2013 APTA Annual Meeting & Election of Directors

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  Fax: 412-963-1545
  Address: APTA, 109 Wesport Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15238

Katie Bliss

 Katie grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she first picked up a paddle as a teenager at the Pittsburgh Golf Club, only to watch the courts, which were built onto a steep slope, fall off the side of the hill not long after.

 A self-professed “enthusiastic B player,” Katie’s true love for the game began at the now-defunct Apple Platform Tennis Club in New York City, where she met her husband, Mark, who happened to be the club manager. She is the past president of the New Jersey Women’s Platform Tennis League, whose membership includes over 800 women from throughout the state, who play weekly from October to February. During her ten years on the NJWPTL Board, Katie served in several capacities besides her presidency, including tournament director of the state tournament. She also has been involved in running the Short Hills Platform Tennis Invitational, the nation’s oldest national ranking and PCQ tournament, for over ten years; three as the tournament director. Last year, she ran the Women’s 40+ and 60+ Nationals, also out of the Short Hills Club.

 A past contributor to the Platform Tennis Magazine, Katie acknowledges that the smartest financial investment she ever made was her lifetime membership to the APTA in 1990. During the off season, she is the owner of Bliss-Full Gardening Services, a garden design and maintenance company that serves private residences and commercial businesses throughout New Jersey. She resides in Maplewood, NJ, with her husband Mark, also a long-time platform tennis player, and two children.

Mark Kebe

Mark grew up in Pittsburgh where he was introduced to the great sport of platform tennis by Jay Smith.  Jay is a commercial painter who created the Peter’s Creek Paddle Club—a club consisting of two courts and a warming hut—behind his paint shop.  He learned the game at Peter’s Creek by showing up every Sunday morning to get thumped by the Division 1 and 2 men’s league players.  He also was given the opportunity to learn how to scrape, paint and apply grit to the decks (wood planks at the time) and to tighten the screens.  That experience has helped him in his current endeavor.

Immediately after college, he played at a local racquet club where he began introducing friends (including his future wife) to the game as well as meeting a number of the local club players.  The game was just beginning to take off in Cincinnati.  Since then, he has played in the Cincinnati Men’s League, where the participation has grown from less than 100 players to the current number of over 600 players.  He has been involved with The Midwesterns, Region IV’s national ranking tournament, for 15 years, acting as tournament chairman for the last 10 years.  The Midwesterns attracts over 200 participants each year.  He also was part of the 2009 Nationals Committee and the 2013 Men’s 45+/55+/65+ Senior Nationals.

Mark is still enthusiastic about bringing new people into the sport and when he is not playing paddle or traveling to volleyball tournaments to watch his daughter play, he works as a member of Total Platform Tennis.  Mark lives in Cincinnati where he enjoys spending time with his wife, Sharon, and their daughter, Paige.

Fredericka Goldenberg

Freddy grew up in Lake Forest, IL where she learned paddle as a teenager from current 90+ Charities Champion, Rod Workman, at Onwentsia Country Club. Although tennis was her first love, paddle was a family affair. During her childhood, she recalls her mother climbing the ranks of the paddle circuit in suburban Chicago, while her father competed in regional tournaments.

After leaving the cold confines of the Windy City to attend college at the University of North Carolina and four years later moving to Atlanta, Freddy thought her paddle days were over. However, a chance meeting between her brother, Brian Uihlein, and current Atlanta-based APTA board member Peter
Lauer at the 2006 Nationals in Chicago reignited her passion for paddle. Discovering that paddle actually existed in Atlanta (albeit 2 single courts in the entire city), she jumped on board Peter Lauer's mission to make Atlanta a viable paddle city.

Over the next seven years, she has helped grow the sport of paddle in Atlanta, focusing her efforts on introducing the sport to women in the Atlanta area. In 2011, she captained the first-ever Region VII President's Cup team that took five points in their inaugural campaign. In 2012, she served as tournament director for the first-ever Women's Peachtree Invitational. This year's tournament was oversubscribed and featured teams from six different states. Although great strides have been made, she shares Peter Lauer's ultimate goal: to have Atlanta hosting a President's Cup and Nationals in the near future.

