Greater Cincinnati Platform Tennis Association

Aila Main, APTA Women’s Player’s Committee Chair, introduced the award at the 2013 APTA Nationals Tournament

"The award will be given yearly to the woman who displays the most sportsmanlike conduct on and off the court during the season"

Under perfect paddle conditions of cloudy skies, temperatures in the 30s and a little bit of snow, the draw played out as expected as the top 4 seeds faced off in the semis. In the first semi, Top seed, Scott Bonduarant and Mark Johnson of Chicago defeated David Lowe and Eric Miller of Cleveland. In the seconds semi, Mike Atkinson and John Milbank of New Jersey defeated local favorites Joe Leytze and Dan Mott. The finals features some spetacular athleticism and great shot making as Bondurant and Johnson prevailed to capture the championship.

The Men's 55+ tournament featured some of the most exciting matches of the weekend. An unpredictable draw played out as two local Cincinnati teams taking very different paths, ended up facing off in the finals. In the top half of the draw, Vince Prop and Brian Mitchell advanced to the finals without losing a set. In the bottom half of the draw, Tony Hobson and John White saved three straight match points in their quarterfinal match against John McMillin (Garden City, NY) and Will Higgins (Indianapolis) ultimately prevailing 2-6, 6-2, 7-6. They then had to turn around and defeat 2nd seeded Scott Pecor (Milwaukee) and Mike (Sullivan) in another 3-set match, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. In the fianls, playing at his home club, Prop and his partner Mitchell were able ride the adrenaline and defeat Hobson and White for a hard fought 7-5, 6-2 victory.

The Men’s 65+ tournament featured a number of perennial tour players matched up in the finals. J. Stanley and Alan Graham from Chicago upset #2 seed Jim Bishop (Geneva, IL) and Mike Hanna (Fairport, NY) to reach the finals against #1 seed Scott Estes, Sr. (Chatham, NJ) and Doug Barrow (Roslyn Heights, NY). In a hard fought match, Estes and Barrow prevailed 6-2, 6-2.

Last year was our first addition of our Open City Championships, renamed as the Hertzel Cup to honor our late friend Robby Hertzel. Please help us make the 2013 addition as successful as the 2012 one. You can visit the tournament’s website to read about this great event at www.hertzelcup.com You will also find a link to the Robby Hertzel Charities. For $200 you will be listed on the website as one of the tournament’s sponsors. The money will go directly to the Hertzel Charities.

All levels are encouraged to sign up, this is our true, open city championships, everybody is guaranteed 3 matches!

Cost is $45 per paddle. As with any event that Rob was involved with, this tournament will include competition, drinks and an enormous amount of fun!

Annual Adult-Child Tournament Draws Teams from Across Cincinnati

Twenty-three teams enjoyed a morning of camaraderie and great play when the Greater Cincinnati Platform Tennis Association (GCPTA) hosted its 10th Annual Adult-Child Tournament on Sunday, November 11, 2012.

Teams competed in three age divisions: The 10 & Under and 11-13 divisions played at Cincinnati Country Club; while 14-18 year-old players took the courts at Kenwood Country Club.

The morning featured fantastic matches, great points, enthusiastic play and lots of laughs.

In the 10 & Under division, Andrew & Tracy Glassmeyer of Mariemont claimed the top spot.

Twelve-year-old Harry Kennedy and his mother Mandy won a hard-fought match against Trevor Benning of West Chester and partner Scott Cilurzo to seal the 11-13 division win.

The 14 -18 division saw a final match up between the teams of Andrew & Brian Brockhoff and Alex & Eric Saba. Team Brockhoff won the match and the division title. The Brockhoffs are past winners, having claimed the championship in a younger division in 2009.

What is Platform Tennis?
Click on the links below to see some outstanding videos.
Video 1 Video 2 Video 3

The annual meeting of the APTA Board of Directors was held in Boston on May 11-12. Here are some of the highlights:

The board enthusiastically approved holding the Men’s 45+, 55+ and 65+ Nationals for the 2012-13 season in Cincinnati! This is the first time that the event will be held outside of the East Coast and the expectation is that we will see record participation!

Anyone interested in participating on the committee to plan and run this event should contact Mark Kebe at mkebe@fuse.net. We will be having a planning meeting on Wednesday July 25 at the Kenwood Paddle Building at 6:30 pm.

A record number of grant requests from public and semi-public venues across the country was received this year. As a result, a record number of grants and loans were made by the APTA to assist in the growth of the game. Over $90,000 was approved to be spread over 7 projects. This is one of the most successful projects the APTA has implemented. The plan is to continue to increase the dollar amount and number of grants and loans each year.

The ATPA will be expanding the content on its website. Projects in the works include:

A league “Dashboard” that will show standings, schedules and video clips for each league. It will also allow the captains to easily enter the results of the weekly matches

“Video of the Week” that will feature matches from selected leagues and tournaments around the country.

Two companies, Viking and PT Pro, have developed balls designed for Summer play that have a slightly lower “bounce” than the current ball. This ball has been well received by players that have had an opportunity to play with this ball in warm conditions. The APTA performed testing on the ball and has approved the ball for play in leagues and all tournaments with the exception of National Championships and National Ranking Tournaments. The standard ball is still the only approved ball for National Championships and NRTs. Use of the “Summer” ball for other tournaments and leagues will be at the discretion of the league officials and tournament directors.

Currently the Cincinnati Men’s League is the 3rd largest member league in the country behind only Chicago and Pittsburgh.

A system similar to the one used by the USTA to rate the skill levels of individual players is in the development phase. Local pros would evaluate each player based on a variety of criteria to determine the overall skill level of each player (3.5, 4.0, 4.5, etc.). This will allow for better matching of players in tournaments that are based on skill levels since a Division 2 player in Chicago is not the same as a Division 2 player in Cincinnati. It will also help players find other players of similar skill level when traveling to other cities.

In keeping with the social aspect of the sport, Region IV has joined Facebook as a group. If you are a Facebook member, click on the following link to view the Region IV page.

Seen any good platform tennis videos?
Send them to mkebe@fuse.net and I will get them up on the website!

Contributors Needed!
If you have any news, pictures, editorials, articles or videos that you would like published on this site, please send them to Mark Kebe at mkebe@fuse.net

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Heather Prop Earns the Charlotte Lee Sportsmanship Award

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