2012 Year-End Junior Rankings

2012 Year-End Men’s and Women’s Rankings

Dardis and Shay edged Liz Jaffe and Lisa Rudloff for the #1 Women's slot and Broderick and Gambino claimed the #1 Men's position.

Mixed and Senior National Rankings

Mixed and Senior Nationals round-up

Steaming video captures Nationals action

Live Streaming Video Captivates Audience There is the Tennis Channel. And then there is the Platform Tennis Channel. For anyone that didn't have the pleasure of playing or watching the Nationals from Long Island this year, the next best thing was watching it on the home computer. Ken Packert, a physics teacher and a member of Huntington Country Club, joined the 2012 APTA Nationals Committee to handle all video projects. Fortunately for the Committee and the paddle community at large, he was uniquely qualified to handle the first live streaming ever shown on the APTA website. To make sure Nationals would run smoothly, the group planned a test run at the Long Island Invitational in December of 2011. By Nationals, he knew what equipment he needed (simple webcams) and which wires to string up. He also got the best seat in the house. A tiny balcony above the deck at the paddle hut[...]

APTA Annual Meeting highlights

Weston Golf Club, in Weston, Massachusetts, was the host of the 2012 APTA Board Meeting and Annual Meeting. Despite two warm spring days beckoning, the board was able to tackle its full agenda. As the governing body of platform tennis, the APTA continues to look for ways to improve communication within the sport throughout the country, build the game by making it accessible to all corners, and streamline rules and tournament and Nationals coordination. Hellos and Goodbyes: One important order of business was voting in new board members and saying farewell to those who have served their three-year terms. The APTA Board approved three new members—President of the APTA, Rob Coster, of Region II, Steve Caccam, also from Region II, and Sara Lanthier, of Region IV (the Canadian connection). Tim McAvoy chaired the Friday meeting as outgoing President of the APTA. He will be missed. The Bo[...]

Rob Coster elected APTA President

Ready or not, here comes the 2012/2013 platform tennis season! I'm very pleased to share with you that, due to the tireless efforts of passionate volunteers around North America, the game we love is thriving more than ever. Platform tennis might be relatively small when compared to the more mainstream games we play, but recent revelations portray our game in a different light. While working through bankruptcy reorganization this summer, court documents listed the Viking Platform Tennis division of Prince Sports as the crown jewel, representing close to 20% of Prince's business. At the APTA annual meeting in Boston this past spring, a representative of Wilson Sports stated that platform tennis represented "the single fastest growing segment of their entire company" Many of the platform tennis court manufacturers are using one word to describe their business recently: "crazy!" Maybe our[...]

PTMHOFF makes progress towards “virtual museum”

The PTMHOFF established revised goals in 2011 after an arrangement for housing a physical museum fell through. A significant part of 2012 was spent in pursuing Phase 1 of the new plan: Phase I: Create a “virtual” museum and Hall of Fame with the first step being a dramatic upgrade to original web site. The revised site would have three features – an illustrated history of the game, a completely new look and feel for the Hall of Fame with extensive biographies, and a “Search and Explore” section which would house all of the memorabilia collected in digital formats and allow visitors to browse the artifacts by various search keys (by name, for instance). This phase which is the foundation and heart of the revised mission, was now about 75% complete with the collection and digitization of artifacts, the development of the illustrated time-line history and the revised and e[...]

APTA 2012 Service Award goes to Anne Fleming

Serves Her Right! Anne Flemming Wins the 2012 APTA Service Award The APTA created the APTA Service Award in 2009 to recognize people who have made invaluable contributions to platform tennis. This year, out of ten deserving nominees, Anne Flemming from California was chosen by the board for her truly remarkable service. Tim McAvoy says, "For 33 years, our Service Award winner was the driving force, the official and unofficial ambassador and champion of platform tennis in California and Region VI." Tom Mayes says, "Her infectious and enthusiastic nature got me and many, many others involved in our fun sport. Without her, the face of platform tennis in our local community may not even exist." Christi Hayes says, "It takes a force of nature to promote paddle and grow it where the climate and attitude is so biased toward other sports. It takes unbridled enthusiasm and single mind[...]

Brad Easterbrook takes the reins at PPTA

Brad Easterbrook started his two-year reign as President of the PPTA (Professional Platform Tennis Association) this September. Easterbrook welcomes the challenge of his new position and the gratification of working with more than 300 top-notch professionals. A player and pro for over 25 years, Easterbrook currently is the Director of Platform Tennis at the New Canaan Field Club in Connecticut. He has worked as a director of racquets at various clubs in the tri-state area, many of which had platform tennis courts. In 1994, he started playing platform tennis. He credits Steve O'Connell with introducing him to the game and, as with most tennis pros, he picked it up quickly. By 1998, he was playing and teaching as much paddle as tennis. He was drawn to the camaraderie and atmosphere surrounding the game. "The game is tremendous fun. Win or lose, it's always a great time Easterbrook wa[...]