution to platfor[...]
The first issue of Off The Wire had the full Tournament Sanction Policy:
“The APTA has recently adopted a policy on Tournament Sanction, which is quoted in full as follows:
The purpose of sanctioning of platform tennis tournaments by the American Platform Tennis Association is to insure a high standard of quality covering all aspects of competitive platform tennis tournament play. Tournaments which are sanctioned will be included on the APTA ‘Sanctioned Tournaments’ schedule.
In order for a tournament to receive official sanction from the American Platform Tennis Association certain established standards and procedures must be agreed to in advance by the local tournament committee. Likewise, tournament play itself and post-tournament reporting must be carried out in accordance with established APTA standards. APTA reserves the right to withhold, or withdraw, sanction if [...]
This booklet, authored by Robert A. Brown, included suggestions on the makeup of the draw committee; how to determine the byes and where to place them; how to seed and rank competitors; and how the seeds, and the other teams should be placed in the draw.
In the centerfold of the booklet, there was a sample draw that showed where each team would go. The procedure for conducting the draw was to be followed by all tournaments on the APTA Sanctioned Tournament Schedule.
Source: Off The Wire, Vol. 5 No 1
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