Binghamton Carousel Classic: A Tennis Festival for All

VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton University Tennis isn’t just opening its fall with a tournament. It’s staging a statement.

The Carousel Classic returns to Recreation Park in Binghamton from Sept. 11–13, and this year the three-day event looks less like a routine preseason tune-up and more like a full-scale tennis festival. College Division I programs, club teams, high school players, and a new adaptive tennis component will share the courts, the schedule, and the spotlight.

It’s tennis as a community project, not just a competition.

A Three-Day Tennis Festival

Play starts early and rarely lets up.

On Friday, Division I and Collegiate Wheelchair matches get underway at 9 a.m., setting the tone for a packed day. Between 11 a.m. and noon, the focus shifts to the next generation with a youth clinic for Horace Mann Elementary students, before matches resume at noon and roll through to around 5 p.m.

Saturday leans into the event’s biggest new step. The adaptive clinic opens the day at 9 a.m., inviting athletes with disabilities onto the same stage and same courts as the college teams. Matches follow at about 10:30 a.m. and run until roughly 5 p.m., blending instruction, competition, and visibility in a single block of play.

Sunday keeps the courts busy from about 9 a.m. into the afternoon, with Collegiate Club matches taking center stage from noon. By the time the last ball is struck, nearly every layer of the Binghamton tennis community will have had its moment.

Adaptive Tennis Takes Its Place

The most significant addition this year is clear: adaptive tennis is no longer a side note, but a core pillar of the Classic.

Wheelchair programs from University of Michigan, University of Houston and Fresno State are making the trip, fielding both men’s and women’s squads. They’ll share the bill with Division I men’s teams from Binghamton, Buffalo and Bucknell, and women’s teams from Binghamton, Buffalo and Colgate.

That mix gives the event a rare blend of elite college tennis and inclusive programming, with adaptive athletes competing in a setting that treats their matches as integral, not auxiliary.

Men’s head coach Nick Zieziula sees the scale of what’s being built.

“We are proud to help this event grow and take a big step forward this year,” he said. “Across all of college sports, this weekend is going to be pretty unique, highlighting the best of what sports has to offer, bringing people together and creating community.”

The plan isn’t just to play. It’s to teach.

“Teams will be competing hard against each other but also working together to put on some clinics to bring tennis to youth who maybe haven't had the chance to try it,” Zieziula added. On the men’s side, he knows the competitive edge matters too: “This is a great opportunity for us to get some early season matches with two programs at the top of their respective conferences.”

Building a Community Event, Not Just a Draw Sheet

An event of this size doesn’t run on enthusiasm alone. Tennis Charities of Binghamton is actively seeking corporate sponsors and community partners to underwrite event-wide costs and to sustain the youth and community programming that give the Classic its identity.

The Bearcats’ women’s program is fully invested in that mission.

“We welcome all the schools that will be participating in the Carousel Classic this year,” women’s head coach Paul Caceres said. “We are looking forward to working with the students from Horace Mann Elementary school again this year for the youth clinic, and are also excited about the new adaptive programming.”

For Caceres and his squad, the timing is ideal.

“This will be the first tournament for us this fall on the women's side, and it will be a great way to start the season with high level competition,” he said.

New Faces, Familiar Ambitions

On court, both Binghamton teams arrive with fresh storylines.

The women’s team unveils four new players, who will join returners such as Apara Khandare, Angel Walia and Samantha Jaros. For that group, the Carousel Classic is more than a home event; it’s the first live test of chemistry, depth and early-season form.

The men’s squad walks in with unfinished business. Last season’s run to second place in the NEC Tournament set a standard. Now, returners like Andre Ajed, Filipe Costa and Harry Liao, bolstered by four newcomers, get a chance to show how far they’ve pushed that bar.

With visiting powers across both Division I and wheelchair tennis, there will be no soft launch. Every court, every session, carries weight.

Across three days at Recreation Park, the Carousel Classic will try to do something ambitious: blend high-level competition with genuine community impact, and prove that a college tournament can be both fiercely contested and radically inclusive.

If it works the way Binghamton intends, this won’t just be the start of a season. It will be the model for how a campus, a city, and a sport move forward together.