Matthew Porter
Age: 33
Residence: Boston, MA
Profession: Financial Advisor - Merrill Lynch
Achievements in tennis/platform tennis: Tennis - #700 world singles 1998. Division II National Champion 2001 Rollins College; Court Tennis - 2009 #1 US Amateur Court Tennis; Platform Tennis - 2011 National Finalist. Finalist in 2011 Boston Open.
Hobbies off the courts: Racquet sports, snowboarding, reading financial books, travelling Europe and eating (mozzarella in Italy the best)
Personal Platform Tennis: Play as a team and push the boundaries of the sport
The 2011 Chicago Nationals saw many surprising teams come to the forefront to compete against teams that we're all used to seeing. One new face in the Men's Finals was Australian tennis whiz, Matthew Porter, who played with partner, Johan du Randt.
PTM caught up with Porter to see how his new partnership evolved into becoming t[...]
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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The 7th Annual "Super Bowl of Platform Tennis" was held October 14-16 in Columbus, Ohio, at the Scioto Country Club. Columbus hosted some of very best men’s teams in the country, who showcased their incredible talents for all to enjoy. Teams from cities and states such as Chicago, New Jersey, Cincinnati, and Richmond, competed for the only paddle purse as well as bragging rights. Columbus’ own Denny English’s and Brian Heil’s fans helped fill the home team’s warming hut.
At the same club where Jack Nicklaus learned how to play golf, beginners were encouraged to pick up the game of platform tennis. Kicking off the weekend’s festivities was a free clinic conducted by the APTA. All ages and levels were invited to learn the game and its intricacies and were taught by an enthusiastic group of pros. This is a relatively new feature of tournaments nationwide and is one way that t[...]
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