President's Letter 2007
MARK FISCHL
OCTOBER 2007
My 18 year old son, Andrew, started fencing seriously in October of 2005. As his fencing progressed, so did his commitment for the sport. What started out as a lark quickly grew into a passion. From once a week, Andrew soon had me driving me driving him three, four and then five times per week. Even that wasn't enough to satisfy his growing love of the sport. When he received an invitation to fence in Manhattan at the prestigious New York Athletic Club, I found myself teaching him to take the train into the city and how to take the subway uptown to the NYAC. Soon we were traveling around the country to different tournaments. In the last six months, we traveled to Memphis, Columbus, Denver, Atlanta, Tucson and Miami. This summer we even traveled across the big pond to Rostock, Germany for a fencing camp.
As our involvement increased, we began meeting more and more people -- fencers, parents, referees and coaches. In fairly short order, we became part of the fencing community. It was an interesting experience. At Andrew's first major event, in June of 2006, we didn't know a single person. In sharp contrast, at the Fencing Nationals this summer in Miami, it seemed we couldn't walk ten steps without running into someone we knew. We really felt that we were part of something. The tournaments became more and more exciting and rewarding, as we started spending time with the people we had met at the events. In Memphis, we visited Graceland and ate BBQ at the Rendezvous with fellow fencers and their families. In Denver, a large group of us explored the 16 Street Mall. In Tucson, we hiked to the top of a mountain in Saguaro National Park with a good friend we had met at our local club. In Miami, we snorkeled the barrier reef at Biscayne Bay National Park. When Andrew started fencing, I was eager to see him try a new sport. What I hadn't anticipated was joining a new community.
It was a very similar experience to my early days of platform tennis. At my first tournament, The Rye Invitational, I knew almost no one. I remember that there was a big snow storm the night before, which dumped six to eight inches of snow. I expected that our first match would not be played as scheduled so I called Bill Jones. Bill headed up Long Island Platform Tennis Association in those days. He told me I should be there as close to the starting time as possible. My partner, Donn Haber, and I left Long Island around 6:30 am for our 7:45 match at the American Yacht Club in Rye. The roads were barely passable. We arrived about 45 minutes late, concerned that we would be defaulted. The Yacht Club was in a gorgeous location at the end of an unplowed road. We went into the Clubhouse expecting a bee hive of activity. Instead, we found one woman vacuuming the carpet. We asked her about the Platform tournament. Initially, she didn't understand, but there was a gleam in her eye as she led us to the rear of the building and pointed out the window at two platform courts completely covered in snow! Soon, other competitors and volunteers showed up. We all shoveled and by 11:30 the courts were ready for play. At lunch, I saw one or two familiar faces and recognized a couple of names in the draw from my tennis days. I think we played either five or six matches that day. As we drove south on I-95, exhausted from the days activities, I knew I had found a sport I was going to enjoy. Now when I attend the APTA Nationals I can't begin to count the number of friends I am looking forward to seeing.
In both fencing and platform tennis, learning about the sport and being part of the competition has been rewarding. But what has made both experiences truly incredible has been the communities that welcomed us. The people I have had the pleasure of knowing through Platform Tennis are some of the most remarkable in my life. The friendships that have been formed will last a lifetime. They have made the entire experience a wonderful one. The bond between Andrew and I as father and son has been strengthened by our time together, made all the more special with it having been Andrew's last year at home before going away to Vassar. . I can only hope to have half the experience with the fencing that I have had with platform tennis.
