Jim McCready steps down as Executive Director

In 1988, Jim McCready stepped down as Executive Director to return to the teaching court. He had been instrumental in changing over the APTA office environment to the computer age. Jim took the office on the road frequently, as a player visiting emerging paddle hubs, and championed the return of the nationals to FMTC in 1985. He also edited, photographed, and wrote for the APTA newsletter, Platform Tennis News.

APTA Annual Meeting – Financials show significant loss

Ginna Ohlmuller becomes new Executive Director

The APTA named Ginna Ohlmuller as the new executive director. Ginna had a long history of platform tennis involvement that included several years as a nationally- ranked player on the women's circuit, with partner Rita Goldberg; paddle chairmanship at the Montclair Golf Club for the previous three years, and a feared partnership with her son, David, in mixed doubles.

Dick Reilly reflects on 29 years of court building

In the Summer 1988 issue of Platform Tennis News, the veteran court builder shared the following observations: Head Hunters and Architects In 29 years of building platform tennis courts, you could say we've seen it all—or at least most of it—from: • Lifting a court to the top of a city building by helicopter, to • Having a building crew told not to stray far from the building site in Indonesia, lest they loose their heads, literally, to • Building a six-court complex at the top of NYU's library only to move it several years later because the building's world-renowned architect was insulted that he was not consulted before the courts were put on "his" building. When I first played paddle 30 years ago, I was immediately enamored of the game, but horrified at the poor quality of the courts we all played on. Being familiar with construction, and believing the game[...]

APTA continues search for improvements to the ball

Walt Peckinpaugh, Region IV President and Board Member led an effort to address issues with the ball – how true it bounces, how long it lasts and how much it cost. The following report was contained in the Fall edition of Platform Tennis News: Late in May, Walt brought our concerns about the ball to our primary supplier, the Hedstrom Corporation, maker of Vittert platform tennis balls. In their conversation, several matters were discussed and plans to implement improvements were on the agenda of the June meeting of the APTA Board. First and foremost, Hedstrom will continue to supply Vittert balls to the market at a competitive price. This is vital because we have no game without a proper ball. We are told, however, that there may be a substantial price increase because the costs of raw material used in the ball have more than doubled since last year. This is due to the demand[...]

APTA refocuses on Juniors

The APTA recognized that the development of the next generation of players had been overlooked in recent years and looked to rebuild interest with a National Clinic Days. The clinics would feature area pros and top players contributing time and expertise in conducting free clinics throughout the US and Canada.

More on the ball

APTA President Chuck Vasoll reported on progress in the Mid-Winter edition of PTN. We received several responses to our ad for a “Rubber Chemist” to aid us in our search for improvements to “The Ball." We will be following up on them with the hope that it will be fruitful in bringing us an improved product for our game. Speaking of the "ball," I recently delivered a supply to the captain of one our women's teams. As I was descending the steps at the rear of her house, I could not believe my eyes. There growing in the garden were "Platform Tennis Balls." Closer inspection, however, showed them to be yellow gourds. Unfortunately, this picture in black and white is not as striking as the color original, but you can visualize it. When I mentioned this finding and put up the picture on our warm-up hut bulletin board, I was told that it was a great idea to grow the balls, except t[...]

APTA develops a database of places where the game is played

In the Mid-Winter edition of Platform Tennis News, the APTA published a long list of the clubs, schools and municipal facilities that made up its membership. They believed the list contained only half the facilities in U.S. and Canada, and so they encouraged readers to see if their facility was listed and, if not, suggest that it join the APTA.

APTA Board seeks more “gray hairs”

The APTA Board, sensing that its composition was perhaps a little heavy on youth and losing institutional memory, re-elected Bob Brown, who had served as APTA President from 1973–1975, for a second term. Bob continued this new assignment until 1998, resulting in a total of 22 years of service on the APTA Board.

APTA Board approves new regional alignment

After a year’s study and the presentation of several different options, the APTA Board of Directors, at its October 7th meeting, agreed upon a plan presented by Walt Peckinpaugh and Rick Williams, presidents of Regions IV and VI, respectively, to realign the group’s geographic regions. The plan combined their two jurisdictions and created two revamped regions. The change became effective at the start of the APTA fiscal year, May 1, 1990. The new Region IV extended from Syracuse, New York, on the East, into telephone area codes 814 and 412 in western Pennsylvania. It included the states of Ohio, Indiana, and West Virginia, the eastern half of Michigan with telephone area codes 517 and 313, and the Province of Ontario, Canada. The Midwest Region, which was given the new designation number V, was anchored by Chicago and the state of Illinois, and the western half of Michigan, with[...]