Mark Brosnan reported for PTM:
On Saturday, December 17, 2005, the Long Island Platform Tennis Association hosted its 3rd Annual Viking Junior Tour tournament at the Garden City Country Club, the Cherry Valley Club and the Garden City Community Park. With Christmas only a week away, the children received a surprise early morning visit from that jolly old Nordic man with rosy cheeks and a little round belly - that's right, David Kjeldsen, founder and chairman of Viking Athletics, was there to provide his support, wearing his trade-mark "horns"! Among the four age divisions, there were forty-two (42) teams participating (84 kids!), and countless parents and grandparents cheering. The level of paddle was extraordinary, the good sportsmanship was commendable, and the smiles were constant! John Cerga, Alex Bancila and Steve Bromley, the Directors of Racquet Sports at the Garden City Countr[...]
On Saturday, December 10th the New England Junior Open was held at The New Canaan Field Club. It was one of the first ranking event of the junior paddle season. Seventy four children participated, representing four states in the general area.
10-and-underWinners:
Peter Simonds and Daniel Adajian both of Southport and Fairfield defeated Reed Schultz & Jack Jeffrey of New Canaan 8-1 in a pro set.
12-and-under
Patrick Newton and Carter Lovejoy from New Canaan, played a tough fought match against CJ Purse of Greenwich and Parker Connolly of Wilton. They were victorious after an exciting three setter (1-6, 6-1, 6-3).
14- and-under
Jason Ottomano and Nick Newhouse from Weston, CT pulled out a third set tie-break beating the Safford brothers from Philadelphia.
18-and-under
Terry Keegan from Fairfield and Liam Bohonnon of Westport, defeated Jay Schwab and Cole Barris of Sc[...]
Back to TopJohn and Nick Gill lost in the Peachtree finals to Atlanta's Peter Lauer and Jay Bailey
Ansley Golf Club and Piedmont Driving Club played hosts to the 1st Annual Peachtree Invitational Platform Tennis Tournament January 14 & 15. This is a new APTA Region VII PCQ event that follows on the heels of last year's successful exhibition and clinic that kicked paddle in Atlanta into a higher gear. The two-day event was limited to 16 teams due to court capacity (there are currently just two courts in Atlanta). Nine players traveled in from as far away as New Jersey and Virginia to participate in the event.
Atlantans Jay Bailey and Peter Lauer took the inaugural Peachtree title over brothers John and Nick Gill (from DC & Alabama). Bailey and Lauer also won the Southern Invitational in Winston-Salem, NC, two weeks later over Mark Fischl and Alex Whaling. [enlarge image to read full story]
It seems that David Keevins must have grown up with a racquet in his hand. At 18, he received a full scholarship to play tennis at the University of Kentucky. By the end of his senior year, he was ranked #37 nationally in singles.
After earning his MBA from the University of Chicago, David was burned out on tennis. He explained, 'Tennis no longer interested me. Someone suggested platform tennis so my dad and I went to our club (Tennaqua) and played. We both liked it. I was hooked."
David knew Brian Uihlein from junior tennis. About ten years ago, Brian and John Hough began inviting David to play in their platform tennis practice games. They have been practicing ever since.
Comparing his tennis background to platform tennis, David said, "Paddle is a game of mistakes. Power has less of a premium, just look at the lobbing nature of the game." He added, "In tennis, sometimes one bre[...]
The snow had melted and leaves were starting to appear on the trees. Knees swollen from a winter of pounding on the paddle courts had started to heal. Tennis whites and racquets with strings had been removed from the closet. Then the phone call came. A good friend called and said, "I played tennis last night. It occurred during the match that paddle is much more fun than tennis. Would you be interested in playing paddle during the summer?" Three thoughts came to mind after hearing the proposal. First, that paddle really is more fun than tennis. Second, there was no reason that we couldn't play during the summer. Last, could we find anyone else crazy enough to play? [enlarge image to read full story]
Viking Athletics announces the manufacture of its 25,000 OZ paddle, the most played with paddle in platform tennis.
To celebrate, Viking is giving away more than $25,000 in product.
Viking will be supplying every paddle manufactured for the upcoming 2006/2007 platform tennis season with a scratch-off ticket that is redeemable for product at the Viking Pro Shop.
Jerry Brown of The Paddle Company provided an update:
Since 1995, platform tennis has enjoyed an amazing technological transformation with graphite, carbon fiber and titanium making paddles lighter, stronger and easier to play with. This has helped to reduce the stress on players' bodies and encouraged a broader participation in the sport. Developing new paddles for the sport has been an enlightening and rewarding experience. Within standards developed, by the American Platform Tennis Association, there are numerous ways which paddles can be adjusted and made to look and feel different from one another. And with the new materials accepting vibrant colors, the new graphics allow paddles that are distinctive and attractive.
Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 1, September, 2006
Bob Callaway, Chair, Rules Committee reported:
At the Annual Board of Directors meeting in May, a number of rule changes were approved and will be in effect for this 2006- 2007 season. Since a most recent edition of the Official Rules of Platform Tennis has not been printed and distributed, the APTA wanted to alert all players of the following changes:
Rule 1: Dimensions and Terminology
The Board approved as an option, a gap of up to six inches in the alley lines where the alley lines meet the service line and extending toward the baseline. It was felt that this optional alteration in the painting of the lines will make it easier to make calls on serves.
Rule 10: Fault or Out
In the third paragraph an additional sentence will be added: "In an officiated match, depending on the Chair Umpire's responsibilities regarding line calls, agreed to ahead of time with the Tournament Dir[...]
They came to the Four Bridges Country Club in Cincinnati from all over: Chicago, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Baltimore, Boston and Cincinnati. Sponsored by Premier Platform Tennis, Wilson Sporting Goods and Michelob Ultra, David Dodge (Premier) and promoter Jason Gray invited the top 16 men's players to compete for a $5,500 purse at the 2006 Premier Cup.
"The best tournament of the year!"
"The highest level of play in the game today"
"I'm here to take home the cash."
These were a few of the quotes offered by the players. An overwhelmed and enthusiastic Cincinnati audience had similar comments not suitable for printing.
After a Saturday round-robin featuring two four-team brackets, the top two teams in each paired off against the top two in the opposing bracket on Sunday morning semi-final play. Sunday saw David Keevins and Chris Gambino play aga[...]
Springfield, IL demonstrated yet again why it is the oasis of right-minded paddlers, opting to join its brethren from the east in embracing Premier Purple courts during resurfacing in September.
Prior to the resurfacing, Premier's Dave Dodge, with assistance from friend and competitor Bullet Brown, re-welded two of Springfield's courts. This eliminated dead spots that some locals referred to as a "Clark Spot," or a "Bean There."
"Premier and Bulletworks work together on a number of each other's bigger projects," said site impresario, Dan Kepner. "It's nice to see that kind of cooperation amongst rivals in a sport so small that clashing personalities and interests could bring it down."
The decision to go purple was difficult. Local players were evenly divided between "traditionalists" and "innovators."...........(cont.)
[enlarge image to read full story]
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