A FINAL BLAST

By Charles E. Vasoll

It is just not within me to go quietly and the present leadership of the American Platform Tennis Association provides me with so many opportunities to scream. The proxy vote for the Board of Directors is the latest embarrassing debacle. First it appears in the magazine but fails to include Bill O’Brien, one of the candidates. Then it is posted on the web site with the most confusing ballot that could be imagined. That ballot was speedily replaced but who knows if the prior vote was counted or the member must vote again. Of course, if you don’t submit a proxy, “A non-vote will equal a vote FOR”. It is just a mess.

Now the candidates, Bill O’Brien, Rob Coster, Tim Mangan and Paul Wiggin, may be well qualified and determined to put a lot of time and effort into their new assignment but who are they? Where are they from? What talent do they bring to the Board? Why cannot the magazine give us some background information about them especially since they are running unopposed? I believe the membership is entitled to know more about these chosen folk who will determine the future of our great sport. (I am pleased to report that the candidates “bios” are now on the APTA web site but they should have been posted in the magazine with the ballot. The proxy ballot on the web site has also been properly revised.)

While on the subject of the Board of Directors, I must take my final shot at the “term limits” that were initiated many years ago. The intention of this internal ruling was to keep the Board fresh with new faces and “get rid of the deadwood”. A Director is limited to two terms of three years but could return after a one-year absence. In all my years with the Board, there was never a problem of removing a person who did not perform. All terms were for one year and if a Director was not attending meetings or doing assignments, he or she was simply not nominated the following year. On the other hand, persons who gave their all and were familiar with the history, development and background of the sport, were able to remain as long as they were willing to serve and carry out their assignments. Now we have new faces constantly and that in itself is not bad, but the Board loses its most valuable Directors because of this rule and once off the Board, they find other ways to spend their time and have not returned after the one-year mandatory absence. I know I am “tilting windmills” but this should be changed.

I believe there is a real “conflict” between the web site and the magazine for attention of the membership. I believe one has to go. The membership cannot afford both and there appears to be no commercial sponsorship to pick up the tab. My vote is for the web site. It seems obvious to me that it can present a better picture for instruction, can be updated more quickly and can retain items of interest for reference (such as the Official Rules), more easily than the magazine. I do not rule out a “newsletter” during the season from the Association for those (few) who are not able to visit the web site and others to whom the mail is still important.

There you have it – my last blast!

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