The Paradise of Pickleball is the beauty of community and the beauty of community is nurtured by the spirit of Mentorship. A week from now Kenny Suarez is embarking on a new chapter in his life and pickleball journey. He is moving to Guatemala, with the intent of growing the sport of pickleball there for the foreseeable future. Raleigh is losing a Golden Boy, but Guatemala is gaining a man on a mission to mentor. We sat down with Kenny to hear his story.

You may catch Kenny Suarez at Baileywick Park drilling with his brother Vlady, or you’ll get a smile and fist bump in the evenings with his friends at North Hills park. You’ll see him on the gold medal stand at a 5.0 PPA Challenger, or crushing a pop up in the Bull City League. You might see him lending his paddle to a friend or putting it up next to a new player whose paddle rack rejection rate is through the roof. If you are lucky you’ll eavesdrop on Kenny taking coaching advice from his dad, who has been quietly building a legacy in the local pickleball scene for years. And whose arrows are about to shoot farther than perhaps he imagined. Wherever you find Kenny, he is likely smiling, connecting and embodying his belief that “pickleball is supposed to be fun, because if its not fun, why are we doing it?”

Kenny’s comes from a pickleball family. The story starts with his dad, recruited by Mr. David to play pickleball at the AE Finley YMCA in 2014, way back then, before anyone in the area really knew what pickleball was. Kenny and his brother went to watch him play at places like Method and Lake Lynn, but it was exclusively for adults at that time. Mr. David donated a net and his dad built them a pickleball court in the cul-de-sac, and taught his kids the sport. Summers were filled with friends coming over to play pickleball and hang out at the pool.

In 2016 Kenny started to play with adults, the style of play was different back then - strategy, a well placed dink, resets and overall outsmarting - the golden era of placement over power. Kenny credits this early style of play to be formative in his pickleball game. They would school him, and Kenny would come back hungry for more. Linda, who Kenny calls grandma was a huge part of his pickleball journey, she would pick up the kids and take them to play when Kenny’s dad was busy supporting the family.

When Covid hit, Kenny started to get serious about pickleball. At that time, Method road was the hot sport for all the local advanced players and also where he spent his days. He would practice against the wall and then analyze the play of the skilled veterans, hungry for a chance to play with them. Pam Gilbert was one of the first really good players to let him join in one of their games. It was in his words a “humbling experience” but knew “she was trying to teach me and guide me”. He began to realize that if [you] put the work in on the back end, that the better players are going to want to work with you. After open play, he would drill on the wall for 2-3 hours. Hard work, behind the scenes, when no one really sees, is the work that needs to be put in.

It wasn’t a solo effort. The advanced players at Method would give him pointers, or he would ask, and they would explain. Kenny’s dad would come home at night and stay up till 3 or 4 in the morning watching videos to prepare himself to coach the kids. At that time no one was driving a pickleball, it was all dinks and drops so he incorporated tips from tennis and Padel into his coaching.

After a while Kenny started competing in tournaments - he believes his journey through each level has taught him different aspects of the game. Each level has its own style of play, and each level brings with it its own challenge and with that challenge - hunger. Pickleball has also been a part of Kenny’s health journey as well. During Covid he got up to 250 pounds. It was his hunger to win that helped him lose. Another member of Pickled in Paradise’s Losers Win.

All that the local pickleball community has invested in him is about to go international. Kenny wants to bring pickleball mentorship to the kids in Guatemala and Central America. The sport is developing and he aims to champion its growth more in the region. For three weeks, he will be in Guatemala doing pickleball clinics at some of the clubs there and visiting with family. After that they are heading to Germany and then on to PPA Italy for a period. His home base will be in Guatemala, but He also plans to travel throughout different parts of Central and Latin America, connecting with pickleball clubs in different countries. He aims to work with facilities to improve their programs and invest in the growth of the sport. The overall plan is to spend 10 years outside the US, but with most of his time focused in Guatemala.

Kenny is diving into the unknown and hopes that the community there will be as encouraging and uplifting and forgiving as it is here. He loves the beauty of the community we have built in the area. “You never know what someone is going through, we’re just all here on a court playing pickleball. Somebody’s had a bad day, good day. Won a million dollars, lost a million dollars, everybody is figuring things out with each other.” He hopes to experience this life giving aspect of paradise in communities all over different parts of the world. Perhaps we will see him at Pickleball Worlds later this year representing Guatemala on the global stage.

Currently, Kenny has a home base of family in Guatemala and has connected with a few clubs already. There will be more clubs to reach out to and more opportunities on the horizon to meet influential people in the pickleball space. His main contacts are in both Guatemala City and Villanueva. His ultimate long term dream is one that involves community mentorship. He’d love to have his own pickleball academy. Where he charges the adults but creates a space for kids to get away, or have a free facility where they can explore some opportunities in sports. Fun is the priority. “I think the biggest thing, no matter the level, is that you gotta remember that your having fun, It’s a glory to be able to play this game. Stay positive.”

How is Kenny able to do this? Currently his business and his family’s business is supporting his endeavors. If you would like to join in to support Kenny’s journey in Guatemala, you can connect with his Instagram directly or visit our support page here. According to Kenny, Increasing awareness is one of the main ways we can support his journey. Donations of shoes, paddles and balls will help the community there to grow the sport and enable underprivileged members of the community to participate. Pickled in Paradise News plans to stay connected to Kenny as he sets forth into the unknown and we hope he will experience the adventure of a lifetime. As we cultivate and prioritize the spirit of mentorship, we invest in the next generation. Which in Kenny’s case enables us to invest in spreading the love and joy found in pickleball throughout the world.

Joe Road’s boazing spirit lives on in this Paradise Pickle Pup. Hercules can lay on his back for hours while his owner, Chris Mitscherlich and his buddies smash the ball at The Underground. Hercules loves a good belly rub and isn’t a bit camera shy. Book a court at the Underground and you might run into a Paradise pup moment with him or his counterpart Typti hamburger ball loving Zeus….