Viking Junior Tour results

Doten and Keane, DeRose-Lubow Offer No Charity in Chicago

Every year, nearly all of the nation's top players converge in Chicago for this early-season tournament. As the second highest-ranked tournament of the year (next to the APTA National Championships), players wishing to attain a high rank see the Charities as a must fight for. The 36-year history of the Charities is one of great generosity. This year's charitable recipient is JDRF - an organization committed to Type 1 Diabetes research. The Charities is the first major tournament of the season and that means that seedings are based on ranking points earned the previous year. In the summer off-season, teams switch around and new ones form. What does this mean? It means that the Charities is the new status quo for how the new teams will be judged for the rest of the season. If you want to prove yourself, perform well in Chicago. With below-seasonal average temperatures, mixed with [...]

What happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas

"We had a great time and would love to do it again" - Mike and Bob Bryan, 5-time Grand Slam doubles champions commented after playing platform tennis for the first time A public relations concept turns out to be arguably the most memorable event in platform tennis history. Just one week before the National Championships, from March 5th through 9th, platform tennis put on a show at the Tennis Channel Open for the entire nation to watch via live television. The Tennis Channel Open is an annual ATP Tennis Tournament held in Las Vegas and features many of the best players in the world. Lleyton Hewitt, Marat Safin, Marcos Baghdatis, Robby Ginepri, and 5-time grand-slam winning doubles team - the Bryan Brothers are a few of the top-billed participants. The Open is televised live for the week and also features coverage from the world "paddle" (not platform) tennis championships, and[...]

An interview with the game’s Norseman, David Kjeldsen

APTA President Mark Fischl met with 2008 Hall of Fame inductee, David Kjeldsen, and discussed the recent sale of Viking Athletics to Prince. MF: David, there has obviously been a lot happening in your life of late. Is it true that you are selling Viking Athletics to Prince? DCK: Yes. MF: Are you excited by it? Are you working less now? DCK: Excited yes. Very excited. I have been working harder in the last few months than I have in the last couple of years. There is so much information to share with and transfer to the great staff at Prince. MF: Is it true you talked with other companies before selling to Prince? DCK: Mark, I am not comfortable talking about that. It's not proper to talk about those that you dated in the past on your wedding day. MF: What will this sale mean to the platform tennis community? DCK: The platform tennis community will benefit in a number of wa[...]

“I’ve traveled all the way across the country for you to show me how to hit more winners.” Hank Irvine had a suggestion!

Rod Workman, PPTA Professional Director of Racquets at the Onwentsia Club in Lake Forest, IL, recounted the experience in a column on intermediate and advanced instruction in PTM: Sixteen years ago, I was teaching a paddle camp in Eureka, Montana with the "Godfather of Paddle," Hank Irvine, when my ideas on the winning shot began to take shape. A gentleman from Long Island arrived at the camp and said to Hank, "I've traveled all the way across the country for you to show me how to hit more winners when I play." Hank's blood pressure spiked and he swiftly responded, "Sir, my suggestion is that you get on the next available plane back to New York because we won't be teaching winners at this camp. The game is not about hitting winners but never making errors!" With that, I adopted Hank's style of teaching and playing, which I still use today. Source: Platform Tennis Magazine,[...]

Results of National Championships and coverage of Men’s and Women’s Nationals. Rochester rocks under Fritx Odenbach

Made for Living. That's the hometown slogan of Rochester, New York. The slogan just as well could be Made for Paddle. The Rochester area has had a proud platform tennis tradition for decades. In 1988, the city was handed their first opportunity by the APTA to show what they could do. Local paddle guru and owner of the Shadow Lake Country Club, Fritz Odenbach agreed to chair the Nationals. What the city lacked at the time in number of players and courts, they made up for with hospitality and enthusiasm. The Nationals brought together entertaining parties and a social aspect that had never been prevalent at a prior Nationals. The standards set in Rochester were the benchmark for all future Nationals. Odenbach was asked to host the Nationals again in 1996, 2000 and then again in 2008. Today, Rochester platform tennis has grown by several fold. Fritz Odenbach has been [...]

President’s Cup: Region IV women and Region II men capture the Cups

Women's President's Cup: The Women's President's Cup took place on Thursday, March 13. Top women from six of the seven APTA regions competed for the prestigious cup. For the third time in four years, the Region IV women (Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toronto) won the title. The team players included: Nancy Budde - Nathalie Lemieux, Holly Peck - Karen Henke, Lynn Thompson - Chrissy Johnson, Kathy Allen - Ann Turner, and Sandra Odenbach - Vicki Nagy. Men's President's Cup: On Friday morning, while the women were taking to the courts for their main draw first round matches, the men were playing their President's Cup matches. For the second time in the Cup's 32-year history the Region II men won the event. The last time they did it was... in 2007! The team players included: Bill and Leo Power, Jerry Albrikes, Greg Bennett, Rob Pierce, Johan du Randt, Matt Dana, Jeff Mitchell[...]

Hall of Fame Inductees: David Kjeldsen and Ftitz Odenbach. MIA were Flip Goodspeed and Scott Mansager

At the Saturday evening banquet during the Rochester Nationals, the 2008 Hall of Fame inductions took place. Patty Hogan read the introduction for inductee David Kjeldsen and Walt Peckinpaugh did the honors for inductee Fritz Odenbach. The remaining two inductees, Scott Mansager and Flip Goodspeed were still on the court at 8 p.m. and were unable to attend their own induction, due to their opponents 3 1/2 hour previous round of 16 match. They eventually finished their match by 10:30 and their induction was postponed until January 2009 at the Cincinnati Midwestern tournament. Source: Platform Tennis Magazine, Vol. 9, Issue 5, May, 2008

APTA Board Meeting

The new APTA website - overview and ideas to consider: Paul Wiggin gave a detailed report on the new website and led a general discussion. The site has gotten off to a great start and will continue to grow in size, quality and contribution. He suggested that the general mission of the website is to support the APTA Mission. 1) The APTA wants the site to be the repository for things such as the rules of the game and the history of the game. 2) The APTA wants the site to support the "grow the sport" and "increase player enthusiasm" parts of the APTA Mission. News items and instructional videos will help support this aim. 3) The site's cost is approximately $7,000 to create and about $1,500 per year in ongoing costs. This provider does not give the APTA a perfect platform, but for the price is reasonable. 4) The APTA now has the ability to process credit card transactions for a "$3.0[...]

Junior’s rule!

The 2008-09 paddle season is here and the future of our sport is very promising. Junior paddle is on the rise with a record number of sanctioned tournaments (16) scheduled for this season. The season kick off tourney is on October 25 in Cleveland and the 2009 Nationals in Long Island on January 31st. Players of all levels are encouraged to sign up and will receive a tournament favor. Consider getting your child involved in tournaments. If they do not have a partner, contact the tournament director. They often get similar requests. It will be a positive learning experience. [enlarge image to read more]