APTA Annual Meeting Minutes
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1951 Annual Meeting Minutes
Read More- The Early Years1928-1949
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Alexander H (Zan) Carver, Jr.
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Carver (1919-1982) was the number one tennis player at the University of North Carolina and from there went on the tennis circuit as an amateur. He played at the premier United States Tournament, the Nationals at Forest Hills, six times in 1940, 1944, 1946-1948, and 1952. In 1944, he played his way to the quarterfinals, disposing the eighth seed in the round of 16 to get there. He emerged from Forest Hills that year ranked 11 nationally. Carver served as a Major in the US Army Air Forces and had a brilliant career as a bomber pilot In tennis Zan won the club Singles eight times - 1952-1956 and 1963-1965, the Doubles seven time - 1954, 1958, 1961, 1964, 1969, and 1970-1971, and the Mixed once in 1958 In platform tennis he won the clubs' Men's ten times - 1959, 1965-1966, and 1968-1974, and the Mixed six times - 1959, and 1961-1965. Zan also amassed an enviable APTA National Ch[...]
Read MoreAPTA begins selling court construction plans.
Back to TopInterested clubs or players could purchase plans and court specifications directly from the APTA for $30. Previously Cogswell and Blanchard were the source for plans. Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
Read MoreNational Championships
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It was a repeat performance for the 1951 winners in all three events. For Elfie and Ronald Carroll this was their fourth straight win, a record only matched since by Hilary Hilton Marold and Doug Russell (1979-1982). Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
Read MoreRichard K. Hebard elected APTA President (1953-1955) and FMTC President (1953-1955)
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Hebard (1914-2007) graduated in 1933 from the Hill school in Pottstown, PA where he had an outstanding athletic record (see side-bar) and in 1937 from Springfield College. MA. He returned to the Hill School as a faculty member for a number of years and later during WWII he served as a lieutenant commander with the Navy. After the war he joined his father's business the R. W. Hebard Company Inc., an engineering and contracting company (had been involved in the Panama canal construction) and R. W. Hebard Associates, agents for Brazilian mining interests (Hebard had South American lineage through his mother's side). He was the National Boys tennis champion in 1928 at the age of 14 and continued to have great success on the tennis courts over his playing days. Hebard married Lois Fuller the daughter of Percival and Kitty Fuller in 1948 and they were long-time members of Fox Mea[...]
Read MoreFox Meadow Hosts 25th Anniversary of Platform Tennis
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On February 21, 1953, T. Edmund Beck, President of the Fox Meadow Tennis Club, presented silver bowls, on behalf of his club and the APTA, to Jimmy Cogswell and Fessenden Blanchard, to commemorate their founding of the game 25 years ago About a hundred “devotees of the sport,” as the Scarsdale Inquirer put it, turned up for the occasion, which was a complete surprise to Cogswell and Blanchard who thought it was just another party. Blanchard adds this personal remembrance of the event: “James M. Carlisle, one of the games best players at the time, read his famous ‘Hiawatha’ poem and proved himself to be a worthy poet laureate successor to the Allens. It really was a proud moment for Jimmy and me.” Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
Read MoreJames Carlisle’s “Hiawatha” poem
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The Old Army Athletes (OAA) had a long tradition of enlivening celebrations with poetry about the game and the people involved starting with Frederick Lewis Allen, editor of Harper's magazine, and his wife. The Allens were neighbors of the Cogswells and regulars at OAA gatherings. This tradition carried over to Fox Meadow when many OAA joined after the construction of the first paddle court. On February 21, 1953 another poet laureate for platform tennis came to the fore at the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the game at Fox Meadow. The poet laureate was James M. Carlisle, a worthy successor to the Allens and one of the games best players, even though he served underhanded! Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959
Read MoreNational Championships
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The streak of Mixed wins by Elfie Carroll and her husband came to an end when they lost to the Fox Meadow team of Dick Hebard and Madge Beck in the Finals. French and U.S. singles and doubles champion Don McNeill (1918-1996) teamed with 1938-1939 NCAA tennis champion Frank D. Guernsey (1917-2008) to win the Men’s. Fox Meadow members and sisters, Madge Beck and Maizie Moore, both future Hall of Famers, won the Women’s for the third straight time. Source: Fessenden S. Blanchard, Platform Paddle Tennis, 1959 Historical Factoid: Guernsey, a decorated World War II fighter pilot, had defeated Bobby Riggs in 1939, a week after Riggs had won Wimbledon. McNeill and Guernsey had been Men’s Doubles finalists in the US Open in 1946 losing to Gardnar Malloy and William Talbert 20-18 in the fifth set.
Read MoreFMTC starts Class A Championship in paddle open to players not nationally ranked
Back to TopBy 1953, Fox Meadow had so many great players that it inaugurated a Doubles Class A Club championship that was open only to players not top-ranked nationally. Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983
Read MoreOld courts at FMTC replaced
Back to TopAs part of Killy Kilmarx’s (1900–1996) long-range plan, developed in 1948 for moving and refurbishing the Club’s seven courts and adding two more, all the old paddle courts east of the clubhouse had been dismantled. By 1953 and in the 1953-54 season, the Club built two new courts for $6,000. Source: Diana Reische, Fox Meadow Tennis Club – The First Hundred Years, 1983
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