Long Island pickleball challenge opens 2026 outdoor amateur series

The hottest finish at Hempstead Lake came in men’s doubles 3.5 to 4.0, where Josh Lesh and John Enriquez trailed 5-10 in the gold-medal match before ripping off the final 10 points to steal the title from Azmain Chowdhury and Pratham Jain. That rally gave the Long Island Pickleball Challenge the kind of endgame drama that makes an amateur stop feel bigger than a casual hit-and-giggle session, and it set the tone for a day that rewarded teams willing to grind through multiple matches.

The challenge opened the 2026 outdoor amateur series at SPORTIME Hempstead Lake, presented by Orlin & Cohen Orthopedic Group, on a hot Saturday morning at a venue tucked inside Hempstead Lake State Park on Long Island’s South Shore. SPORTIME says the facility has 10 pickleball courts, including six dedicated courts and four hybrid courts, giving tournament director David Sickmen the space to keep play moving across four divisions. SPORTIME listed the event for Sunday, June 13, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m., while Long Island Tennis Magazine’s events page showed the Hempstead Lake challenge running from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The format was the part other clubs can copy most easily. Each division began with round-robin play, then the top teams advanced into knockout rounds, a setup that gave players more court time before the bracket tightened around the medal matches. That mattered on a day when the event was about more than scores: a continental breakfast of fruit, bagels and muffins was available early, and happy-hour drinks carried the afternoon forward. Sickmen’s job was simple and smart, keep the tournament on time, make sure teams got plenty of matches, and keep food and drinks flowing throughout the day.

The other standout result came in men’s doubles 4.0 to 4.5, where Brad Berger and Jordan Engel beat Luis Paloma and James Valerio 15-10. Engel pointed to the conditions as a major factor, and Berger joked that the Knicks were their inspiration, a reminder that amateur events often work best when competition and personality sit side by side. The Hempstead Lake stop has been building that formula for years, with Long Island Tennis Magazine coverage dating back to 2023, when the event was staged across three divisions. Earlier recaps used the same blueprint of round-robin play feeding knockout rounds, with breakfast and drinks on site and a sponsor mix that has included adidas Pickleball, Halftime Chiller, OSIM USA, SPORTIME and Viking Athletics. That repeatable structure is why the event keeps drawing players back: more matches, better logistics, and a tournament feel that open play alone cannot match.