By Charles E. Vasoll

Hey, I’m all for promoting the sport, but “PT” in a black circle for a bumper sticker, you’re kidding. In an attempt to duplicate a foreign country or some elite place of residence, the Promotional Committee of the APTA included this item in the December issue of Platform Tennis Magazine. Did you get yours? I wonder how many fell out of the magazine in the course of the mail delivery.

Well, any way, I want you to be aware that I have found a lot of interest has been generated by my real license plate. It reads, “P T NUT” and has a frame around it to explain it’s meaning. The frame reads, “I’m crazy about platform tennis”.

I found that I needed the frame because I was often asked whether I was a physical therapist or a parent teacher advocate. The aggressive Patrol Torpedo Association also thought that I should be one of their members. They left flyers under my windshield wipers on several occasions before I had “P T NUT” framed.

I know that there are several other automobile license plates dedicated to our sport. One I remember, I believe from Connecticut, just says “Paddle”. There are more I am sure and I would love to hear from you if you have such a license. But back to the point.

The Promotional Committee means well, no doubt, but first, the words “platform tennis” on the sticker are so small that it is not likely that anyone can read them unless the car is in a parking lot. Second, I fear that bumper stickers do not have universal approval. A lot of players will think twice about placing this decal on a pricey automobile. Lastly, how does this “promote” the game. Every time I am asked, “What is platform tennis?” when someone reads the frame around my license, while I am flattered, I must admit that I often feel embarrassed. While I can describe the way the sport is played, when it comes to telling someone where he or she can play, I usually come up empty. You have to belong to a country club or a yacht club because, in our area as in most others, public or pay-to-play courts are virtually non-existent.

We have almost 900 members in the Long Island Platform Tennis Association. We play matches during the week in the evening. No one walks to the courts, and yet I am still looking for the first automobile with a “PT” bumper sticker. Members of the Promotional Committee, I suggest you put your “thinking caps” on again and come up with something better next time.

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