2019 Notice of Annual Meeting

Posted February 25, 2019

Notice of Annual Meeting May 2, 2019

The Annual Meeting of the American Platform Tennis Association will be held on Thursday, May 2, 2019, at the L’Hirondelle Club, Ruxton, Maryland, in order to (1) Elect Directors to serve for the term of three years (in accordance with the APTA By-Laws), and until their successors are elected and qualified, and (2) To act upon such matters as may properly come before the Board.

Vote

Your APTA Board of Directors reorganizes each year following the Annual Meeting. Board Members are elected or re-elected by the members at this meeting. For those of you who cannot attend the meeting, we offer the opportunity to vote by proxy, either by clipping and mailing the form below or by casting your vote after receiving an emailed proxy.

At the May 2019 meeting we will see the retirement of Ron Erskine and Shannon Vinson. Proposed for re-election are Dan Englander, Cam Lanphier, Anton Mavrin, Peter Rose, and Gerri Viant. Proposed for election are Chris Hayes, Mark Holtschneider, Amin Khadduri, and Peter Lauer.

This group is charged with making decisions about the rules, regulations and finances of the APTA. 

Please take time to vote.

2019 APTA Proxy

Mailed, emailed or faxed proxies must be received by Wednesday, May 1, 2019.

2019 APTA Board Candidate Profiles

Dan Englander

Dan returns to the APTA Board for a second term. He is co-chair of the Governance Committee and is one of the creators of the initiative of auctioning rounds at top golf courses around the country to raise money for the APTA.

Dan began playing paddle in 2010 and currently plays in the LIPTA (Long Island) league for Cherry Valley Club in Garden City, New York. Dan loves the sport and has been playing tournaments with Rob Janecek. Like most (former) tennis players, Dan enjoys the social aspects of the game, and the fact that you can improve at paddle even as your physical skills decline.

Dan lives in Upper Brookville, New York, on the northern shore of Long Island. He has been married to his wife, Julia, for 21 years. They have five children: Jules (18), Harry (17), Charles (14), Hannah (13) and Edward (11). When not playing paddle or golf, or running around after his five children, Dan works in the investment business.

Chris Hayes

Chris Hayes has over two decades of expertise developing digital and integrated marketing solutions for some of the world’s largest brands. His strengths are bringing in large clients, such as Google, and enticing brands of new categories to join the team. He was the global CMO at Young & Rubicam, HUGE, and Critical Mass. One of his favorite deals was spearheading a partnership between Samsung and recording artist Usher.

Chris is a perennial entrepreneur. He is the founder and Director of the Integrated Marketing Institute and co-founder of the Digital Marketing Institute at New York University. He is a graduate of Fairfield University, where he played on the tennis team.

Chris serves on the board of Pound Ridge Tennis Club, Pound Ridge, NY, where he is the Chair of Platform Tennis and has been instrumental in revitalizing the facilities and growing the program. He has been playing paddle since 2015. Chris is looking forward to working on the APTA’s initiatives in sponsorship, marketing, and branding.

Mark Holtschneider

Mark Holtschneider was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. His family converted their horse farm into a swim and tennis club when he was a teenager. A few years later, they built their own ground-level, blacktop paddle court. Two standard courts followed.

Mark has been very involved in the Baltimore platform tennis scene since the 1980s, captaining many club teams, helping to start interclub leagues, and recruiting new players to the game. Mark has traveled the Region III tournament circuit, primarily playing with his brothers, Wayne and Frank, and more recently with Teddy Easter. Mark has played President’s Cup various times over the years. Tim McAvoy and Mark created the Mason-Dixon Cup as an annual season-opening competition between the North and South of Region III.

Mark previously served as Vice-President of the APTA Board during President John Horine’s tenure. He also completed the term vacated last year by Reb Speare.

Mark is a CPA and attorney, currently serving as the General Counsel of Lexington National Insurance Corporation. He is married to Debbie (a President’s Cup player, too) and has three sons.

Amin Khadduri

Amin Khadduri started playing paddle 10 years ago in the Boston Men’s League. He has been an avid league and B tournament player ever since. His passion for the game led him to help form the governing body for the Greater Boston Men’s League, which he has run since its formation seven years ago. Amin was instrumental in forming the Greater Boston Paddle Tennis Association, combining the men’s and women’s leagues into one organization as the area grows.

Amin has been a champion of instituting a Player Rating System for the Boston league, which has enabled the league to create and host tournaments geared toward players of all different skill levels. He was recently chosen as the APTA’s Volunteer of the Month for all of his contributions to the game in Region II and nationally.

Amin grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Bowdoin College in Maine, where he met his wife, Robin. They live in Needham, Massachusetts, and have three children, two in college and one a year away from leaving them emptynesters.

Cam Lanphier

Cam Lanphier lives in Ross, California, where the West Coast paddle community gathers. Two years ago, she retired from teaching calculus and geometry at the Branson School in Ross. Since then she has traveled and taken on various volunteer roles, including joining the APTA Board. Cam has been Board Secretary for the past two years, has co-chaired the Governance Committee as it has undertaken a comprehensive review of Board procedures, has served on the Nominating Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee and is the Board Liaison for Platform Tennis Magazine.

