Chuck Vasoll filed an update with PTM:

We are up and running. Our web site, that is. The address is platformtennishalloffame.org. We encourage you to visit the site which has: a video history of the sport, a snap shot biography of the Hall of Fame inductees, information about how you can help provide funds and memorabilia to the museum, a list and background of the Trustees of the Foundation, a photo gallery of progress in the construction at the Centercourt Athletic Club in Chatham, New Jersey, and other historic photos from the sport’s archives. It is truly worth a few minutes of your time to view this very interesting presentation about our sport.

The Trustees are hard at work in many areas of the development of the museum. Chairman Robert Brown, President Richard Lombard, Treasurer Joseph Rogers and Curator James McCready met with a representative of a firm that designs the interior of museums. That firm just completed the Arnold Palmer wing of the United States Golf Association museum in Far Hills, New Jersey, which the group visited.

President Lombard, who is chairing the fund-raising activity, has compiled a team of over 30 individuals located in all areas where our sport is played, to assist in the fund-raising project. League members, individuals and business representatives will be contacted to make monetary contributions for the capital costs of developing the museum and providing an endowment fund for continuing its operation.

Foundation Treasurer Joseph Rogers has established several means by which donations can be made. For example, the procedures to accept gifts of securities and gifts by credit card are now in place. Please visit the web site for details.

Legal arrangements to solicit contributions, which are tax-exempt, have been made through the offices of Vice President Charles Updike. All states in which the Foundation is planning to campaign for funds have been contacted and filings are completed.

Trustee David Childs has been assigned the work of collecting memorabilia. He has already obtained some outstanding items, such as books and articles about the game, historic clothing and equipment including paddles and balls, photographs of the early days and some movies and videos of championship action on the courts. Contributions continue to be welcomed and Childs can be contacted at his e-mail address, dechilds@charter.net

The design and construction of storage space for the museum at Centercourt Athletic Club is under the guidance of Trustee Howard Patterson. Items that are being held for future display will be placed in this area. Also files of historic information about the sport will be located in this separate section.

As progress in all areas moves ahead, future issues of Platform Tennis Magazine will contain updates about what is happening as the dream of a Hall of Fame Museum comes closer to life.

On October 11th & 12th, Region 1 and Plainfield Country Club (Edison, New Jersey) played host to the 4th Annual Premier Cup. An invitational event for the top eight Men’s
teams from the final year end standings.

This year, such as others, a few teams had scheduling conflicts which allowed teams just outside of the top 8 to grab the opportunity to spend the weekend playing against the best in the country.

Event coordinators David Dodge(Premier Platform Tennis) and Jason Gray decided to go east after Guy Moore (Director of Racquet Sports at Plainfield Country Club) put together a package that would be perfect for the event. Plainfield is located 30 minutes outside of NYC has a pristine tennis and platform facility and program featuring four platform courts situated beautifully around a platform hut that overlooks all courts.

Presenting sponsors Premier Platform Tennis along, with Wilson Racquet Sports, combined to showcase high-end quality courts and the latest platform apparel and technology. And for the first time, coordinators were able to provide APTA members real-time match results on the website thanks to Ann Sheedy (Executive Director of the APTA) who graciously worked with the tournament on behalf of the APTA for support both days.

The format for the event (which plays similar to the ATP Tour’s Master’s Cup) featured a two groups of four teams. Saturday consisted of round robin play within each group (three matches) determining who the top two teams from each group would be moving on to the semi-finals (also known as the “money rounds”). Four courts allowed all matches from both groups to be played two out of three sets simultaneously, and allowed the spectators to view a dazzling display of skill everywhere they looked.

The weather was ideal for players and spectators and was topped off by the generosity of the NJMPTA (New Jersey Men’s Platform Tennis Association) as they provided a “Beer Garden” featuring several kegs of beer by the courts for both days for all to enjoy. PCC and it’s staff did a wonderful job on Saturday by offering up a poolside BBQ open to players and spectators and then invited players, family and friends up to the clubhouse after play was completed for the day to unwind for a private cocktail party compliments of the club.

With the help of Guy Moore, an interview was secured with the Newark Star-Ledger (New Jersey’s largest newspaper) that ran on Friday before the start of the tournament. The article covered the event, the club and specifics about the sport’s growing popularity. Ann Sheedy provided many of the necessary details for the article about the sport as platform made the front page of the sports section.

