By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
INWOOD — Domino players from across Inwood battled for supremacy this weekend in the neighborhood's first-annual dominoes tournament in Inwood Hill Park.
The prize was bragging rights as two teams, blue and red, went head-to head in games that pitted seniors against middle-aged men. The tournament was an outcropping of the Inwood Little League, and it was played on four stone tables along the ballfields where the players' kids and grandkids play.
Dominoes organizers and little league coaches Rafael Victorino and Joaquin Cruz said the tournament was a natural extension of the baseball league, as watching the ballgames often becomes a daylong family affair in the park.
“This is a way for them to have something to do that helps them to feel healthy,” Victorino said in Spanish. “We have games for the little kids, teens and adults in the park, now we have something for the older men, too.”
Dominoes can be seen played on street corners any given day across Manhattan and the city. But in 2008, the table game hit the big time with the Old Spice Domino Tournament, which awarded $30,000 in prizes and broke a Guinness record for the most people playing in one place at the same time.
Up in Inwood Hill Park, the prize was pride, with the blue team topping red.
“It’s about the players having fun,” Cruz said. “It’s a great way to help the community, young and older.”
