National Championships

Holmes and O’Hearn (son of Hall of Fame member Charles O’Hearn), the previous year’s finalists won a five-setter over Dick Squires and Ted Winnpenny, Jr.¹

Hebard won his first 50+ with partner Sidney Sweet and Charlotte Lee won her fourth Mixed title, this time with Bill Pardoe.

Do Cogswell Deland and Susan Beck Wasch won the Women’s; it was Wasch’s fourth Women’s title and the second one for the team.

Note 1: Charley O’Hearn was seen anxiously walking back and forth around the court where the final was being played like an expectant father. He was overjoyed at the outcome.

Source: Oliver H. Durrell The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967; and APTA Platform Paddle Tennis 1963-1973: Rules and Records, 1973; Personal communication from Michael O’Hearn.

National Championships – Inaugural Junior Boy’s (under 20) and Men’s 50+ replaces Men’s 45+

The Men’s 45+ was discontinued and was later reinstated in 1972¹.

A Men’s Senior 50+ event was added as the new Senior Men’s event.

In the Men’s, David Jennings and Oliver Kimberly, the previous year’s finalists, emerged as the winners over Thomas Holmes and Michael O’Hearn.

Charlotte Lee and Buffy Briggs won their second straight Women’s.

The Fox Meadow pair of Zan Carver and Barbara Koegel won the Mixed (Zan had wanted to take a cigarette break after they had split two long sets, as was his way, but Bobbie would not let him, as was her way!).

Germain Glidden and William Park won the inaugural 50+.

William deSaussure IV and Geoffrey Nixon won the inaugural Boy’s Junior event [Also see APTA 1963 Annual Meeting Minutes], the first of three straight titles for the team.

Note 1: The reason for this was that the APTA concluded that their initial decision to use age 45 for the “senior” category was too young, since four men over 45 years of age had won the 45+senior event as well as the Men’s National Championship between 1964 and 1972. In 1964 the “senior” age became 50+. [Also see APTA 1963 Annual Meeting Minutes]

Source: Oliver H. Durrell The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967; and APTA Platform Paddle Tennis 1963-1973: Rules and Records, 1973; Personal communication from William F. Koegel.

Death of Fessenden S. Blanchard (1888-1963)

Blanchard, a co-founder of the game, suffered a heart attack at the Harvard-Princeton football game at Harvard stadium. A 1910 graduate of Harvard, he was a leader in textile research, a past president of the Textile Research Institute (1941-1945) and, for many years, head of his own industrial relations firm, which he founded in 1948. He served as the first President of the APTA, from 1934-1938, and was a tireless promoter of the game in the early years. He was among the first group of individuals inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame in 1965. In addition to authoring two books on the game, he also wrote widely on yachting.

One of Blanchard’s reports, prepared for the Massachusetts Development and Industrial Commission and made public in 1951 after a two-month dispute involving charges it was being suppressed, told of a “widespread belief” that the executive and legislative branches of the state government were “unjustifiably biased against manufacturers and in favor of labor but not the long-run interests of labor which are bound up with the success of Massachusetts industry.”

Source: New York Times, November 11, 1963

APTA raises Juniors’ profile – Gatchell Bowl established for National Junior Boy’s

During his tenure on the APTA Board in the early 1960s, John Ware began looking at clubs with dedicated junior programs. In an effort to learn how to encourage other clubs to strengthen their programs, he visited the Englewood Field Club in New Jersey to observe its program. Ware found it to be so impressive that he suggested the APTA sponsor a tournament for boys.

In 1963¹ Fox Meadow hosted the first National Boys’ Doubles, chaired by Rawle Deland and John Ware (both, appropriately enough, sons-in-law of the game’s founders).

The APTA named the Championship trophy for the recently deceased Hall of Fame inductee Earle Gatchell, a player who had done much to help young players.

His wife, Bertha, presented the first Gatchell Bowl to the winners who, predictably enough, came from Englewood, which had the most active junior program at the time.

Note 1: The Junior Nationals were usually in December, so this event was part of the 1964 tournament season

Paul G. Sullivan elected APTA President (1963-1965)

Sullivan was President of the APTA in 1964 and 1965, and was on the Board for many years prior to that, serving as secretary, treasurer, vice-president, and chairman of the nominating committee.

During his tenure, the association improved its communication with the membership, and set the sport on a more professional footing by demanding quality umpiring and giving APTA more control over tournament draws.

National Championships

Hebard and Carver won their third straight Men’s title, and Charlotte Lee won her second Women’s title with a new partner, Buffy Briggs, and her third straight Mixed, but this time with Dick Hebard, rather than James Gordon.

Zan Carver and George Harrison won the Men’s 45+.

Source: Oliver H. Durrell The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967, APTA Platform Paddle Tennis 1963-1973: Rules and Records, 1973

National Championships – Men’s final filmed for TV

The Men’s final was a repeat of the previous year, although this time Hebard and Carver won in four sets, not five. The Men’s final was filmed for television.

James Gordon and Charlotte Lee repeated as Mixed Winners.

Susan Beck Wasch won her third Women’s title with Cogswell’s daughter, Theodora (Do) Deland.

Source: Oliver H. Durrell, The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967

National Championships

Future multiple champion and Hall of Famer Charlotte Lee emerged on the paddle scene as a winner in the Mixed with James Gordon, and in the Women’s with Lindsay Sager.

Hebard partnered with Zan Carver to win the Men’s, and with Walter Close to win the 45+.

Source: Oliver H. Durrell, The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967

John P. Ware elected APTA President (1961-1963)

Ware, Blanchard’s son-in-law, spent roughly 40 years of his adult life nurturing and promoting the game of platform tennis. He served as Secretary of the APTA from 1959 to 1961, during which time he did extensive research on format, size, and timing of tournaments and the composition of paddles.

Ware was instrumental in bringing young people into the game when he inaugurated the first APTA Junior Boys National Championships in 1963 and was the driving force behind changing the ball color from white to orange and persuading manufacturers to adopt the new color.

He designed the crossed paddles and ball insignia for the Association. The logo was modernized in the late 1970’s, but Ware’s original design remains on the crests presented to Hall of Fame recipients and past Presidents.

Ware was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1995

National Championships – Portion of Men’s Filmed by Telesports

Telesports made a 16mm sound film of about 5 minutes showing part of the 1960 National Men’s Doubles Finals. The APTA 1963 Annual Meeting Minutes indicated that the film was the property of the APTA and was available to any member club at no cost by contacting the Secretary-Treasurer.

Harrison and Pardoe win their second title in a tough match against the 1953 & 1954 champions and tennis stars Guernsey and McNeill.

Madge Beck and daughter Susan Beck Wasch win their second title in a row.

Cliff and Suzanne Sutter captured the Mixed over FMTC’s Susan Beck Wasch and her brother John Beck, earning them a mention in the March 21st edition of Sports Illustrated.

Blanchard called Cliff Sutter, “a canny player if ever there was one and few can compare with him in the way he varies his game and keeps opponents guessing.” Sutter had won the intercollegiate tennis championship as a Tulane sophomore and won his first Mixed title in 1941.

Source: Oliver H. Durrell The Official Guide to Platform Tennis, 1967

Clifford and Suzanne Sutter – Sports Illustrated, March 21, 1960