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´Meili[...]
Bob Brown, reporting for the Rules Committee, requested and obtained approval for an experimental rules clinic at the Fox Meadow Tennis Club in Scarsdale, NY.
The most intriguing proposal involved the modification of the court by placing diagonal screens in the four corners. The Board approved an expenditure of $1,000.00 for this program, which included the manufacture and installation of the temporary screens to experiment with this suggestion.
Other proposed rule change suggestions, including no-let on serve, and different scoring procedures, were also to be given an experimental test.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1995
The committee (Robert A. Brown, Walter Peckinpaugh, Charles J. Stevens and Charles E. Vasoll) recommended that the APTA Board consider implementing the “no-let” rule in the 1996-1997 season; that the diagonal corner screens were not a practical innovation the Board should consider further; and, that the no-ad rule, which had been favorably received, should be given further consideration.
A full report on the experimental clinic was included in the Mid-Winter edition of Platform Tennis News.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1995
In the continuing struggle to contend with the foot-fault violation, and possibly clarify the foot-fault rule, the APTA Board again considered the matter.
The discussion focused on two questions: (1) What could be done to control/reduce the incidence of foot-faulting among players? and (2) Should there be any change or changes in the foot-fault rules?
It was decided that, starting with the 1995 season, all National Championships should have a foot-fault judge in all matches from the quarterfinals on, unless there was a chair umpire. While it was recognized by the APTA that this would be a difficult chore for both the committee and the appointee, it was felt that it can and should be done in order to further curb the incidence of foot-faulting.
With regard to the second question, the discussion focused on the current wording of the foot-fault rule (Rule II) in the Rules Book. Th[...]
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
Instead of gala balls and celebrity-studded formals, charities around the country are finding that platform tennis can be an important vehicle for both raising funds and enhancing their visibility and image.
Paul Delaney, who played out of Bronxville, arranged a mixed tournament to support the Visiting Nurses Services of Westchester and received lots of positive reaction because of the good cause and the popularity of mixed events in Westchester. He hoped to make this an annual event, and it still is.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Winter 1995
A2Z acquires the assets of Marcraft Recreation Corporation
Back to TopDave Kjeldsen, founder of A2Z (later renamed Viking Athletics), with his familiar horned hat and cigar
There was a new/old “player” in the manufacturing ranks of the platform world. A2Z, headed by President David Kjeldsen, had transformed itself from Marcraft 's largest retail distributor into a manufacturer/wholesaler of platform equipment, by purchasing the assets of Marcraft Recreation Corporation’s domestic platform tennis division in April 1995.
At the time Marcraft was just a paddle manufacturer. They had been a ball manufacturer for a while in the 1970s (Big M yellow and red balls) but had stopped production and had become a reseller of the game's dominant ball, Hedstom's Vittert V30.
When Hedstrom sold their ball manufacturing business to Wilson - see Wilson Acquires Hedstrom Ball Business - this created an issue for A2Z (renamed Viking Athletics in 1996) as Wilson refused to allow them to continue selling the V30 ball as they were now a competitor in the paddle mark[...]
The men's final was almost anti-climactic and the women's final was a big surprise as the Lineal Group Grand Prix series of prize money tournaments ended its third season with an action-packed event at Brookside Racquet & Swim Club in Allendale, NJ.
The final on the men's side saw David Ohlmuller/Bruce Kelsey continue their late-season surge by dumping top-seeded Peter Gruenberg/Art Williams in straight sets. But it was the semi-finals that produced the fireworks with Greg Stipa and George Zink pushing Gruenberg and Williams to a third set tiebreaker, and Jim Kaufman and Scott Staniar to three sets against Ohlmuller and Kelsey.
Some people were starting to complain that women's tournaments had become too predictable, with the same teams dominating from start to finish. Jersey's Patti Hogan and Delaware's Cindy Prendergast helped squelch that attitude at Brookside by knocking off h[...]
Map of platform tennis locations in Europe as of late 1995 . Clubs may have had more than one court so this does not indicate the number of courts. The large number of courts in the Netherlands came about because R.J. Reilly worked there in the 1970s assisting a Dutch company to install about 50 courts.
[See also Paddle Hits Holland With Gloria Dillenbeck's Help
Source: R.J. Reilly Co., Brewster, NY
As the result of new manufacturing techniques, the Equipment Committee, headed by former APTA President Robert A. Brown, was asked to review the APTA paddle specifications.
The Board approved a recommended change to make the total maximum length of the paddle 18", and eliminate the separate handle/play length designation.
It also approved a change in the edge (or rim) that will allow a 1/8" height wraparound of a maximum 1/2", in addition to the flush-with-face surface that was previously the only one allowed.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Summer 1995
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