For years Merrick Park was the mecca for many top players on the Island. I recall watching games, in the late 80′s and 90′s, with Hall of Famer’s and national champions such as Artie Reyer, Charlie Danilczyk, Mike Dikman, Mike Demitriou, Steve Kraft, Mike Krell, Fred Sylvia, Artie Diamont, Mike Grabowski and Wally Ulbrich. It was a dynamic environment (and still is) filled with players who wanted to topple the best. The who’s who of handball showed up on the “A” court while I was battling on the “B” court. The first three photo’s below, taken about eight years ago, are of me giving the tense impression that each game is a life or death struggle. Well it is! Ask any handball player who lost a game yesterday.

A few dated pictures does not do justice to the history of this playing field. So, if anyone has any pictures of the Merrick scene, please send them to me and I will update this page. I think Mike G. would probably have a good collection. He brought his camera to almost every event and still does.