Manders marks first Caribbean Minor League Pickleball event in Trinidad

Gavin Manders arrived in Trinidad and Tobago for the Caribbean’s first Minor League Pickleball event with more on the line than one tournament result. The Bermuda standout and Pickleball Association of Bermuda national director joined Mical Russell for the ANSA Bank Open at Pickleball Paradise, a milestone that placed Caribbean amateur pickleball inside a structured team format built for repeat play, regional rivalries and clearer development pathways.

The event, listed by Swish Tournaments as The Dink Minor League Pickleball @ Paradise MILP in Diego Martin, ran May 29-31, 2026. Its format set it apart from standard bracket play. Teams were made up of four players, two women and two men, and matches were played as four 21-point games. If teams split those games 2-2, the result went to a Dreambreaker tiebreaker. The model also guaranteed matches and gave every player at least three contests, a major draw for amateurs who want more court time and less waiting around.

Manders treated the weekend as a sign that Caribbean pickleball is moving from isolated events toward a more connected regional circuit. Players came from Barbados, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, giving the first Caribbean Minor League event a genuinely cross-island feel. That matters because the format rewards not just individual shot-making but chemistry, rotation and the ability to compete as part of a mixed squad.

Pickleball Paradise gave the event a fitting home. The Trinidad facility, profiled by TTT as a hub in St. James near Long Circular Mall, was co-founded by Nathaniel Alexander and Kristin Agostini. Their venue helped put Trinidad on the map as a place capable of hosting a regional first, and it gave the Caribbean a visible base for a format that could become a bridge between recreational play and higher-level competition.

The significance also reaches beyond one weekend in Diego Martin. The Caribbean Pickleball Federation has said it wants a court in every school and community center across the region, and it has partnered with the Curacao Table Tennis Association, which was founded in 1958 and joined the ITTF in 1961. That points to a broader strategy: build on existing sports infrastructure, create more access and give younger players a ladder into organized competition.

Manders entered Trinidad on the back of a strong March at the Caribbean Pickleball Championships in Bermuda, where he was crowned top male player despite back spasms, a bulging disc and kidney stones. Bermuda later retained the title with a 4-0 win over the Cayman Islands, while Jamaica claimed bronze. Against that backdrop, Trinidad’s Minor League debut felt like the next step, not the last.