Aila Main

Residence:New York City

Occupation:Interior Designer

Years of Service on the APTA Board: 6 (Women’s Players Committee (WPC) and Women’s Ranking Committee (WRC) for longer)

Family: Daughter Sophie 11, dog Sam 6

Years Playing: 15

How did you get started playing platform tennis? When I was first married, we moved to Princeton, New Jersey, and they had a paddle team there, which my tennis partners suggested I join. Having just moved East from California, I loved the opportunity to be outside in the winter…..

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The candidates for the Board were: Scott Bondurant, Patty Hogan, Sara Lanthier, Mark Parsons and Justin “J” Stanley.

SCOTT BONDURANT (Nominated for President) Scott is not a newcomer to the APTA Board. He served as a Vice President from 2003 to 2009. More recently he has been Chair of the Men’s Players Committee and President of Region V. He is amazed by the growth of the game in recent years and looks forward to doing what he can to keep it going…..

[Click on images below to read full profiles of the candidates]

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 4 March/April 2015

Interim President Bill O’Bien explains the rational for the decision.

“Rob is stepping down from the Presidency for all the right reasons. He has been working to start up a company in the court building business and his efforts are starting to take shape. He saw that being in the court building business while also being President of the APTA could later be perceived as a conflict of interest and so he asked to step down to avoid any potential shadow being cast onto the APTA. One of the really wonderful aspects of this game is the classy way in which most everyone associated with the sport conducts themselves and this is just one more example of that behavior.”

O’Brien went on to thank Rob for his service to the APTA and the game.

“First of all, I want to thank Rob Coster for his service to our game. The energy he brought to Eastern Connecticut, as a player and a force for growth, and then to Region II, as Region II President, and then to the whole game, as President of the APTA, has been just incredible. This sport we love is growing rapidly and Rob’s contributions have impacted it greatly. We will miss his leadership.

The APTA Nominating Committee talked to several possible successors and have placed Scott Bondurant’s name in nomination to be our next President. I fully expect Scott to be confirmed as President on May 1st at the APTA Annual Meeting. For the period from Feb 1st to May 1st, I have agreed to step in as the interim President and my goal is to help us make as smooth a transition as possible from Rob’s leadership to Scott’s.”

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 4 March/April 2015

He’s Back!
Years of Service on the APTA Board: First year of current term; 1981-1985 Region I President; 1985-1988 Executive Director

Family: Wife Myra

Years Playing: 45

How did you get started playing platform tennis? As a teenager, I was introduced to the game at the Innis Arden Golf Club in Greenwich, Connecticut, by Don White (a previous APTA President). Other people who influenced me were George Schmid, a Senior National champion, who was somewhat of a father image. He helped me learn the classic game. He was from the wood paddle era and believed in defensive strategy. I worked with Bob Callaway in the late 1970s and early 1980s, teaching paddle at Callaway’s Paddle Tennis Center and with Doug Russell, at The Manhattan PTC and the Apple PTC, so obviously those men are very significant to me…….

[Click image below to read the full article]

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 3 Jan./Feb. 2015

Catching up with and to Patty Hogan is always fun. When I spoke with her, she was driving to Canoe Brook in Summit, New Jersey. She runs the Junior Paddle Academy with host pro Drew Broderick and Dave Broderick, a very successful junior platform tennis program. She had spent the past weekend helping set up the Beacon Hill Junior Open, a Ranking event, also in Summit. “Just this past weekend, with junior events in Beacon Hill, Philadelphia, Essex, and Cleveland, we had way over 220 kids playing paddle in an APTA event,” Hogan enthused……….

[Click on image below to read the full article]

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 3, Jan./Feb. 2015

Wired into the Game – by Nindy Pike

I first met Ken Packert at the 2012 Nationals at Huntington Country Club on Long Island. I didn’t know where to set up shop in the limited space. A man stringing up wire on the beams above told me to clear a spot at the table below his ladder. The but was filled with cables. Some were wrapped on the ceiling beams, some were trailing down like sausages in a charcuterie. It looked complicated………

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Two long-time proponents of the game received the APTA’s highest award this year for their impressive involvement in the sport of platform tennis.

Both Duane Hayden and Joe Russo were completely surprised when they were given their awards and were feted in their communities.

They both have been active in the game of platform tennis for decades and have served the sport in very diverse ways. Avid players each, they continue to be ambassadors for the paddle world in different regions.

[Click on images in the sidebar to read full article]

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 2, 2014

Moving Region VI Onwards and Upwards

Did you know that all of the platform tennis courts in California are in Ross, part of Marin County, about 20 miles from San Francisco? There are three at Lagunitas Country Club, where our volunteer of the month Cam Lanphier plays, as well one public court in town and a couple of private courts. That is it! In the largest state, the other paddle tennis is better known, but our sport is alive and well in Ross and continues to attract high-level players.

Cam Lanphier grew up in Pelham, New York, where she fooled around with platform tennis as a teenager when courts were added at her club. She didn’t really start playing seriously until she moved to Ross in 1988………..

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Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 issue 2, 2014

The format for the President’s Cup has been in flux ever since it started back in the 1970s (Men) and 1980s (Women). There was yet another tweak to the popular Tournament in 2014.

WOMEN’S RULE CHANGES
Region VIII has been eliminated. This changes the match play format back to a seven-team round robin, where matches are best of two sets to four games.

No one ranked individually in the top 16 may play in the President’s Cup.

There are new line-up and points system regulations. Please see below for the full explanation.

MEN’S RULE CHANGES
If a player is invited to play for his home region, he is not eligible to play for Region VIII.

Line-ups and subs will not have to be submitted prior to the event. A list of participants is still required. The designation of players as “subs” or “Court 1” will no longer be necessary in advance of the event.

Captain’s will exchange line-ups prior to each round.

[Click on the images in the sidebar to read the details]

Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 16 Issue 2, 2014