Freddy resides in Atlanta with her husband, Gregg, and their two elementary school-aged daughters. When not organizing paddle tournaments and President's Cup teams, she spends her spare time working part-time for the family business (Uline) and volunteering at her children's school.

David Lee

The first time David Lee played platform tennis, he hated it.  New to Fairfield County, Connecticut, after business school, David was invited by a friend to play. Having been a competitive junior tennis player, David figured it should be a breeze.  But after faulting endlessly, getting flummoxed by screen shots and hitting the back screens with his drives, David decided it wasn't a game for him.  It would be almost ten years before David would venture back onto the paddle courts.  In 2003, David and his family joined the Milbrook Club in Greenwich, and he was re-introduced to the game by his club's tennis compatriots.  This time, David was smart enough to sign up for some lessons, including the annual Viking clinic.  With a better understanding of the game and a newfound appreciation for the strategy, David quickly became addicted.  Shortly thereafter, David was recruited to captain Milbrook's fledgling entry in the Fairfield County Platform Tennis League.  Starting in Division 6, Milbrook was able to capture five consecutive division championships and successfully navigate its way up to Division 1, where David continues to captain the team.

Over the last ten years, David has become increasingly active in the platform tennis community.  He is an active tournament participant often playing the Patterson Open, Sound Shore Invitational and Connecticut State Mixed.  He played in the 2010 and 2012 National Championships and the 2011 Men’s 45+ National Championship.  One of his daughters, Isabel, was a former player on the Viking Junior Tour and made the finals of the 14 & Under Championship a few years ago.  David believes strongly in the growth of the game and wants to help drive the growth of the game throughout the United States.  He has made many wonderful friends through platform tennis and hopes that he will continue to make many more through the game.  David was previously treasurer for Darien Youth Lacrosse, where he organized house and travel lacrosse teams for over 1,200 boys and girls from ages 6-14.  He is also an alumni interviewer and fundraiser for Harvard, his alma mater.  David hopes that these experiences can be of help to the APTA board.

In the off season, David is an avid tennis player and golfer.  He is also known to enjoy a nice bottle of wine and play a little poker as well.  He currently resides in Darien, CT, with his wife, Jenny, and their two teenage daughters.

Nathan LeFevre

Nathan was born in Tasmania, Australia, and started playing tennis at 10 years of age. He played throughout juniors in Australia, culminating in a top ten junior ranking in Australia’s 18 and under division. After juniors, Nathan started coaching tennis while at the University of Tasmania where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce. In 2002, he moved to the United States to play college tennis at Elon University in North Carolina for two years, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After Elon, Nathan played on the ITF satellite tour before working as the Head Tennis and Platform Tennis Professional at the Field Club of Greenwich in Connecticut. In November of 2008, Nathan became the Director of Racquets at Navesink Country Club in New Jersey.

He is certified with Tennis Coaches Australia, USPTA, and the PPTA. He served on the Board of the PPTA from 2010-2012. Nathan has competed in several USPTA Men’s Open Singles tournaments for tennis and was ranked #5 in 2012, and received a bronze ball in the 2012 Men’s 30s Grass Court singles. In the last year, Nathan won several platform tennis tournaments, including the NJ Men’s States, the Rochester Invitational, the Husband-Wife Nationals, the War at the Shore Mixed and the NJ Mixed States. He loves teaching both tennis and platform tennis and looks forward to working with the APTA to help grow the sport of platform tennis.

Shannon Vinson

Shannon’s love for the game began on a cold Friday night when she and her husband attended their first paddle party.  This strange-looking tennis game “looked fun” and she was hooked.  Shannon is a past captain, coordinator, facilitator, committee member and president of the Chicago Women’s Platform Tennis League.  She was the co-chair of the 2011 National Championships and the 2012 Mixed National Championships and has worked closely with John Noble and Alan Graham for the last few years executing tournaments held in the Chicago area.  Shannon has also worked on the APTA’s Platform Tennis Magazine Committee.  She is an avid local league player and plays in as many APTA tournaments as time away from family permits.  Since 2008, she has been a member of the Region V President’s Cup Team.  Shannon lives in Winnetka, Illinois, with her husband, Scott, and their two children.