American Platform Tennis Association National Championships 2020

As many as 500 platform tennis competitors from across the country are expected at the American Platform Tennis Association (APTA) Men’s and Women’s National Championships, now in its 85th year, showcasing the sport’s best talent. Top doubles teams, including many from the local region, will exhibit exceptional athleticism, racquet skills and teamwork. Action will take place at host club, the Country Club of Darien, and at 34 additional clubs and facilities in Fairfield and Westchester counties. Spectators are welcome at no charge. The APTA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that governs the sport for its 18,000 members.

‘It’s a Great Town We Live In’: Councilmen Praise Public-Private Partnerships in Funding Waveny Trails, Platform Tennis Court [UPDATED]

Citizens’ generosity helped push New Canaan’s legislative body last week to approve taxpayer funding of projects that will enhance Waveny for two sets of park users. Members of the Town Council in approving bond issuances of $50,000 and $70,000, respectively, to improve trails at the popular park and to create a fifth platform tennis court—an additional requested for several years—cited donations from two private groups as reasons to move forward. Specifically, the Waveny Park Conservancy is matching dollar-for-dollar the town’s $50,000 investment in improving trails starting with those that run behind “the cornfields” (soon to become ‘Waveny Meadows’), and platform tennis users are contributing $35,000 upfront toward a fifth court. “Those two projects are just a great example of how lucky we are to have the public and private combination of funds because without the private part of this, we would not be able to get this done,” Town Councilman Steve Karl said at the group’s regular meeting, held May 16 at Town Hall. “With the trails, we are basically doubling the amount of money we are spending there, and in the case of the platform tennis court, it’s another $35,000 in.

‘I Am Very Frustrated’: Parks Officials Address Court-Booking Problem Caused by Discourteous Platform Tennis Players

Parks officials say they’re addressing a problem where permit-holders for New Canaan’s platform tennis courts at Waveny are placing reservations online and then fail to show up or else cancel at the last minute, leaving them vacant and preventing others from playing. A municipal recreation program manager has contacted all permit-holders about the problem and some are responding that they didn’t understand the consequences of their actions, members of the Parks & Recreation Commission said at their most recent meeting. “I am very frustrated by it because it’s hard to get matches,” commissioner Jason Milligan said at the Feb. 14 meeting, held at Lapham Community Center. “You have basically a two-week period to schedule each one and it gets busy and you have to basically wake up early as the thing opens and book it for the busy slots and if you do not do that, you can’t get a slot.

Rising Demand Among Platform Tennis Players Prompts New Push for Fifth Court at Waveny

Saying demand for reservations is rising, platform tennis organizers are asking town officials for guidance on how to see through the creation of a fifth court at Waveny—an estimated $100,000 project that’s lost out in recent years to competing capital needs. Platform or “paddle” tennis players often want use the courts at the same time during peak hours of 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 7 to 10 p.m., according to Tonya Russo, a representative from a women’s league in town. “So you have individuals who are looking for court space but then you also have teams and leagues and groups that are also have reserve time in addition to clinics that are there during those peak hours as well,” Russo told members of the Parks & Recreation Commission at their regular meeting, held Sept. 13 at Lapham Community Center. “All of those things are good things.