Family and Sports Go Hand in HandFor a man with many accomplishments, Scott Estes, Sr., is remarkably humble about his feats. He hopes to defend his Men's 65+ Nationals title this year, with partner Doug Barrow, and his Men's 60+ Nationals title with Lloyd Ucko. "First of all, to win a title is great, but defending a title is even more rewarding. Secondly, you know what made last year's 60+ Nationals special? It was Lloyd's first national title" From a man with 15 Senior National titles out of 29 finals, remembering what it was like to be a first-time winner must be a distant memory.
For the past four years, the APTA Men's 45+155+165+ Nationals were played in Estes' hometown of Chatham, New Jersey. And for those years, Estes has been the tournament director as well as a competitor. This year, the tournament will be held in Cincinnati. "A year off from running the tournament? I'm looki[...]
Don Helm is mad. Not about anything that went wrong with the Brae Burn Men's B Tournament that he runs. Because usually not much goes wrong. Not about his time this year at the Women's Boston Open, when he commanded a hut that remained mostly empty Because that was just the job. Helm is mad about something that happened back in 1981.
In 1981, Helm joined the Brae Burn Country Club with his wife, Judy. And he isn't mad about that. The club has been his home away from home, where the couple has built lasting friendships and enjoyed many sports. But he is very mad that after joining the club, he spent six years playing tennis and golf and not playing platform tennis. Helm is mad that he missed out on six years of playing the game that he now absolutely loves.
"I am so thankful that I finally listened to our former paddle chairman, Peter Johnson, and started playing this sport," Helm s[...]
The initial thrust of the PTMHOFF was to create a “bricks and mortar” facility, but as they pursued this goal they realized that the history of the game could also be told by a "virtual museum". Many traditional museums were moving in this direction as they saw opportunities to deliver content in a more visually exciting and interactive way with the added benefit of attracting “visitors” without the need for them to be physically at the museum.
The revised approach was developed during 2011 and comprised three phases:
Phase I: Create a “virtual” museum and Hall of Fame with the first step being a dramatic upgrade to original web site. The revised site would have three features – an illustrated history of the game, a completely new look and feel for the Hall of Fame with extensive biographies, and a “Search and Explore” section which would house all of the memora[...]
While most technological advances in platform tennis take place on the racquet side, David Dodge, president of Premier Platform Tennis, said that lighting advances are becoming increasingly more affordable and preferable for platform tennis courts nationwide.
“The big thing right now is the new stadium-style lighting,” Dodge said. “Lighting has made a lot of advances. Some places are still using 1,500-watt court lights, and these new lights are
typically 400-watt metal alloys. They reflect light differently, and by reflecting differently, they can put a lot more light on the court.”
Dodge said the lights can be retrofitted and installed into most existing light standards, and average six lights per court. “The cost is right around $4,000 per court for six. If you install eight, it’s $5,200 per court,” Dodge said. “On the East and West coasts, we’ll do six-light i[...]
Wilson has taken the paddle tennis world by storm and introduced a new paddle racquet technology to enhance every player’s game. Wilson understands that in the game of platform tennis achieving maximum spin on the ball is critical to the outcome of the match. With the revolutionary Gator Grit technology, Wilson has tripled the amount of grit on the paddle surface on every racquet for extra bite to provide increased spin and feel of the ball. Gator Grit is now available on all of Wilson’s new paddles.
With maximum grit must come maximum protection, so with every Gator Grit paddle the player will receive a free cover. The cover will not only protect the paddle but also a player’s additional belongings carried in the bag from the coarse Gator Grit. [enlarge image to read full article]
Viking Athletics is proud to officially announce the arrival of its 2011-2012 product line – complete with 3 new lite weight paddles, the re-introduction of the most popular paddle ever made and yet another addition to Viking’s technology portfolio – all added to the existing line of proven paddles and the Viking ball.
Viking has done it again! Introducing a new paddle technology application called Carbon Mesh. Carbon Mesh material consists of braided graphite strips of material which are bonded together for extra strength and stiffness. This material will be featured at the 12 o’clock position on two new paddles this season adding extra stiffness and strength to the rim area. Viking continues to be clearly focused on raising the bar on platform paddle innovation again this year as Carbon Mesh follows SpinTex and Triple Threat technologies which were both introduced during th[...]
Platform tennis in Chicago is nothing new. Dating back nearly 40 years, organized platform tennis owes its existence to Dick Hornigold, who brought it to Chicago after he was transfered there. He met up with platform tennis entrepreneur Dick Squires, and the two put on an exhibition at the Exmoor Country Club that launched the sport officially in the Chicago market.
The pair partnered with Jack Watson and Harry Brown to form the Chicago Platform Tennis Charities organization. Today, the organization is run by Alan Graham, who’s been steering the ship for the past 15 years. Under his guidance, the CPTC has grown by leaps and bounds, and that growth is something that has been studied and determined to be sustainable.
“Initially, the region had a lack of resources,” Graham said. “When courts were put in, the very first ones were put in private homes. The next phase were in cou[...]
Mike Stulac
Age: 40
Residence: Manhattan, New York
Family: Kerri Delmonico
Profession: Global Loans Product Controller at JP Morgan Chase
Achievements in tennis/platform tennis: Winner of the Canadian Nationals more than 10 times; Winner US Nationals twice; Winner of the 18-and-under Junior Nationals; Winner Mixed Nationals; Winner of Husband and Wife Nationals two times; Winner in Chicago, numerous regional tournaments
Hobbies off the courts: Golf
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Paddle is her balance. Just back from a weekend on Long Beach Island, and having spent two weeks skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, it was pure luck to find Helen Garrett with some time to talk. No moss grows on Garrett, the perennial senior tournament winner, with 16 APTA Senior Championships and eight "silvers," as she puts it. She plays both women's and mixed tournaments, enjoying the differences of each game. And she very much enjoyed the team concept of the President's Cup. Garrett played in the very first one in 1986, and was on the Region III team for several years.
Garrett and long-time partner Sandy Simmers won the Women's 70+ Nationals in Scarsdale, New York, this past December. Both players are from the Washington, DC area, and Garrett really enjoys the time they spend together, whether in the car traveling to tournaments or on the court. "Neither of us has a big forehand or big [...]
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