A native New Yorker, Dennis learned handball playing bare handed with a Spalding pink ball on the 1-Wall courts in the schoolyards of Queens. Playing with gloves and the black ball in high school, he was the number one singles player at Bishop Loughlin Memorial in Brooklyn and placed second in the Brooklyn-Queens Catholic High School Championships in 1973 and 1974. 

 

Dennis moved to Colorado to attend CSU in 1976 but it wasn’t until 1988 he began learning 4-Wall, earning his way to the Open Division in 1991. Teaming with Bob McCluskey, they won the 1995 Open Doubles at the Cheyenne Shootout and, in 1997, were crowned the Colorado Doubles Masters Champions. A year later, Dennis won the USHA Hall of Fame Masters Singles in Tucson.

 

His contributions to Colorado handball in Fort Collins are unprecedented. For nearly twenty years he has served handball in many roles: Fall Travel League Captain, Great Gorilla Open Tournament Director, CHA Executive Board and Hall of Fame Committee member, USHA Ambassador, and Youth Coach. Named CHA Contributor of the Year in 2007, Dennis will be forever known as the guy who fought city hall and won when he spearheaded the multi-year effort to bring 3-Wall handball courts to Fort Collins.