By Tom Scott

On June 18th United Spinal Association wheelchair basketball athletes hit the court in a rematch against a team from Merrill Lynch to raise awareness about wheelchair sports and spinal cord injuries and disorders. The grudge rematch, which took place at Merrill Lynch’s Corporate Campus in Pennington, New Jersey, netted a big win for United Spinal. Final score: 48-42.

Merrill Lynch staff and personnel were in attendance to support their team and discovered just how thrilling it is to play wheelchair basketball.

United Spinal Board members, Thomas Cooke and Chris Fossel also attended to cheer on United Spinal. Many of the Merrill Lynch team returned for this year’s re-match with their A Game, but it wasn’t enough to stop United Spinal (at one point, United Spinal had a 20 point lead!).

“Today was a first-time experience for myself and my teammates doing an event such as this,” said Mike Zangari, United Spinal coach and commissioner for EWBC. “We have all participated in numerous fundraisers before, but today was the most professional atmosphere for a fundraiser
that any of us have played in––and what great fun was had by all!”

United Spinal Association and Merrill Lynch’s Disability Professional & Awareness Network (DAPN) teamed up to host this event. DAPN, which collaborates and engages the disability community, is committed to celebrating the abilities and potential of all people through its various partnerships as well as the implementation of community outreach programs that benefit both the Merrill Lynch employee and the family member of the employee with a disability. Merrill Lynch has been voted as #1 Top Company for people with disabilities by Diversity, Inc., magazine for two consecutive years.

“Events like this not only enable us to continue our longstanding tradition of adaptive sports and recreation, but allows United Spinal to strengthen a relationship with Corporate America through education & awareness,” added Marlene Perkins, vice president of Corporate Outreach
for United Spinal. “Entities like Merrill Lynch get it and that’s a great thing.”

Representing the United Spinal team were:

• Michael Zangari––Coach

• Brian Pinkow

• Ed Waluk

• Chris St. Remy

• Lesly St. Lewis

• Joe Gugliotti

• Lou McCabe

• Jack Lopez

United Spinal Association would like to thank the New Jersey Nets for their generous donation of door prizes for the event.

7th Annual Jana Hunsaker Memorial Results

The United States Tennis Association’s (USTA) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Queens, New York was the site of another annual installment of fast-paced, action-packed wheelchair tennis matches. Pros from around the world come to
New York each year to compete at this prestigious wheelchair tennis tournament, which is hosted by United Spinal Association, honoring the memory of USTA tennis instructor Jana Hunsaker. A driving force behind wheelchair tennis advocacy, Hunsaker was instrumental in developing a wheelchair tennis program at the National Tennis Center.

Finals Matches

Men’s Wheelchair Open Singles

(3) Francois Xavier Morille d. Joel Dembe––6-1; 6-2

Men’s Wheelchair Open Doubles

(1) Husser/Morille d. (2) Lara/Moran––6-0; 6-1

Men’s Wheelchair A Singles

(1) Kevin Green d. (2) Stephen Barber––7-6(4); 6-3

Men’s Wheelchair A Doubles

(1) Eno/Green d. Kyler/Sah––6-4; 7-5

Men’s Wheelchair B Singles

(1) Scott Bonk d. (2) Marco Dibujes––6-2; 6-3

Men’s Wheelchair B Doubles

Diaz/Torres d. (1) Bonk/Dettloff––6-2; 6-3

Men’s C Wheelchair Singles

(2) Sunil Patel d. (1) Bryan Wilkinson––6-4; 6-4

Men’s Wheelchair C Doubles

(1) Patel/Wilkinson d. Falcon/Rivera Reyes––6-1; 6-1

Men’s D Wheelchair Singles

Stephen Santiago d. Ruben Granda––6-4; 6-2

Masters Doubles

Bonk/Eno d. Annunziatio/Lehr––9-7

Women’s Wheelchair A Singles

Sheila Constanzi d. Jocelyn Dettloff––6-3; 6-0

Tom Scott is staff editor.