There is nothing like having the wind at your back, whether it be in business, competing in sports or with life in general.

As most of you know, I am healthy once again and loving life. I am also more excited than I’ve been in years for the upcoming platform tennis season. Like so many of us, I can’t wait to compete on the court, get a great workout and reconnect with my platform tennis community—I missed you!

As for building momentum, platform tennis is growing nationally by leaps and bounds. Court, racquet and ball manufacturers reported across the board double digit growth this past year.

Through the APTA grant program, we’ve been able to help grow the game in Boston, Stonington (CT), Chicago, Kansas City and hopefully Charleston, SC!

The APTA, working hand-in-hand with the PPTA, has also helped these locations and many more, with exhibitions and clinics throughout last year and again for this coming season.

The APTA Junior Tour continues to provide an exciting schedule of events throughout the country for the next generation of platform tennis players to compete and enjoy the game. [enlarge image to read full letter]

Financials:
Aila Main presented an overview of our income statement and balance sheet which showed our financial position as being very strong.

Grow the Game:
Peter Lauer described criteria the Grow the Game (GTG) Committee uses to score each grant applicant. Currently, there are 70+ grant requests on the list. Peter reviewed the six grant requests which were selected as prime candidates for a grant and/or a loan. The Board voted to support the six projects chosen by the Grow The Game Committee.

The planned recipients for these funds are: Stonington, CT, $15K grant; Pine Manor, MA $10K grant; Scituate, MA $10K grant; Kansas City $10K grant plus a $10K loan; Charleston, SC $15K grant: and Northbrook, IL $5K grant plus a $15K loan.

The APTA will put a time limit on these grants where the APTA will commit to pay out the grant during the coming season — by March 31 of that season — and, if not, then the intended recipient would have to reapply. Funds will not be released until construction has begun.

The APTA will offer additional assistance in the form of videos, how-to articles on running programs and tournaments, exhibitions/clinics and other marketing materials to help these new installations succeed.

Changes in Regional Boundaries:
There has been some confusion about the exact boundaries between some Regions. That, along with some ideas like aligning Kentucky with Cincinnati and aligning several southern states with Region 7 instead of with Chicago prompted a new look at the United States and Canada and a new, defined set of Region boundaries. The Board voted to establish the new regional boundaries as follows:

Region 1 will consist of New Jersey and the southern and eastern portions of New York State as delineated by all counties south and east of the western boundaries of Albany County, Greene County, Orange County, Saratoga County, Schenectady County, Ulster County and Warren County.

Region 2 will consist of Connecticut (including Fairfield County), Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and the Canadian Province of Quebec plus all provinces to the east and northeast of Quebec.Region 3 will consist of Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Eastern Pennsylvania as delineated by the western boundaries of Centre County, Clinton County, Fulton County, Huntingdon County and Potter County and Northern Virginia as delineated by the southern boundaries of Fauquier County, Frederick County, King George County, Rappahannock County, Stafford County and Warren County.

Region 4 will consist of Western and Northern New York State as delineated by the eastern boundaries of Delaware County, Essex County, Fulton County, Hamilton County, Montgomery County, Schoharie County and Sullivan County plus Western Pennsylvania as delineated by the eastern boundaries of Bedford County, Blair County, Cameron County, Clearfield County and McKean County plus Kentucky, Ohio, West Virginia and the Canadian Province of Ontario.

Region 5 will consist of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

Region 6 will consist of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

Region 7 will consist of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Southern Virginia as delineated by the northern boundaries of Caroline County, Culpeper County, Essex County, Madison County, Page County, Shenandoah County, Spotsylvania County and Westmoreland County.

Rules Committee:
Fritz Odenbach reported that the Rules Committee was not proposing any new rules or any significant changes to the existing rules with one exception of a rule clarification. Rule 18j deals with the ball hit so hard that, after bouncing in the opponent’s court and then rebounding off the back screen or corner comes back across the net to the hitter’s side — and where it was not touched by the opponent — results in a loss of point to the hitter regardless of whether the ball lands in or out on the hitter’s side of the net. The Rules Committee recommended that the sentence “This rule does not apply to the serve” be added at the end of Rule 18j as currently written. The Board approved this addition.

Todd Ward will become Chair of the Men’s Players’ Committee and Mike Stulac will become Chair of the Rules Committee.