Sunday provided another great day for platform and, once again, members and locals came out to watch the finest action around on that weekend and cheer on their favorites (mostly Guy Moore).

The semi’s provided some high-caliber teams along with high-caliber action. Emerging from the Green group were Mike Cochrane/Scott Estes and Mike Marino/Mike Stualc. The Purple group consisted of David Caldwell/Blake Cordish and the sleeper team of Brad Easterbrook/Jon Milbank

During the semi-finals, placement matches for Sth-8th place were also played. In the semi’s, Mike Cochrane and Scott Estes prevailed in an epic battle over David Caldwell and Blake Cordish 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 and the other semi had Mike Marino/Mike Stulac playing solid platform in route to winning over Brad Easterbrook/Jon Milbank 6-0, 6-2.

The finals set an exciting match-up between two teams that know each other quite well and typically find themselves in marathon battles. On this day, Mike Cochrane/Scott Estes proved to be the stronger team winning their first Premier Cup title in front of an enthusiastic and appreciative crowd.

Anthony Cosimano concluded, “As always, Premier Cup was a topnotch event. Surprisingly, in all my years of platform, I’ve never played at Plainfield. It’s one of the nicest facilities I’ve ever seen. Guy Moore and Jason Gray put together a flawless platform presentation, excellent competition & classy recognition of the sponsors and players alike. David Dodge goes out of his way year after year to support the Premier Cup both financially and with his presence. We thank him for keeping this tradition going. The Wilson ball played extremely well in the warm conditions, the flocking held well and I can’t remember any in the batch that were off balance.”

The Premier Cup was a great success on and off the court thanks to Plainfield Country Club, Guy Moore, Premier Platform Tennis, Jason Gray, Wilson Racquet Sports and Ann Sheedy for everything they did in their commitment to promoting the sport of platform and making this a quality organized event for players and spectators to enjoy!

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 2, December, 2008

Every year, nearly all of the nation’s top players converge in Chicago for this early-season tournament. As the second highest-ranked tournament of the year (next to the APTA National Championships), players wishing to attain a high rank see the Charities as a must fight for.

The 36-year history of the Charities is one of great generosity. This year’s charitable recipient is JDRF – an organization committed to Type 1 Diabetes research.

The Charities is the first major tournament of the season and that means that seedings are based on ranking points earned the previous year. In the summer off-season, teams switch around and new ones form. What does this mean? It means that the Charities is the new status quo for how the new teams will be judged for the rest of the season. If you want to prove yourself, perform well in Chicago.

With below-seasonal average temperatures, mixed with occasional light rain, the Charities weekend offered challenging paddle at the highest levels.

Women’s: The seeded women’s teams were:
1. Delaney – Mangan
2. Delmonico – Main
3. Dardis – Shay
4. Prendergast – Sheldon
5. Doten-Keane
6. Ohlmuller – Prop
7. Manley – VanCalcar
8. Cottingham – Hayward

While the top-seeded teams had been long-standing partners, the 4th, 6th and 8th-seeded teams comprised new team pairings.

The deep women’s field was absent of arguably the two most dominating women on the tour – Lauren Zink (2008 National Champion who normally plays with Cindy Prendergast) and Laura
Parsons (the 2008 National’s Finalist with Annica van Starrenburg).

With the exception of a tight three-setter where 5th-seeded Doten-Keane defeated Frei-Sierks, the top eight seeds advanced to the quarter-finals without dropping a set.

It’s hard to claim any quarter-final upsets with a field so deep, but technically speaking, the Doten-Keane victory over third-seed Dardis-Shay and the elimination of the fourth-seeded Prendergast-Sheldon by sixth-seeded Ohlmuller and Prop had to be labeled as such.

In the women’s semi-finals, Doten and Keane defeated the second seeded Delmonico-Main. Delaney-Mangan arrived at the finals by besting the new team of Ohlmuller-Prop

A hard-fought women’s final saw the 4-time National Champions Mary Doten and Susie Keane edging out the topseeded Bobo Delaney and Tonia Mangan 6-7, 6-1, 6-3.

