Over the past few years, Canadians had begun to leave their mark on the paddle scene, and not just due to their long-standing reputation to be the last to close the bar at Shadow Lake (Penfield, NY, near Rochester) at Halloween.

Consequently, the Executive Board of the Canadian Platform Tennis Association (CPTA) felt it timely to begin to introduce the members of the APTA to Canadian goings-on.

[Note: Hall of Fame inductee Chuck Baird had spent some years in Toronto when he was with International Nickel Company of Canada (INCO) in the 1970s and had served on the Canadian Platform Tennis Association and was instrumental in getting them to join the APTA]

The Winter edition of Platform Tennis News ran the report from the CPTA.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Winter 1995

Philip Jay O´Meilia was born in 1927 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he still resides today. Between military stints in WWII and Korea,serving as a Navy artist, he attended the Art Students League in New York (1945-46, 1947-49) and the Chicago Academy of Fine Art (1946-47). He also attended the Cape School of Art in Provincetown, MA, George Washington University in Washington, DC, and the University of Tulsa. O´Meilia also received special instruction from Eliot O´Hara and Frederic Taubes.

O´Meilia’s work has been displayed in galleries and museums across America, including the Smithsonian Institution, the National Academy of Design in New York, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. His sculptures, paintings, serigraphs, and prints are in the permanent collections of more than 500 private and corporate organizations worldwide.

A lifelong sports enthusiast, O´Meilia is highly regarded for his artistic depiction of professional and collegiate football, particularly at the University of Oklahoma, professional tennis, golf, and other sports. Among other highlights of his career, he was commissioned by the PGA to create the official painting for the 2001 U.S. Open Tournament at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.

The APTA had been given a beautiful sculpture by Jay O’Meilia in the spring and had asked for background information about why the piece was created. Brad Drowne of Short Hills, NJ provided the history.

The “First Tribuno World Paddle Championship” was contested on April 3rd, 1976 at the West Side Tennis Club, better known in the tennis world by its location, Forest Hills. The sculpture was commissioned to be the trophy for the event. However, Jay O’Meilia, a noted sports artist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, did not complete the trophy by the date of the championship final. Instead, he was to send a plaster model to Forest Hills for the presentation. Unfortunately, this was lost by the airline.

The May 1976 issue of Paddle Talk (predecessor to Platform Tennis News) confirms this account when it stated, “Russell and Gray received a check for $4,000.00 and the promise of a trophy for their victory in the climactic tournament of the Tribuno tour.”

Doug Russell and Gordon Gray were the winners of that 1976 World Paddle Championship when they came from behind to defeat the APTA National Champions of that year, Steve Baird and Chip Baird by scores of 4-6, 3-6, 6-1,6-3, 6- 2.

A crowd estimated at between 2,500 and 3,000 were treated to a tremendous display of outstanding paddle starting with the semi-finals in which Russell/Gray defeated Brownlow/Rogers, 6-3, 6-1, and the Bairds overcame Jennings/Steele, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.

Also on the program, between the semis and the final, was a pro-celebrity event in which sportscaster Howard Cosell provided commentary on the cold and blustery day while holding tightly on to his hat and his hairpiece. It was planned to present the winners with small reproductions of the championship trophy.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Fall 1994

Gary R. Horvath, a former APTA Director, current tennis and platform tennis teaching professional, and author of many articles and comments about platform tennis, called on his years of experience in the game to write four manuals published by R.J. Reilly. Jr. Platform Tennis Courts. Inc.

The manuals were titled:

• The Fundamentals of Platform Tennis

• Taking Your Game to the Next Level

• A Platform Tennis Chairman’s Guide to Running a Comprehensive Program

• A Curriculum for Conducting a Championship Platform Tennis Instructional Program

Source: Platform Tennis News, Summer 1994

The tour was back for a third go-round of the Lineal Group Grand Prix series of national ranking tournaments for men and women. Events would be held in Greenwich, CT; Chicago, lL; Philadelphia, PA; and, Brookside, NJ.

Over a thousand players had enjoyed the prizes, favors, and fun spawned by the prize money series in which competitive play and collaborative camaraderie have been the operative passwords. Several new twists were added to the tour as strengths are played up and weaknesses shored up. Approximately $30,000 in cash prizes would be contested, but a third of that would be won out of a special bonus pool that would emphasize expanded play in the four tour events, as well as the Nationals.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Summer 1994

It is rare that platform tennis, no less its players, find their way into a national sports magazine, but the “Faces In The Crowd” section in the April issue of Sports Illustrated featured two outstanding champions, the Childs brothers, Bill and Dave.

The article documented that they had just successfully defended their 55+ National Championship for the fourth consecutive year. It further noted that they had won the 50+ crown three times in a row. It also recorded Bill’s triumph with Birgit Maio in the Mixed Masters Championship, and indicated that he defeated his brother and Alice Duff in a semifinal match in that tournament.

The U.S. Embassy had a paddle court on the grounds and the new ambassador Nick Rey and his wife Lisa were avid players, and members of Larchmont Yacht Club in Westchester, NY.

Lisa wrote back to her Larchmont friends:

“Paddle is terrific and a great release of energy and frustrations. I’ve got a regular Monday morning game, and we’ve had one round-robin tournament. People don’t play a lot, and it’s mostly teachers at the American school, Embassy types, and a few Brits. All are tennis players and basically play it as tennis. I’ve convinced at least my Monday group to play it as paddle, and the level of play has taken a huge leap……..”

Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1994

The big winners at the season-ending Lineal Group Grand Prix tournament at the Brookside Racquet & Swim Club in Allendale, NJ, turned out to be men’s champs Scott Staniar and Jim Kaufman, women’s titleists Robin Fulton and Diane Tucker, and most of all, the Special Olympics of North Bergen County, NJ.

In a departure from previous practices at the grand finale, where 32 of the country’s top platform tennis teams battled for a piece of the $10,000 in prize money, a raffle was conducted that featured almost $4,000 in furniture and athletic equipment donated by Lineal and Hedstrom Corp. All proceeds went to the Special Olympics.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Spring 1994

The Exmoor Country Club on the North Shore of Chicago was the site of the tenth renewal of the battle for the Manhold Cup, representing supremacy among the six APTA regions in Senior platform tennis.

Region V was the winner, with each member receiving a trophy.

Jerry Manhold, “The Legend,” was also presented with an award in appreciation of his efforts for Senior platform tennis.

This special event is played as a prelude to the 50+ and 60+ National Championships. Each region sends a team of ten players: four representing the 50+ group, and another representing the 55+ category, with the other two in the 60+ category.

Top platform tennis players from across the nation vied for a piece of the $35,000 in prize money at stake in the six separate tournaments that comprised the 1993-94 Lineal Group Grand Prix of paddle events.

The Detroit Invitational kicked off the season in mid-October, with the Chicago Charities and Greenwich Invitational following in November. The Rye Invitational scheduled in January and Short Hills in February help lead up to the grand finale at Brookside Racquet & Swim Club in Allendale, NJ, at the end of the season.

The previous year’s successful format was used again, with a few new twists and turns to spice things up. Each tournament hosted a clinic/exhibition on the Friday evening before the event, with participants, players, and fans all welcome. Pros put their skills on display, offered tips and advice, and played with anyone wishing to test their mettle. In a move designed to pull more female players into the events, several tournaments had Saturday/Sunday match play for both male and female segments of the tourney, as opposed to when the women started play on Friday.

Source: Platform Tennis News, Fall 1993