The Men’s Players’ Committee, chaired by Todd Ward, will include Scott Bondurant, Mark Fischl, Rich Green, Fred Gumbinner, Cary Hodges, Mike Marino, Fritz Odenbach and Mark Parsons.

The Men’s National Ranking Committee, chaired by Ray Crosta, will include Juan Arraya, Peter Berka, Anthony Cosimano, Brian Heil, John Noble, Fritz Odenbach and Mark Ruppert.

Women’s Players’ Committee:
The Board approved awarding national ranking points to women who finish in 34th place or higher in any ranking tournament.

Exhibitions:
Last year the APTA sponsored 10 very successful clinics/exhibitions across the country. This year proposed exhibitions include: Toronto, Canada; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Bozeman, Montana; Columbus, Ohio; Greenwich, Connecticut; Newport, Rhode Island; San Francisco, California; Fairfield, Connecticut; Kansas City, Kansas, and Rochester, New York.

PPTA:
The PPTA grew 20% last season (with 34 new members) and created six videos. Missy D’Alise will be the new Member Services Administrator and the PPTA will consider adding an umpire certification process when PPTA pros get certified. The Board voted to offer PPTA pros a $30 APTA membership that would be included with their annual PPTA dues.

Seniors:
Last year there were 14 senior events, all in Region 1. Courtia Worth and Tim Mangan will put together a Seniors Players’ Committee to continue to identify and reach out to seniors. This committee will focus on growing the senior game, re-evaluating the possibility of relocating some senior events to other regions, and
perhaps create a senior newsletter.

APTA Junior Tour:
Tom Safford and his committee will identify ways to continue to grow the junior game, including organizing clinics (working with the PPTA), producing brochures (How to: run a clinic/practice; build a junior program; and run a junior tournament). Possible equipment and/or rule changes similar to those in tennis will be reviewed by his committee.

Platform Tennis Magazine:
In order to improve the quality of the magazine and increase our input, the Board voted to create a Communications Director position, reporting to the Executive Director.

Website:
The website was redesigned this year to improve navigation and movement to microsites and has received much positive feedback. “Hot off the Wires,” the news email to members, was published 15 times. Videos and rules were the most popular topics. The new Tournament Scoring System was a great success, generating more than 3,800 unique visitors.

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 13, Issue 1, October, 2011

Women’s 40+ Nationals – Winners: Bobo Mangan Delaney, Judy Takach. Finalists: Laurie Hissey, Cooey Lyon. Score: 6-2, 7-6

Women’s 50+ Nationals – Winners: Judy Takach, Bobo Mangan Delaney. Finalists: Judy Arden, Susan Lovejoy. Score: N/A

Women’s 60+ Nationals – Winners: Louise Cash, Diane Straus Tucker. Finalists: Helen Garrett, Sandy Simmers. Score: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1

Women’s 70+ Nationals – Winners: Birgit Maio, Ginny Sniatkowsky. Finalists: Sharon Hummers, Pat Fallon. Score: 6-4, 6-2

The American Platform Tennis Association’s Women’s 70+ Championship finally took place on February 16th at Fox Meadow Tennis Club. It was rescheduled twice because of heavy snowstorms on the scheduled tournament dates. Several ladies were not able to participate, including the defending champions, Helen Garratt and Mary Jane Parks. They were very disappointed and believed to be hoping for yet another rescheduling. February 16th was a beautiful day. All players enjoyed their first spring-like day. Everyone sat in the stands to watch the finals. The winners were Birgit Maio and Ginny Sniatkowsky and the finalists were Pat Fallon and Sharon Hummers (6-4, 6-2). Ann Brown was Tournament Chair and Ann Manning chaired the final match.

Men’s 45+ Nationals – Winners: Mike Gillespie, Bob Conklin. Finalists: Rob Pierce, Leo Power

Men’s 50+Nationals – Under sunny skies, Scott Bondurant (Winnetka, IL) successfully defended his 50+ National Championship with a new partner, Bill Fiedler (Chicago, IL). Scott had won the two previous years with APTA President Tim McAvoy. Bondurant’s forehand and Fiedler’s blitzing were the difference makers in their two-set win over Fritz Odenbach (Rochester, NY) and Rusty Wright (Pelham, NY). The win for the Illinois duo avenged their loss to the New York players in the 2006 45+ title match. In the first set, Bondurant and Fiedler went up a break but Odenbach and Wright fought back and took it to a tie-breaker. The second set was hard fought but Bondurant and Fiedler kept the foot on the pedal and won 7-6, 6-1.

