On August 26 and 27, the Vineland Picklers, an official USA Pickleball club, held their third annual tournament for club members. Last year the event was renamed The Carlos Calixto Round Robin Tournament to honor a beloved member who passed away from Covid. All proceeds raised from entry fees and donations went to the Carlos’ family.
This year, 64 of 154 members of the club participated in the two-day event, which included women’s, men’s and mixed doubles. Tournament director Andy Browne handed out gold, silver and bronze medals to the winners. Participants enjoyed the relaxed competition, honoring Carlos’ values of sportsmanship (more important than wins or losses), competition (important but not relentless), and friendships (treasured and more important than the game).
Topping women’s doubles were Debbie Tramontana and Patti Valeri, gold; Suzanne Grant and Denise Dendrinos, silver; and Sandee Taketoshi and Beth Rogers, bronze.
Men’s doubles winners were Chuck Viel and Jim Rogers, gold; Rudy Ziller and George Frangakis, silver; Todd DeMarco and Gerry Yunk, bronze.
Chuck Viel, Suzanne Grant, Debra Vena and Todd DeMarco won gold medals for mixed doubles. John Thompson, Patti Valeri, Ann Peterson and Dave Kaufman took silver; Bill Romer, Denise Dendrinos, Naomi Kenelia and Dave Gotthold won bronze. However, all who played were winners.
In the photos: Ann Peterson, Ambassador for the Vineland Picklers, and Andy Browne (Pickleball PopPop), one of the coaches, hand out the medals at CCTEC.
