Bay Area Fire Department Pickleball Tournament Proceeds Will Honor Fallen Firefighter

FREMONT, CA — A fire department will host a pickleball tournament in July in Alameda and will use 100% of the proceeds to remember a Fremont firefighter who died earlier this year.

Fremont Firefighters Local 1689 announced they will put on the inaugural Anthony Ganzler Memorial Pickleball Tournament from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 15 at the HUB Sports Club in Alameda. It will be open to the public and all proceeds will benefit the Anthony Ganzler Scholarship.

The entry fee is $120 per team and the tournament will consist of four games guaranteed in a round robin tournament followed by single-elimination playoffs. There will be a fastest serve competition as well, and lunch and drinks will be provided. The fire department will also raffle off prizes.

Register here.

Ganzler died March 17 while off duty from a “job-related medical emergency.”

"Fire Chief Zoraida Diaz was notified by the Fire Chief of the Elk Grove Fire Department that Fremont Firefighter Anthony Ganzler suffered a cardiac event and passed away in Elk Grove, CA," the fire department announced on social media.

Ganzler had been with the Fremont Fire Department since 2019.

Prior to that, he worked for the El Dorado County Fire Protection District.

The memorial was March 27 at the District Church in El Dorado Hills.