Winners in other draws:
Quarter Reprieve: Dardis-Shay
16 Reprieve: Rohrbach-VanStarrenburg
2nd Round Cons.: Budde-Welsher
2nd Round Consolation Reprieve: Broccolo-McGuire
1st Round Consolation: Taylor-Vinson
1st Round Cons. Rep.: Pelletier-Stevens

The men’s 2008 Charities was equally as thrilling as the women’s event – and with more upsets along the way.

Men’s: Based on rankings from last season, the top-seeded teams were dictated. Notably absent in men’s event was the respected team of Mike Cochrane/Scott Estes. Also, Flip Goodspeed’s absence presented Scott Mansager the opportunity to play with fellow Chicagoan Bill Fiedler.

The top-seeded teams for the men’s event were:
1. Keevins – Uihlein
2. Caldwell – Cordish
3. Gambino – Ohlmuller
4. Marino • Stulac
S. Fiedler – Mansager
6. Broderick – Moore
7. Bondurant – Johnson
8. English – Heil

With a pulled muscle, the second seeded team of David Caldwell and Blake Cordish had to pull out in their first match of the day. This left the eighth-seeded team the opportunity to capitalize by following the top-seeded team’s draw.

On the other half of the draw, two upsets occured in the round-of-16: Keevins-Uihlein (#1) fell to Berka-Eberly (#13) while Bondurant-Johnson (#7) lost to Lubow-DeRose (#12).

In the quarter-finals, Marino-Stulac defeated Fiedler- Mansager; Lubow and DeRose defeated Berka-Eberly; Gambino-Ohlmuller defeated Broderick-Moore; and, Heil-English defeated Barnes- O’Neil.

The semi-finals saw two thrilling upsets as Heil and English bested Ohlmuller and Gambino 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 and DeRose-Lubow overcame Marino and Stulac 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The finals paired two teams who had never made it to the finals of a major championship, now in a battle to attain arguably the most coveted title in regual season platform tennis.

In the final showdown, 12th seeded Steve DeRose and Jon Lubow from Morristown, New Jersey, took the title defeating 8th seeded Brian Heil and Denny English form Columbus, Ohio, in 3 sets, 5-7, 7-5, 6-3.

Winners in other draws:
Quarter Reprieve: Berka-Eberly
16 Reprieve: Reed-Ward
32 Consolation: Bakker-Mott
Consolation: Smith-Sullivan
Last Chance: Moran-Neave

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 2, December, 2008

Buffy Briggs died on October 30, 2008, after a long bout with cancer. She was 82 and lived in Vero Beach, Florida.

Buffy teamed with Charlotte Lee to win the Women’s Nationals in 1963 and 1964, and in 1968 she was runner-up with Do Deland. Shortly thereafter, her playing career was curtailed by a fall from a ski lift, seriously injuring her shoulder.

Although her competitive activity was ended, Buffy was a major contributor to the administration of women’s activities , serving as Women’s Tournament Director for the APTA over a period of ten years during the 1970’s. She also served on the APTA Board. She was responsible for creating the point system, still used today, for ranking players and for use in doing seedings in women’s draws. She also created reprieves for women’s events, to provide further information for ranking and seeding. She traveled extensively to all of the women’s ranking and national events, and many commented that she was a star at solving problems, making decisions, and resolving women’s issues.

In a quote from her own writing, she commented that her ten year involvement in administering women’s activities “was frustrating, exhilarating, demanding, time consuming, but overall rewarding for the many experiences I had and the marvelous people I was involved with. I loved my job”.

Buffy Briggs was inducted into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 2, December, 2008

Chuck Vasoll reported on the development for PTM:

It’s been six years since the Platform Tennis Museum and Hall of Fame Foundation was established with the mission of locating a site and creating a home for the sport’s memorabilia and a place to recognize those who have been selected to receive the sport’s highest honor, induction into the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame. A major portion of that mission has now been accomplished. The site will be at the Centercourt Athletic Club (CAC) in Chatham, New Jersey.

The plan for a Hall of Fame Museum dedicated to the sport has been ongoing since 1965 when the first individuals who had major achievements in the sport were recognized with an “Honor Award.”

In 1998 the “Honor Award” designation was changed to “The Platform Tennis Hall of Fame” and all prior Honor Award recipients were recognized as members of the Hall of Fame.

The Foundation was formed in 2002 as a separate entity from the ruling body of the sport, the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA), and applied for and received tax-exempt status in 2004. This enabled contributions to its efforts to be deductible on the donor’s income tax returns.

