Why doesn't the APTA do something about “foot-faulting?”
The APTA had heard it expressed verbally and in writing many, many, many times. Some complaints were quite loud, and some were very strong. They responded to this criticism in two ways. First, by taking up a suggestion that came from Mike Dougherty of Garden City, Long Island (NY), they attacked the problem from a light side. A series of three posters, illustrated below, had been sent to every member Club to display in their warm-up huts, bulletin boards, or locker rooms, to remind players of this violation of the rules.
The second step was a directive given to the APTA Rules Committee, led by former President Bob Brown, to look into the problem and make some recommendations.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Fall 1991
When Fox Meadow celebrated its hundredth anniversary in 1983, they almost ran out of numbers in recording Madeline “Madge” Beck's accomplishments on a national ranking level. Madge Beck counted among her accolades the women's singles crown in 1936, and the mixed doubles titles in 1939, 1953, 1954 and 1956.
But it was in Women's doubles where she left her greatest legacy, winning the national championship for five consecutive years (1938-42), then again in 1949, then another streak of four (1951-1954), and again in 1959 and 1960.
Fox Meadow also cheered its famous women's player with a quiz question:
What individual went the greatest span of years between winning National Championship honors?
Madge Beck holds that honor with a 22-year span between her first and last women's doubles titles.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1991
Hedstrom, the maker of the Vittert ball, stepped up communication to the paddle community about their program to address issues with ball quality and durability.
James Braeuing, VP Operations reported on progress:
“A. Wobble/out of round - We have isolated the cause of this problem and currently have a program to update our press temperature and cooling water controls to increase the consistency. We feel these changes will eliminate the problem.
B. Bounce consistency - As you are aware, we recognized that our bounce adjustment at the beginning of last season was too severe and led to a squishy feeling as well. We adjusted the firmness and bounce in early September. Since that time, we feel we have isolated what we consider to be the most appropriate firmness and bounce. We are revising our producing equipment to target this specification and are also engineering and fabricatin[...]
When the Long Island Platform Tennis Association (LIPTA) undertook responsibility to conduct the Men's and Women's National Championships in March, it decided to designate the Children's House and the Interfaith Nutrition Network as co-beneficiaries of the net proceeds of the fund-raising efforts for the event.
These two recipients were chosen because of the involvement by two of LIPTA's Directors with the organizations. Alfred Devendorf presented the case for the Children's House, and Gloria Grafer represented the INN.
Initially, there was great skepticism among the Tournament Committee as to whether a worthwhile sum could be expected to be raised, because the previous championships, in Chicago and Philadelphia, had not made a profit.
Once the charities were named, the fundraising and volunteering of services moved ahead quickly. Sport clothing with the logo of the champions[...]
Among the volunteers at the National Championships was Joseph Quintillan, outfitted with a special red cap donated by McDaniel Ford. He rounded up used balls for recycling. Quintillan was a finalist in the 1997 Boys 18 and under, and won the event in 1999.
The first two of the four tournament series were in Philadelphia, PA, and Greenwich, CT, and aroused lots of interest. Platform Tennis News carried the story.
“For a new idea, the four-tournament, prize money Lineal Group Grand Prix series seems to have caught on awfully fast. The first two tournaments, Philadelphia and Greenwich Invitationals, aroused lots of interest and sparked extremely competitive draws. Even more importantly, the game of platform received added exposure and publicity to both the general sports public and paddle aficionados at various clubs in the tournament areas. Posters were plastered everywhere, flyers were distributed, ads were placed in local newspapers. Top men's players put on exhibitions on both Friday nights before the weekend draws; and top women players did likewise with youth clinics on Saturday.
In fact, the Greenwich exhibition featured Detro[...]
Twenty-seven club Chairmen from as far as Wyoming attended the program hosted by R.J. Reilly Platform Tennis Courts at Fox Meadow Tennis Club.
Platform Tennis News covered the day’s proceedings.
“Early in October, a dedicated and enthusiastic group of twenty-seven club chairmen came together from as far away as Wyoming and as close as the Fox Meadow Tennis Club, which donated its facilities for the event to its host, the R.J. Reilly Platform Tennis Courts.
They gathered to learn from one another and from expert discussion leaders about improving their programs. Kicking off the day's activities, the attendees heard from Bob Callaway who pioneered a commercial paddle center in Norwalk, Connecticut almost two decades ago and Dick Reilly, an APTA honor award recipient and builder of courts, who sponsored the event.
Greg Moore and Buddy Scudder led a discussion group coveri[...]
Art Houilhan’s enthusiastic public relations campaign for the Grizzly Affair drew players from neighboring states and Canada. The tournament also officially introduced Reilly's latest innovation: The Lawn Level Court.
The concept of the new court was to make it more attractive so it will fit appealingly into any setting. By excavating below the court for the pier and heater installation, the need to install the court three to four feet above ground on concrete piers would be eliminated. The court therefore sat at grade level, making it much easier to watch play.
Platform Tennis News covered the event in detail:
“In its constant quest to expand, the APTA can now add Montana to its list of states that host tournaments. Without a platform tradition, most Montana residents had no idea what platform tennis was. Thankfully the Grizzly Affair tournament's enthusiastic public rela[...]
Dick Squires was one of the great promotors of the game who helped take the game on a growth spurt never seen before or since.
“Mr. Paddle” wrote about the game, published books on the game, produced instruction films about the game, built courts, endorsed attire, conducted clinics and dreamt up and found sponsors for an exciting new tournament that CBS Sports televised for its "Sports Spectacular" show. He also opened the first commercial platform tennis facility on a roof-top in New York City.
Despite moving the tournament from December to October to ensure better weather, the event was still plagued by rain. But, Detroit still fielded one of the strongest draws, with players battling for a piece of the $5,000 prize money.
In the end, nothing mattered to the 32 men's teams and 16 women's duos that congregated from Chicago, Philadelphia, New York, Connecticut, Indianapolis, Kalamazoo, New Jersey, and all points east and west. Their paddle was competitive and the hospitality was extraordinary. Frank Willard and his organizers proved that the Detroit area was fully capable of handling a major aggregation, which they would do again in spring of 1995 when the men's and women's National Championships were contested in that area.
Source: Platform Tennis News, Mid-Winter 1993
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