This weekend’s 2026 Winter Weekend Shootout was a great way to bring our EPPA community together in the heart of winter. With 42 players competing over two days at Around the Post, we saw competitive matches, incredible sportsmanship, and the kind of camaraderie that makes this group special.
Saturday featured our Senior divisions.
“Junior” Seniors (Under 65) 🥇 Gold: Hector Cartagena & Ken Miller 🥈 Silver: John Intrieri & Mike Ballay 🥉 Bronze: Lou Montefiori & Jeffrey Jay Williams Semi-Finalists: Randy Rinke & Charisse Nixon
“Super” Seniors (Over 65) 🥇 Gold: Mike Sundquist & Dave Hewett 🥈 Silver: Mark Lucas & Tim Tracy 🥉 Bronze: Wendy Horning & Geralyn (Lyn) Majkowski Semi-Finalists: Jim Singer & Brian Kwitowski
Sunday brought a mix of doubles and singles competition.
Any Team Doubles 3.5–4.0 🥇 Gold: Irene & Tim Zlotnicki 🥈 Silver: Alex (Sasha) Tkatchenko & Dillon Loomis 🥉 Bronze: Lorie Panitzke & Anne Dammeyer Semi-Finalists: Kathy Scibetta & Marci Stitt
Skinny Singles 🥇 Gold: Tim George 🥈 Silver: Dillon Loomis 🥉 Bronze: Andrew Kemick Semi-Finalist: Alex (Sasha) Tkatchenko
What I learned......
From strategic dink rallies to high-energy singles points, the level of play was fantastic all weekend long.
As my first winter tournament serving as EPPA President, this event was a valuable learning experience. With many of our regular participants either heading south for the winter or simply unavailable this weekend, we had to adjust divisions and tweak start times to make everything work smoothly. I appreciate everyone’s flexibility and willingness to roll with those adjustments. Events like this help us refine our process and continue improving with each tournament we host.
Our goal is to continue building consistency in our annual schedule: • A two-day Winter Tournament • A two-day Memorial Tournament in the summer • Two additional single-day tournaments in the spring and fall
We’re committed to growing these events in a way that keeps competition strong while maintaining the welcoming, community-first atmosphere that defines EPPA. None of this happens without an incredible team behind the scenes.
A heartfelt thank you to Elena Arnold, former EPPA President and my Tournament Co-Director, for handling all website updates, registration management, and administrative logistics. Despite joking that EPPA questions compete with her already full plate at ATP, she continues to step up and make sure everything runs professionally and efficiently. PLEASE start redirecting any administrative or organizational concerns my way, even a rotten tomato or two is acceptable.
Thank you to my wonderful VP Melissa Hart for coordinating volunteers and doing so much more than anyone probably saw. Your organization and calm leadership made the weekend seamless. (special shoutout to her hubby Pat Hart for being there all weekend even after a surgery and on a single leg scooter)
A big congratulations — and thank you — to our new Tournament Committee Chair, Dave Hewett. Not only did he earn a gold medal in the Super Seniors division, but he also put his spreadsheet wizard skills to work in designing and organizing the brackets beautifully.
Thank you to Bill Wozniak for being present all weekend and always helping in countless small (and important) ways.
And thank you to Paul Young from the tournament committee for assisting with scorekeeping and fault calling — those details matter more than most people realize. Many of his students placed well within the tournament and I'm sure they have him to thank for alot of it!
We are grateful for every player who competed, every volunteer who helped, and every spectator who stopped by to support.
Also, keep an eye out for another free clinic coming up in March — this time graciously hosted by Presque Isle Pickleball. We’re excited to continue offering opportunities for players of all levels to learn and grow together.
Below are I have attached some pictures for those interested (final shoutout to David and Camilla who will be partnering with EPPA further going forward to get pictures to contestants in our tournaments and participants at our events)
Thank you all for being part of EPPA. This community and this sport are special!
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