Tennis may call to mind Santa Ana winds, shorts and floppy skirts, but platform tennis, once a winter pastime relegated to the frozen northern states, evokes the image of steamy pockets of athleticism surrounded by towering canyon walls of snow.

The proportions may have been lacking at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club last Saturday, but the platform tennis was sizzling, the smell of a crackling wood smoke fire filled the air, and the elements conspired to produce the snow almost synonymous with platform tennis.

Undaunted by the weather -- or the event's mouth-numbing title of Tar Heel Men's President's Club Qualifying South Region Platform Tennis Tournament -- every registered entrant was on hand. Some of them had to negotiate snowy roads from as far away as Atlanta to get here, but, after only a slight delay to ready the platform, the tournament was off and running.

"I was out at 5 o'clock this morning with blowers and plastic snow shovels," Chapel Hill Tennis Club general manager Alan Rader said. "We started just a little bit late. We were supposed to go on at 9 a.m., and we started around 9:45."

The South (Section VII) Region qualifier was played on two raised courts at the Chapel Hill Tennis Club. Overflow matches were also held on three ground-level courts installed at the new South Campus Recreation Center on UNC's southern campus, across Skipper Bowles Drive from the Dean E. Smith Center.

"Our two courts are great -- the kind you would find up north. They're the real deal," Rader said, proudly.

"One team had a flight yesterday from Atlanta which was cancelled," tournament director and player Rich Green said Saturday morning. "So, they got in a car and drove and still only made it as far as Greensboro at 2 a.m. last night. Now they're here."

Surviving a six-hour trip to Chapel Hill, snowy roads, and tough competition, Trevor Spracklin and Mike Daniels from Washington, D.C. ended up triumphant on the day, winning their way through 14, two-person teams all the way to the title.

Platform tennis is relatively new on the CHTC menu. The nearly 45-year old non-profit institution, located on Westbrook Drive in Carrboro, is one of the major tennis, swim, fitness, and recreational facilities in the state, consisting of a clubhouse, expansive grounds, 28 outdoor tennis courts, and four indoor courts. CHTC also offers a fitness center, an Olympic pool and year-round calendar of events.

"We've now had the courts for three-and-a-half years," Rader said. "We decided that it was definitely worth it to the club. ...

"This year, we have had a league here with two divisions and 10 teams, and everyone plays once a week," Green said. "I'd say that three-quarters of those players had never heard of paddle (tennis) until last year."

"People who've found it have really embraced it," Green added. "My playing partner, Jeff Archer, first picked up a paddle this past October. Now I'm playing in a tournament with him. His brother Greg is one of the top seeds here."

Green said that the popularity wasn't just limited to his club.

"This is definitely happening everywhere," he said. "The pro at Hollow Rock is taking people out onto the new courts at UNC and teaching them. There are things happening all around."

Patience

Still, the activity can take some getting used to for those looking to turn in their tennis racquets for paddles.

"This sport requires a lot more patience and a lot more strategy," said South Team member and UNC Alumnus Greg Archer, who teamed with fellow UNC grad and former Tar Heel varsity tennis player Jon Janda on Saturday.

"It's very cerebral, because it's really tough to put the ball away. It tends to come back into play," said tournament participant Geoff Scott, a three-time squash All-American at Dartmouth College. "You have to be really patient and take good chances. You don't want to make a mistake. If you make a mistake, you lose a point."

"Tennis is a big hitters' game," Scott added. "Here, you really need to wait until you have a good opportunity. ...

"At the highest level in paddle, a point may go on for 20, 30, or even 40 hits. It goes on forever."

Because of the limited size of the playing area, the stress on body joints is diminished, lessening the chance of an initial injury or allowing players stay fit while convalescing from serious injuries.

"I'd been out with an injury since last spring myself," Green said, "and I hadn't been able to play tennis, but I'm able to play this."

"If you have bad hips or bad knees, there's a lot of changing directions, but you rarely have to take more than four steps out here," Scott said.

Good numbers

Tournament officials were more than pleased with Saturday's turnout, especially given the conditions and previous night's uncertain weather. And everyone in platform tennis tournaments sees plenty of action.

"In paddle tennis, you have to lose three times to be (eliminated)," Rader explained. "There's a back draw, and then there's a back draw to the back draw. ... So our tournament pool of 28 players is huge for a one-day sanctioned event, because with three draws going any more participation would turn this into a two-day event."

"There are a lot of good teams here," Greg Archer said.

Archer, a 2003 UNC graduate, and Janda, a 2005 alum from the varsity tennis team at UNC, decided to combine to form a formidable force in paddle tennis.

Currently a teaching pro at the Hope Valley Country Club, Janda, said tennis prowess didn't translate directly to the platform arena.

"I think both of our strengths are return of serves and our forehands," he offered. "We hit with a lot of power, and I think that comes from playing tennis and having the racquet skills. Still, you have to know when to go for your shots and when to be patient."

Though the Tar Heel tandem played deep into the tournament, the locals lost a tough semifinal match to the eventual champions, Spracklin and Daniels. Archer and Janda fought back from 0-5 in the first set to win it 7-5 but then lost the next two sets.

"This is a game where momentum can and often does change quickly at any time," Green said later, "much more so than in tennis."

Feed-in consolation co-finalists included Jimbo Galloway and Matt Wilson of Winston-Salem and the team of Peter Lauer from Atlanta and Brian Safford from Winston-Salem.

In a final-round match-up played on the lighted courts at around 7 p.m. Saturday, Spracklin and Daniels defeated the Charlottesville team of Forrest Butler and Mark Tulenko, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Coming up

Having qualified for the National APTA Championships in Philadelphia in early March by way of their tournament win in Winston-Salem, Archer and Janda will be among those representing the South Team, as appointed by team captain Rich Green.

"We're planning on going, yeah," Archer said.

Green said league play will last until March at CHTC.

"The South Team has the President's Cup Nationals coming up," he noted. "The team is based on results from tournaments like today's, and we'll continue to have an APTA tournament here every year."

More information on platform tennis play and other programs offered at CHTC is available at their Web site: www.chapelhilltennisclub.com .

After Nationals and the end of local league play, Green and other necessarily-patient platform tennis enthusiasts will wait out the summer, dream of the appropriate dose of winter weather to make next year's competition another one for the Hallmark cards.