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees then turned its sights to finding a location for a Hall of Fame building. There were several locations considered in the process of this search, most notably at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, NY. It is known as the “Home of Platform Tennis” and seemed like the logical place because the inventors of the game, Fessenden Blanchard and James Cogswell, Jr. were members and the first club court was installed there in 1931.

Although Fox Meadow Tennis Club seemed like a natural location, the terms of the project were unable to be agreed upon between the Club’s Board and the Foundation’s Trustees.

As the search continued and other sites were considered, in a casual conversation, Jim McCready, a former Executive Director of the APTA and a racquets pro in New Jersey, suggested to Robert Brown, Foundation Chairman, that the Foundation should contact Clay Bibbee, of CAC, a partner and its General Manager.

The CAC was undergoing a major renovation of its facilities under new ownership and its plans included four platform tennis courts and an aggressive platform tennis program.

Brown contacted Bibbee and discussions began in February 2008. Foundation President Rich Lombard and Treasurer Jo Rogers visited the site with Brown and they reported back positively to the Board of Trustees of the Foundation.

After four months of negotiation, an agreement was drawn up and signed by both parties on June 20, 2008.

Brown indicated that approximately 500 square feet on the second floor of the Centercourt clubhouse would be used to honor Hall of Fame inductees and to display memorabilia of the sport.

Foundation President Richard Lombard said that the location of the Hall of Fame at CAC was an ideal setting in view of its central location, attractive building, and sizeable athletic base.

CAC partner and Managing Director, Clay Bibbee, said, “We are delighted to have the Platform Tennis Hall of Fame at CAC, and we’re looking forward to a mutually beneficial, long term relationship with the Foundation.”

Although a lot of work remains to be accomplished before the Museum and Hall of Fame can be opened to the public, a specific site is now assured. Throughout the discussions, the CAC has been very enthusiastic about the prospect of having the Hall of Fame on their site.

The Museum will capture the history of the sport, the spirit of today’s play and the passion people have for the game past and present.Included will be the 73 past and present members of The Hall of Fame and 26 categories of National Championships.

The history and increasing vibrancy of the sport will be featured in a series of videos starting with the early days of the game with commentary from Molly (Blanchard) Ware and Do (Cogswell) Deland, (daughters of the founders, Fessenden Blanchard and James Cogswell), historic matches, current day play, commentary from present day junior players and a spirited look back from a group of players currently over 80 years old.

There will be additional videos developed on an ongoing basis to keep the Museum current. It will be an exciting place to visit with multiple viewing decks and a large reception area. The Museum will also feature historical displays of equipment and prized photographs. To ensure an on-going vitality, the Museum will continually update all aspects of the displays and feature the latest happenings of the wonderful sport of platform tennis.

Now, the top priority on the Foundation’s agenda is a fundraising program, to fund the initial investments in the project, to provide an endowment for future operating expenses, and the collection of memorabilia from the sport’s participants and Hall of Fame inductees.

These efforts are expected to take 12 to 18 months to accomplish. In the meantime, the CAC has agreed to conduct several tournaments for the APTA in the 2008-09 season. The most important of these events will be the Senior Men’s National Championship for ages 45+, 55+ and 65+ in February 2009.

The Foundation is also in the process of constructing a web site where progress on the project can be viewed as it is updated. The address is platformtennishalloffame.org. The web site is planned to be fully opened in September.

In addition to Robert Brown, Richard Lombard and Joseph Rogers, other members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees are David Childs, Alice Duff, Tim McAvoy, Howard Patterson, Charles Updike and Charles Vasoll.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 10, Issue 1, September, 2008

The 2008-09 paddle season is here and the future of our sport is very promising. Junior paddle is on the rise with a record number of sanctioned tournaments (16) scheduled for this season.

The season kick off tourney is on October 25 in Cleveland and the 2009 Nationals in Long Island on January 31st.

Players of all levels are encouraged to sign up and will receive a tournament favor. Consider getting your child involved in tournaments. If they do not have a partner, contact the tournament director. They often get similar requests. It will be a positive learning experience. [enlarge image to read more]

APTA President Mark Fischl met with 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, David Kjeldsen, and discussed the recent sale of Viking Athletics to Prince.

MF: David, there has obviously been a lot happening in your life of late. Is it true that you are selling Viking Athletics to Prince?
DCK: Yes.

