APTA Honor Award: Eldredge Bermingham and Stanton

Eldredge L. (Wooley) Bermingham and his wife, Pam, had been enthusiastic players while living in Westchester County, NY, but moved to Sewickley, PA, in 1958 where they found just one primitive court on which to play. Wooley went to work to change this and finally, over considerable opposition, was able to convince the Edgeworth Club to build a court as a way to keep the club active in winter. That was the start of building considerable interest in the game in the region. Bermingham also founded the Western Pennsylvania Platform Tennis Association, which became the first region of the APTA, and served as the regional vice president. He also served on the Board of the APTA from 1973-1975. (Edgeworth Club, Sewickley, PA). Margaret G. (Peggy) Stanton won four straight National Women’s with Charlotte Lee from 1967-1970, and the Women’s 50+ in 1974 and 1977. She was active i[...]

The “Carry” still illegal

Among its bizarre ways, Team Tennis allowed the carry, or the catching or letting the ball come to rest on the racquet. This led to confusion on this point. But Team Tennis died, while the more enduring racquet sports continued and still disallowed this bobble-hit. Source: Platform Tennis News (October & December)

Proposed new FTC regulations pose threat to sports associations

The APTA's freedom to set standards for platform tennis equipment could have been in trouble as a result of a regulation, proposed by the Federal Trade Commission, that would have affected all sports associations in the country. The FTC argued that having sports associations set standards was a violation of the anti-trust laws. The Chamber of Commerce discussed the issue in their Washington Report ("Does Arnold Palmer Need Golf Lessons from the FTC") The U.S. Golf Association objected strenuously, even on national TV, with Arnold Palmer as their spokesman and the APTA Board planned to join the protest. The proposal generated so much opposition that it was dropped. Source: Platform Tennis News (October), APTA Executive Committee Minutes August 22 and 23, 1979

Men’s Nationals qualifications

For the last several years, the draw for this event has been below 64 teams and, to break even financially, this tournament had to have at least 90 teams participating. APTA Directors John Packard and Bradley Drowne volunteered to study the issue and recommended a change that they felt would get at least 96 teams participating. Their suggestion was to allow those who had reached the third round of an APTA-sanctioned tournament to be eligible to play. Mr. Drowne, a five-year veteran of the men's tournament committee, wrote a carefully considered explanation of the circumstances involved in this issue. “The APTA introduced qualifying criteria for entering the Men's Nationals in 1976 and prior to that the Men’s Nationals had always drawn 128 teams. There were three reasons why this was so: • In the 1950's and 1960's, the Men’s Nationals were "virtually the only tournament ope[...]

Junior program

Hank Irvine and three associates responded actively to the needs of the Junior Development program. Irvine, the pro at the Short Hills Club, Short Hills, NJ, went on the road with Steve Nycum, Mark Allen, and Tom Smith, and put on exhibitions and clinics at the municipal center in Princeton; the Pleasant Valley Paddle Club, West Orange, NJ; Wilson Park, Summit, NJ; and the Brookside Racquet Club in Allendale, NJ. The chairman of the APTA's junior program, William Dodd commented: "Hank deserves an awful lot of credit. He took the ball and organized the whole thing. He really wants to give something back to the game, and he knows that the juniors are its future. This way, they're going to be getting ready for intercollegiate play later on."

Fifty years of platform tennis celebrated in narrated slide show

Produced as an aid to promoting the game, the slide show “Platform Tennis 50 Years and On” was produced by Rich Lombard’s company, Cal Industries, with financial support from the Fessenden S. Blanchard Memorial Fund, the APTA, and John and Molly Ware (Blanchard’s daughter and son-in-law). The March 27, 1979 Minutes of the APTA BOD Meeting covered the background: "Mr. Brown reported on a meeting held in New York City with John Ware, Mr. Kingsbury, Mrs. Dillenbeck and himself at which the suggestion was made to produce a slide show depicting the fifty years of platform tennis. Mr. Ware was asked to oversee the production, Vicky Cosstick would script it, and Thornton Gerrish would film. The total cost of production is estimated at $2,500. and Mr. Brown announced that the Blanchard Memorial Fund would contribute $1,000 of this total. The APTA would have to make up the differe[...]

The spirit of Fox Meadow

"Warmth, fun, tradition, standards, camaraderie, friendship, an oasis in the middle of Scarsdale."—Bob Lee, president, 1979-80.

Robert E. Lee elected FMTC President (1979-1981)

Wiped out in Warsaw – The paddle tennis summit

The Christian Science Monitor covered the annual platform tennis battle between Moscow and Warsaw Embassies first started by Ambassador Walter J. Stoessel, Jr. The US Ambassador to Moscow, Malcolm Toon, was looking to sweep the Warsaw contingent but had to settle for a 13-2 win, much to his disgust. To read the complete article Click Here Source: Christian Science Monitor, July 3, 1979