Sold-Out LI Winter Pickleball Challenge Kicks Off 2025 Event Series

Long Island Tennis Magazine kicked off its 2025 Event Series with a sold-out Pickleball Tournament at SPORTIME Kings Park. The Long Island Winter Pickleball Challenge brought nearly 70 players together for a great night of Pickleball competition and fun on and off the court.

The tournament featured four levels of play and players competed in group play rounds, which were followed by the knockout rounds in each respective division. During the evening, there was a festive atmosphere off the court despite the intense competition on it. Players enjoyed pizza, snacks and a happy hour throughout this Saturday night event, helping to create the unmatched tournament experience the LITM Event Series has become known for.

“The LI Winter Pickleball Challenge was a success!  We had a waiting list of players so it’s a great sign of what’s to come, as we head into a full season of events. Our team has run events for a long time and do so professionally. We know how to keep everything moving and keep the event in the promised time span, and the Winter Pickleball Challenge was a prime example of that.”

For Hunter Isnardi & Juliana Keenan, one of the highlights of the tournament was being able to play against new players. The duo did more than just play against fresh competition, they won the Gold Medal in convincing fashion against Rebecca Torres / Rachel Aronoff in the Women’s 3.5 division.

“We made sure that if we made a mistake to just forget about it and move on,” said Keenan.
“In the past we may have dwelled on losing a point, but you have to have that goldfish mentality and move on to the next point, and I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

Isnardi added:

“We play with the same group a lot so being able to expand beyond that and meet some new people was a great experience. We had so much fun, and we’ll be coming back next time for sure.”

In the Women’s 4.0 Division, the pairing of Jennifer Walsh & Corinne D’Andrea saved their best pickleball for last, playing a dominant match in the championship match to defeat Karen Willmont & Jaclyn Kramer 15-2 and bring home the Gold Medal.

“We tried to keep our opponents moving side to side and opening up the center of the court to hit winners,” Walsh said of their strategy. “We’ve played a ton together, so our communication is good and that was key.”

Asked about their favorite part of the night, D’Andrea said: “Winning the Gold. With the margaritas being a close second.”

Last summer, Richard Nessim & Nick Gamerina teamed up at the Long Island June Pickleball Challenge.

“We played the one other tournament together, last summer, and won Gold, so we decided to come out here and give it another shot,” said Nessim.

The pairing would win this event as well, defeating Joe Burton & Steven Kozak to earn the title in the Men’s 3.5 Division.

“I think it was about being aggressive,” Gamerina said of their approach. “We can play as defensive players and just hit balls back, but it’s important to dictate points, especially against good teams like the ones here today.”

In the Men’s 4.0 Division, Miguel Cobbs & Luis Ludena got off to a slow start, which resulted in them finishing fourth place in their division to be the final team to advance into the knockout rounds.

It was then that they found their groove advancing their way to the final where they defeated Brad Berger & Nelson Shin 15-10 in the championship match.

“We learned our lesson and next time we’ll get here earlier so that we can have more practice before the tournament,” Ludena joked. “We started off very cold but were able to turn it around. I come from the tennis world so I was a little too pumped up and trying to hit everything too hard, but Miguel did a good job of calming me down.”

Cobbs added:

“The matches were a lot of fun, the people were great and it was a really high level of play. Winning the Gold was the best part of the night.”

The Long Island Winter Pickleball Challenge was the ideal way to get the 2025 Long Island Tennis Magazine Event Series going, and sets the stage for a great year of tournaments.

“Having gotten all positive feedback from the great group of players who joined us, we are excited for our next Pickleball Tournament,” Sickmen added. “We have at least four more planned for 2025, so be on the lookout for the announcement of our next event. I also want to thanks SPORTIME Kings Park for being a perfect host, my co-tournament director Michelle Stoerback for all of her hard work and preparation, and iPlayMe 2 for utilizing their software to showcase our tournament results.”

You can find more detailed results on the iPlayMe2 website.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS FROM THE LI WINTER PICKLEBALL CHALLENGE

FULL RESULTS

Men’s 3.5

GOLD: Richard Nessim / Nick Gamerina

SILVER: Joe Burton / Steven Kozak

BRONZE: Kevin Stanis & Ryan Casserly

Men’s 4.0

GOLD: Miguel Cobbs / Luis Ludena

SILVER: Brad Berger / Nelson Shin

BRONZE: Rob Falvo / Anthony Diguiseppe

Women’s 3.5

GOLD: Hunter Isnardi / Juliana Keenan

SILVER: Rebecca Torres / Rachel Aronoff

BRONZE: Lisa Ciangetti / Jordan Leventhal

Women’s 4.0

GOLD: Jennifer Walsh / Corinne D’Andrea

SILVER: Karen Willmont / Jaclyn Kramer

BRONZE: Emilie Katz / Val Bogard