MF: Are you excited by it? Are you working less now?
DCK: Excited yes. Very excited. I have been working harder in the last few months than I have in the last couple of years. There is so much information to share with and transfer to the great staff at Prince.

MF: Is it true you talked with other companies before selling to Prince?
DCK: Mark, I am not comfortable talking about that. It’s not proper to talk about those that you dated in the past on your wedding day.

MF: What will this sale mean to the platform tennis community?
DCK: The platform tennis community will benefit in a number of ways. The first being technology. As you know, I was a “one man band” at Viking. Now with the staff at Prince the dreams and concepts I had for paddles, they can and will become reality because their R&D staff is phenomenal. That said, my wife is already planning a trip to Italy [Note 1] to visit them! Second, and what really sold me on partnering with Prince, is they really want to give back to the sport to see it grow. They are excited not only about continuing our initiatives with the juniors but growing them.

MF: What were the over-riding factors that made you decide to sell the company?
DCK: There were a number of factors that went into to making the decision. First, as you know I have had some serious health issues over the last few years. It’s hard to run a business while continually looking over your shoulder wondering whether the health issues will pop up again. Second, as much as I wanted to keep all our manufacturing here in America, the comparative cost advantage that my competitors enjoyed was becoming so overwhelming that I knew I needed to partner with talent that could bring my costs into line with those of my competition in order to keep the brand alive. Finally, traveling to as many tournaments and events each season as I do, my age is making it more and more difficult to have the energy to keep the pace up.

MF: How will Prince impact Viking?
DCK: There will be many changes. First and foremost, we are moving all of Viking Athletics from Long Island to Prince’s new, larger, and modern campus in Bordentown, New Jersey. Two, our dealers will have a greatly expanded customer service group to work with. While I won’t be answering the phones anymore, Christine Dalton and her great staff will be bringing Viking’s customer service to a new level. Three, Viking will be have a much broader line to offer players in years to come.

MF: Will you be continuing on with Prince or are you retiring?
DCK: Retiring I don’t think so!! I still have two of my three children to put through college. I hope to be working with the folks at Prince for many years to come; I need to! To be frank, I would not have entered into discussions with any group if I weren’t going to be part of the organization going forward.

MF: So, what’s going to happen with the name Viking? Will it disappear?
DCK: No, quite the opposite. The Viking name and brand will not only continue, but also, in fact, it will become even stronger and develop worldwide recognition as Prince’s global presence helps us enter into the sports of padel, paddle tennis, and paddleball.

MF: Will your product line change?
DCK: In the broad sense and in the short term the answer is no. Viking will still offer paddles, balls, and accessories to the paddle community. Within each product group, as we are able to take advantage of Prince’s R&D and buying power, I am confident we will expand the offerings within each category. As time goes on I am sure we will add clothing and shoes to our product mix.
MF: What will happen to the OZ?
DCK: Well, Mark, as you know the OZ has been the best selling paddle on the market for the last 12 years and last season we celebrated the manufacture of our 25,000th one. I don’t foresee anything happening to it. That said, as our new technology takes hold I am sure it will be incorporated into the OZ.
MF: Are the employees and staff at Prince into platform or is paddle just another product line to them?
DCK: The best way to answer the question is by way of three quick examples. First, the most recently contested 50+ Husband and Wife National Championships was won by Pete and Karen Lyons. Pete is the New England territory sales manager for Prince. Second, early in March many of the senior executive staff came out for a night of paddle just so they could learn about the game and test new equipment. And finally, there is already talk about putting up platform courts next to the existing tennis courts on the Prince campus so employees can play when they want.

MF: Okay, let’s change subjects for a moment. So, what’s it like being a member of the APTA Hall of Fame?
DCK: Unbelievable isn’t it? Who would have thought that me the poster boy for Lazy-boy furniture would be honored with the induction? My family was shocked that Bob Brown (Chairman of the Hall of Fame Committee) could actually find a store that had enough material to make a green jacket that actually fits me!

MF: I have to ask. What is happening to your trademark Viking hat?
DCK: It’s staying put on top of my head!

Note 1: Prince had been owned by the Italian company Benetton Group, S.p.A.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 5, May, 2008

“We had a great time and would love to do it again” – Mike and Bob Bryan, 5-time Grand Slam doubles champions commented after playing platform tennis for the first time