Why This Tournament Mattered
In a usual year, Venice hosts several tournaments: Cinco de Mayo, a Singles Tournament in June or July, the Venice Beach Games (a Davis Cup-style tournament), and the U.S. Open Nationals in late fall. We haven’t been able to stage them recently because we’ve been busy fundraising and stewarding the refurbishment of the courts. We are close to receiving the Coastal Commission’s review exemption, though unfortunately, we remain unsure of when the exemption will be approved, which is preventing us from setting a project start date.

We’re thrilled to announce that with the combined total proceeds generated from this weekend’s tournament and a generous donation from LOST IN, we have reached our fundraising goal of $123,000.00! Thank you to everyone who played, donated, cheered, and spread the word. This weekend’s tournament raised the last $5,000 needed to complete the court restoration, install new net posts in courts 4 – 7, and add new fence screening to hide the storage containers on Court 3.

A special shout-out to Daniel Wulff for bringing his friends and so many new players to our beloved Venice paddle tennis courts. We gave them a taste of what it’s like to play paddle tennis in Venice, and we are looking forward to their getting just as addicted to PT as we are. And to our community: you brought your A-game and had the courts buzzing! It was amazing to see you back in full competition mode!

Congratulations to Our Champions!

• A1 Men’s Doubles: Max Adler & Richard Kohan (1st), Adam Schoenfeld & Reggie Thompson (2nd)

• Open Men’s Doubles: Daniel Wulff & Ernesto Russo (1st), Abraham Alvarez & Daniel Ostap (2nd)

• Mixed Open Doubles: Anna Ustinoff & Daniel Wulff (1st), Dzina Milovanovic & Fred Zhang (2nd)

• Co-Ed A Doubles: Max Einhorn & Jordan Light (1st), Gábor Borsanyi & Erika Borsanyi (2nd)

Thank You to Our Sponsors

• LOST IN: Thank you for supporting us! LOST IN creates insider city guides from around the world, including one on Venice that features our iconic sport (see page 24). Founder and CEO Jonathon Skogmo lives in Venice with his family and says, sadly, he doesn’t get to play enough paddle tennis, but we sure appreciate his time at our tournament last Sunday.

• The International Pop Tennis Association: Thank you to Mitch Kutner and the IPTA for underwriting this event and helping us host this tournament. We couldn’t have done it without you.

• Just Ice Tea: Spencer and Danielle, you brought the perfect drink for our players. Your Peach & Lemon iced teas were just right between matches!

Thank You to Our Tournament Director

A huge thank-you to Elizabeth Beasley, who flew in from Austin, Texas to run the tournament. Elizabeth created bracketsync.com and adjusted to our needs at a moment’s notice. We’re so grateful for her calm and sweet presence all weekend.

More Thank you

• Michael Cohen, our MC and the voice of Venice paddle tennis: thank you for bringing the final matches to life once again.

• Sophie Morris, Councilwoman Traci Park’s deputy for Venice: thank you for coming out to watch the matches. We’re holding you to your promise to give paddle tennis a try.

• Venice Rec & Park: A huge thank-you to Adan Pulido for letting us stage this tournament on such short notice. And it was great to see Giannina back in our park again.

We can’t wait to see you all back on the newly refurbished courts. Stay tuned for updates on the work.

With gratitude,

Christine Lee and Katrina Glusac

Tournament Organizers

P.S. See you on the courts!