Gaylord Hospital’s Sports Association brings in Guinness Record holders to coach adaptive athletes.
Author: Jim Altman
Published: 4:47 PM EDT June 4, 2025 | Updated: 6:06 PM EDT June 4, 2025
WALLINGFORD, Conn. — The pickleball season has returned to the grounds of Gaylord Hospital in Wallingford.
Each summer, Gaylord’s Sports Association starts its pickleball program, offering clinics to adaptive athletes who face a number of physical challenges. And, at least once or twice a summer, the Rossetti brothers come to the courts to lend their time and talents.
The Rossetti brothers, who are 55-year-old identical twins from Hamden, have become pickleball ambassadors. Angelo and his brother, Ettore, who goes by “Et”, have set two Guinness World Records in Pickleball.
“The longest dink rally we did on World Mental Health Day 2021," Angelo said. "We rallied 16,046 times, and that took six hours and 11 minutes. And last year, on Aug. 17, was the longest volley rally, and we volleyed 10,532 times without a bounce, and that took two hours and 44 seconds.”
Mark Denardis is an avid adaptive pickleball player from North Haven, who is a double below-the-knee amputee. He said, “You know you are playing fast, and the ball is coming in fast at you, and you react quickly - it’s an adrenaline rush.”
Angelo Rossetti mentioned that the game of pickleball has taken him and his brother across the country, playing in tournaments and making appearances. He added that working with Gaylord Hospital is always a highlight.
“Pickleball is a representation of hope,” Angelo said. “A lot of athletes have lost the self-belief when they lose a limb, but we are giving it back to them through pickleball.”
Gaylord Hospital’s Sports Association typically runs adaptive pickleball clinics twice a month through the summer and into the fall season. To learn more about all their adaptive sports programs, click here.
Jimmy Altman is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at jaltman@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.
