Wilton Open
Wilton Open

Join us for the 2026 Wilton Open!

CELEBRATE ST. PADDLE'S DAY !

41st ANNIVERSARY !

Date:     Saturday, March 14, 2026

Time:    Matches begin at 8:00 A.M.

Host:     Riverbrook YMCA (Wilton Y) and 15+ local/partner clubs

Format:  32-team draws: Men's Open/A (NRT), Men's B, Men's B2. 16-team draws: Women's Open, Women’s B

  • 3 match guarantee (if draws are filled)

  • BBQ lunch, live music, player favors, team prizes, sponsor gifts, charity raffle, St. Patrick’s celebration, Kraken sightings, vintage Wilton Open wear and St. Patrick’s outfit contests, and more…

  • Not PTI point-bearing except for Men’s Open/A Draw (NRT)

Cost: $230 per team

Men’s NRT Registration is now LIVE on APTA website, or click the following link to register. The NRT draw is now accepting WAITLIST entries:

https://platformtennis.org/tournament-product/style/t25-wiltonmen

Click on the following link for Men’s B/B2 and Women’s Open/B. The Men’s B/B2 has a few spots left - The Women’s draw is now accepting WAITLIST entries:

Wilton Open General Registration

Only one partner needs to register team…Current Y members use your login…Y membership not required for non-members…select “non-member” on Wilton YMCA registration page (no cost for this), add your contact information then follow the prompts and click on Paddle Tennis - you will see the Wilton Open draw selection options where you can register. MEN: This year we will accept 64 teams in the Men's B then split it by team PTI into two 32-team draws - our traditional Men's B and Men's B2. WOMEN: This year we will accept 32 teams in the Women's then split it by team PTI into two 16-team draws - our traditional Women's Open and a Women's B.

Waitlist/Cancellation: Teams must register to hold waitlist spot, fully refundable if we’re not able to accommodate. IMPORTANT: Registered teams withdrawing after March 1st will not be refunded unless substitute team is secured from waitlist.

For further information: email paddlekraken@gmail.com

Benefitting the Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Annual Campaign — Children’s Charities/Camp Gordyland scholarships & The Wilton Y Paddle Fund

Support a Special Musical Event Wednesday 3/11 at our sponsor Nod Hill Brewery!

Click on the image below for more info and tickets!

 
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2026 Tourney Sponsors: Aventine Hill Importers, Nod Hill Brewery, The Vital Stretch, Wilton Physical Therapy, Xenon Paddle

 

41ST Annual tournament

March 14, 2026

St. Paddle’s Day !

Click below for 2025 Main & Back Draw Results…

 
Men's Open/A NRT
Men's B
Men’s B2
Women's A
Women's B
 
 

2025 WINNER PHOTOS BELOW

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we Released the Kraken!

2025 Winners

Men’s Open/a nrt champs: tOMAS cHRISTIAN & rAFAEL a. cOUTINHO

Men’s B champs: BRENDAN PATERNOSTER & RYAN CARR

Men’s B2 champs: ROB GEARY & JEFF SUSSMAN

Women’s Open/a champs:  ANA ZUBORI & KRISTIN TREADWAY

wOMEN’S B CHAMPS: MELISSA BIRNS & JULIE FRIED

 

2025 Photos: Capacity draws (256 PLAYERS) & record crowd pond-side at THE KRAKEN

2025 Men's Open/A nrt finalists: gARCIA-nIETO & qUINTANA (l-r) champs cHRISTIAN & cOUTINHO

2025 MENS b cHAMPS (l-r): pATERNOSTER & cARR finalists: CURREN & HERSCHEL

2025 men’s b2 CHAMPS (L-R): GEARY & sUSSMAN FINALISTS: STRAUSS & DIAZ

2025 WOMENS B FINALISTS (L-R): ZIEGLER & JAMALI CHAMPS: BIRNS & FRIED

2025 WOMEN’S OPEN/A CHAMPS (L-R): ZUBORI & TREADWAY FINALISTS: WILKENS & CLARKE

Sun setting on kraken 2024

 
 

Release The Kraken!

Our

Sponsors

Thanks to our loyal sponsors for making the Wilton Open the longest-running annual charity paddle tournament in the country -- and to our knowledge, the largest one-day, co-ed paddle event on the planet.  Now in our 41st year, the Wilton Open celebrates our great game, sportsmanship, the broader paddle community, Kraken fortitude and St. Patrick's Day.  Net proceeds directly benefit the Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Annual Campaign.

Wilton Open sponsors in 2025 include Proximo Spirits/Kraken Rum, Athleta, Wilton Physical Therapy, The Tennis Spot, Nod Hill Brewery, Aventine Hill Importers, the Vital Stretch, and Xenon Paddle.

Our host The Riverbrook Regional Y is an APTA member club. We thank the APTA for their management of the Wilton Open Men’s Open/A NRT event in 2025.

For sponsorship information, contact paddlekraken@gmail.com

 
 
 

Paddle with Purpose

wilton open supports:

Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Annual Campaign

Proceeds from the Wilton Open directly benefit the Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Annual Campaign. The Annual Campaign provides crucial finacial aid and scholarships to children and families in the communities of Norwalk, Wilton and Redding. These funds support campers, free swim lessons, and families who could not afford the Y without this generosity and much more.

Please consider donating to the Riverbrook Regional YMCA’s Annual Campaign below.

Gordyland Summer Camp Counselors at the Y paddle hut

Gordyland Summer Camp Counselors at the Y paddle hut

donate Now
 
 
 
 
 
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The Kraken — Modern Mythology

The story of the Wilton Open's beloved mascot -- the Kraken -- finds its origins at our 2010 annual event. A powerful nor'easter with 70 mph winds & producing 10+ inches of rain descended on the Wilton Y and partner clubs that memorable Saturday. Incredibly, of the sold out 32-team field, only one tandem cancelled their participation, all others persevering in nearly unplayable conditions and demonstrating fearless commitment to the sport and tournament. The intrepid spectators and finalists braving the elements recall during the championship match (APTA national champions Albrikes & Fried prevailed) witnessing an enormous, eight-limbed, menacing creature emerge from the adjacent Y pond. The playful Kraken appeared to be paying its respects to the participants' valiant spirit -- an esprit de corps the Wilton Open has fostered for 39 years and celebrates to this day.

The Wilton Open Committee honors the Kraken in a myriad of ways including the awarding of Kraken Rum and medallions to all finalists, serving up charred kraken at our annual BBQ lunch, providing krakenized player gifts to all participants, etc. In 2019, we released a look-alike cephalopod to celebrate its first tournament appearance (below).

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Location

Riverbrook Regional Y

 

(formerly Wilton YMCA)

404 Danbury Road

Wilton, CT 06897

Phone: (203) 762-8384    Ext. 286

Email: PaddleKraken@gmail.com

 
 
“Below the thunders of the upper deep,
Far, far beneath in the abysmal sea,
His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep
The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee
About his shadowy sides; above him swell
Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;
And far away into the sickly light,
From many a wondrous grot and secret cell
Unnumbered and enormous polypi
Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.
There hath he lain for ages, and will lie
Battening upon huge sea worms in his sleep,
Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;
Then once by man and angels to be seen,
In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.”
— Lord Alfred Tennyson, 1809 - 1892