Men’s 55+ Nationals – Winners: Mike Sullivan, Scott Pecor. Finalists: Tim Mangan, John McMillan

Men’s 60+ Nationals – In the 2011 APTA Men’s 60+ National Championship, defending champions Steve Baird (Purchase, NY) and Scott Estes (Chatham, NJ) faced the unseeded team of John Adams (Newtown Square, PA) and Burke Hayes (Chevy Chase, MD). Burke and Hayes, while unseeded, were not without a pedigree of their own having won the 55+ in 2007. Baird and Estes made their way through the draw fairly easily while Adams and Hayes had two tough three setters prior to the finals. The score of the final, 7-6, 7-5 was illustrative of the saying, “Get the ball back one more time than your opponent.” The match was so close that it was truly a matter of Adams and Hayes getting the ball back one more time than their opponents.

Men’s 65+ Nationals – Winners: Steve Griggs, Mike O’Donnell. Finalists: Scott Estes, Danny Galves

Men’s National 70+ Championships – Roy Anderson and Joe Holmes were looking for double gold when they took on Mike Hanna and Mike O’Donnell in the 2011 APTA Men’s 70+ National Championship at Fox Meadow. Anderson and Holmes had won the 145s two days before and were two-time defending champions in the 70+. O’Donnell was looking for his double gold as well, having taken the 65+ title earlier this year. The sunny skies provided comfort to the spectators who were treated to a great three set match. The first set went to Anderson and Holmes who looked like they would take the title easily. Hanna and O’Donnell turned the momentum around winning the second and third sets in a tense battle. The final score was 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Men’s National 145+ Championships – Anderson-Holmes Clinch National 145+ Title
Once again, the largest draw for men’s seniors National Championships came from the 145s. This year, it was held at The Fox Meadow Club in Scarsdale, New York, where the 17-team draw included participants from nine states ranging in age from 67 to Harry Phillips age 85.

The Saint Patrick’s Day event was completed in one day with several teams having four to five matches. Joe Holmes and Roy Anderson of Darien, Connecticut, added to their 70s title in 2010 with a well played victory over Ray Crosta and George Lynch who upset last year’s winners Bob Brown and Doug Barrow in the semi-finals.

When asked why the tournament was so popular, tournament chair Rich Lombard responded with four simple answers:
1. We have our own mailing list of 80 players who receive a written invite, along with email follow-ups.
2. We encourage single entrants and pair together partnerships (three this year).
3. We keep the draw open to the last minute.
4. We cater to the teams who lose two matches with a round robin.

March 10th was the day and Chicago was the place that kicked off the year’s most exciting week for platform tennis… the 2011 APTA National Championships. The Glenview Club, located in Chicago’s northern suburbs, was well-prepared to be the host site for the week-long paddle festivities.

Under Nationals Chairmanship of Shannon Vinson, Matt Garavaglia and John Noble, qualifying members for the 2011 President’s Cup began play on Thursday morning. For the first time, all seven regions fielded both Men’s and Women’s teams.

Defending champions, Men’s Region V (Illinois, Michigan and the Midwest) and Women’s Region I (Eastern New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) were looking to repeat last year’s performances.

Region V Men repeated their 2010 performance in capturing the President’s Cup and Region V Women won their Cup in front of their hometown crowd.

Dear Platform Tennis Community,
On behalf of my wife, Nancy, and the entire McAvoy family, thank you very much for all your support over the past four months.

Since my Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma diagnosis in November last year, the outpouring of love and positive energy has been inspiring. As I have told several friends,

I never felt alone during all of my treatments, including my 17-day stay at the spa in the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The doctors there had never seen someone respond to treatment and recover from treatment more quickly than me and when I returned home on March 10th, I began my recovery process to get back into the game – which is still ongoing but feels great!

Given my ongoing recovery, I am pleased to be able to step back in to “active duty” with the APTA, effective Friday, April 1st. [enlarge image to read the full letter]