Proposed rule changes defeated at Annual Meeting

At the annual meeting in May there was some spirited discussion on the following motions: • Allow a let to be taken if a lob, once landing in the court, were to bounce out, over the screening. • Allow a carry or double hit to be considered legal in paddle (currently illegal). • Have the first server in a tiebreaker start from the deuce court ,rather than the ad court, which is now the case. All were denied. Source: Platform Tennis News, September 1984

First APTA website proposed and over skepticism becomes a reality

The Platform Tennis News, Summer 1996 had a summary of the Annual BOD meeting which included looking at the development of a website: …."Looking to the future to provide greater service to the membership, John Horine was directed to look into an Internet site…" The BOD Minutes of Sept 19, 1996 indicated a somewhat luke warm response to the proposal subsequently presented by Horine and funding was not approved… "The Board's reaction was varied, ranging from enthusiastic to skeptical. A motion to appropriate up to $5,000 to fund an adventure (sic) on the Internet was defeated. John, however, was not dissuaded and the website became on eventuality in 1997. The Sept. 24 1997 Minutes of the BOD reflected the reality: "John Horine reported the revised Web site looks good, and it has generated much activity. He asked each Regional President to sell advertising space f[...]

National Championships

PTN Spring and Fritz Odenbach in PTN Summer covered the Men's and Women's Nationals Neither rain nor sleet nor 70-degree heat could keep Rochester from hosting the platform event of the year. And no weather anomalies could derail the eventual crowning of Gerri Viant and Connie Jones as national women's champs, and Rich Maier and Steve Baird as men's titlists. Gordon Gray almost achieved a Triple Crown by winning the 50+ and 55+, but lost a three-setter in the 45+ finals to Dick Heverland and Dave Dickenson. In bright sunlight and warm temperatures, patience played a major part in the Viant/Jones victory, as they refused to hurry their offensive attacks, and wore down Butterfield/Tucker with athleticism and soft overheads down the middle. The eventual winners also managed to avoid the crunching forehand of Tucker and patented Butterfield blitzes. The men's final had very [...]

Charles E. Vasoll elected APTA President (1988-1992)

Vasoll was a platform tennis fanatic, as was confirmed by his vanity automobile license plate, “P T NUT,” and the frame around it that read, “I’m crazy about platform tennis.” After only one year on the APTA Board of Directors, he was tapped to be the Association’s President. He had retired when a large New York City bank bought the community bank for which he worked, and he was able to devote many hours to his new “job.” He commuted from Long Island to the APTA office in Upper Montclair, New Jersey. Vasoll was the first President to serve four years since Fessenden Blanchard in 1934-38. After his term as President, he continued to serve on the Board until 2001. In 2002, he chaired the National Championships on Long Island. He was active in the publishing of the APTA newsletter, Platform Tennis News, and had a web site, PlatformTennisNews.com for five [...]

Jim McCready steps down as Executive Director

In 1988, Jim McCready stepped down as Executive Director to return to the teaching court. He had been instrumental in changing over the APTA office environment to the computer age. Jim took the office on the road frequently, as a player visiting emerging paddle hubs, and championed the return of the nationals to FMTC in 1985. He also edited, photographed, and wrote for the APTA newsletter, Platform Tennis News.

APTA Annual Meeting – Financials show significant loss

Ginna Ohlmuller becomes new Executive Director

The APTA named Ginna Ohlmuller as the new executive director. Ginna had a long history of platform tennis involvement that included several years as a nationally- ranked player on the women's circuit, with partner Rita Goldberg; paddle chairmanship at the Montclair Golf Club for the previous three years, and a feared partnership with her son, David, in mixed doubles.

Dick Reilly reflects on 29 years of court building

In the Summer 1988 issue of Platform Tennis News, the veteran court builder shared the following observations: Head Hunters and Architects In 29 years of building platform tennis courts, you could say we've seen it all—or at least most of it—from: • Lifting a court to the top of a city building by helicopter, to • Having a building crew told not to stray far from the building site in Indonesia, lest they loose their heads, literally, to • Building a six-court complex at the top of NYU's library only to move it several years later because the building's world-renowned architect was insulted that he was not consulted before the courts were put on "his" building. When I first played paddle 30 years ago, I was immediately enamored of the game, but horrified at the poor quality of the courts we all played on. Being familiar with construction, and believing the game[...]

APTA continues search for improvements to the ball

Walt Peckinpaugh, Region IV President and Board Member led an effort to address issues with the ball – how true it bounces, how long it lasts and how much it cost. The following report was contained in the Fall edition of Platform Tennis News: Late in May, Walt brought our concerns about the ball to our primary supplier, the Hedstrom Corporation, maker of Vittert platform tennis balls. In their conversation, several matters were discussed and plans to implement improvements were on the agenda of the June meeting of the APTA Board. First and foremost, Hedstrom will continue to supply Vittert balls to the market at a competitive price. This is vital because we have no game without a proper ball. We are told, however, that there may be a substantial price increase because the costs of raw material used in the ball have more than doubled since last year. This is due to the demand[...]

APTA refocuses on Juniors

The APTA recognized that the development of the next generation of players had been overlooked in recent years and looked to rebuild interest with a National Clinic Days. The clinics would feature area pros and top players contributing time and expertise in conducting free clinics throughout the US and Canada.