She is also President of Region VI and has captained the President’s Cup team for the last five years. Outside of the APTA, she serves on the Williams College Vice Chairs Board for the Alumni Fund, the Deans Advisory Board for the University of Michigan School of Education, and the STEM Advisory Board for Miss Porter’s School in Connecticut. Cam and her husband, Edward, spend their summers in Northern Michigan (where they have a paddle court) and enjoy visits from their children and grandchildren. When she isn’t playing paddle, she can be found hiking the trails of Marin and Leelanau counties.

Peter Lauer

Peter Lauer, a Pittsburgh native and Atlanta resident, founded Peachtree Paddle, is a former twoterm APTA Board Member and Region VII President, and formed and led the Growth Committee from 2007-2012. His committee, the brain-child of then-president Mark Fischl, worked on 30 court building projects around the country during his tenure.

Peter grew up playing platform tennis from a very early age at the Fox Chapel Racquet Club in Pittsburgh. He competed actively in the Junior National circuit, achieving a number two ranking in 1978 after he reached the finals of the 18 & Under Nationals in Rumson, NJ.

As an adult, Peter has lived in 10 different cities around the country and always sought out and played paddle. In 2002, he and his wife, Liz, moved from DC to Atlanta, her home town, with their children. In 2004, with Taylor Bowen, Peter organized a paddle exhibition at Ansley Golf Club (on a court that Scott Bondurant helped acquire 10 years before), to (re) introduce Atlanta to our great sport. In 2005, Peter formed the Peachtree Paddle League (www.peachtreepaddle.org) and held the first Annual Peachtree Invitational Tournament with 13 teams. This year, they will hold the 14th annual, with room for 66 teams.

Paddle in Atlanta has grown to 1,000 people playing at 14 courts, including the successful Bitsy Grant public venue with 3 courts, championed by Freddy Goldenberg and supported by the APTA.

Peter’s main claim to fame: He has played in the Men’s Open National Championships in five decades beginning in the 1970s. His best showing was the third round with partner and Tournament Chair Walt Peckinpaugh in 1993 in Cleveland. Peter’s stated goal is to someday host the tournament in Atlanta.

Anton Mavrin

Anton learned about the game of platform tennis in 2007 on Long Island. He was intrigued about playing a racquet sport outdoors in the winter. Anton enjoyed the game, being outdoors in the winter, and made the journey from playing social games to becoming a top competitor in the country.

Anton has been a part of the APTA Promotion program since 2009, becoming a committee member in 2010, and the Chair of Clinics and Exhibitions in 2016. The goal of the program is to organize promotional events in areas where platform tennis is underdeveloped as well as in areas that support the APTA. Anton is looking forward to further improving the process to benefit many parts of the country. He also sits on the B/C Tournament Committee.

Anton has a tennis background, having started playing at the age of 7. Upon completion of his junior tennis career, he accepted an athletic scholarship at University of Alabama at Birmingham. Anton graduated with the major in Organizational Communication and the minor in Psychology. He is a PPTA and USPTA certified Elite professional. He is the Director of Platform Tennis at Wee Burn Country Club in Darien, Connecticut. In platform tennis, Anton has been ranked as high as #9 in doubles and #1 in singles. Anton resides in Wilton, Connecticut, with his wife, Anastasia, and their son, Nicholas.

Peter Rose

Pete was introduced to platform tennis in 2006 by a savvy paddle veteran looking for a “ringer.” He became hooked on paddle, finding it was a lot more fun than tennis, and had a great social dynamic associated with it. His participation continued to grow as he played in the Chicago Platform Tennis Charities League and grew into a tournament player.

Pete has served in various paddle capacities as a member of Glen View Club, President of Region V, Chair of the APTA Player’s Committee, active Board Member, and coVice President. Pete is most proud of his work advancing a National Rating system for platform tennis and developing a Team Nationals format for all APTA members.

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Pete was a four-year tennis letter winner and captain at the University of Iowa. He currently lives in Winnetka and has four young children (William 8, Emma 7, Eleanor 5, Robert 2) and a remarkable and paddle-supportive wife, Emily. Pete is involved in a family business that produces a variety of value-added proteins for customers throughout the world.

Gerri Viant

Gerri is extremely honored to return to a second term on the APTA Board. Born and raised in Adelaide, Australia, Gerri’s introduction to paddle came as she was backpacking around the world. She ended up taking a teaching position in New York and platform tennis played a huge part in her decision to stay in the USA.

Gerri was one half of the winningest team ever in the history of women’s platform tennis with nine Women’s Nationals titles over a 13-year span. Gerri also won two Mixed Nationals and two Women’s 40+ National titles. In addition, Gerri is a member of The Platform Tennis Hall of Fame, a charter founding board member of the PPTA, a National Tester, and a former APTA Women’s Players Committee member. Gerri is a founder and co-owner of Performance Paddle Camps, which pioneered the idea of a traveling camp for platform tennis and helped to grow the game by offering high-level instruction, training for pros, and promoting the game in areas of the country where there was little paddle teaching. She is also Chair of the Live Streaming/ Broadcasting Committee, a live-stream commentator, Chair of the APTA Nominating Committee for the Board of Directors, a member of the Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, and a frequent contributor to Platform Tennis Magazine.

Recently retired after 32 years as the Director of Racquet Sports and Manager of the Nyack Field Club, Gerri resides in Upper Nyack, NY, with her strongest supporter, wife Michele. Gerri is looking forward to giving back to the sport in a different medium and promoting and participating in the growth of the game that she loves.