Life Lessons from Pickleball™

E48: Pablo Granados: From Soccer Star to Pickleball Ambassador

• Shelley Maurer and Sher Emerick • Episode 48

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0:00 | 32:15

How can pickleball help transform a life, rebuild health, and create community across every age, background, and skill level?

In this episode, Pablo Granados shares his remarkable journey from growing up in Costa Rica dreaming of soccer, to surviving a life-threatening medical crisis, moving to the United States, struggling with major health challenges, and eventually finding a new path through pickleball. Pablo talks about his early years as a competitive soccer player, the injuries that changed his direction, the devastating surgery complications that nearly took his life, and the difficult seasons that followed as he gained weight, lost confidence, and searched for a fresh start. 

Pablo also shares how pickleball entered his life at exactly the right time, beginning with one welcoming moment at the YMCA that opened the door to a completely new future. He reflects on losing more than 100 pounds, rediscovering competition, becoming a USA Pickleball ambassador, running tournaments with a player-first mindset, and eventually stepping into leadership as general manager and tournament director at Pickleball Kingdom. Along the way, he opens up about the mistakes he made, the lessons he learned, and why kindness, inclusion, and remembering where you came from matter so much in the pickleball community. 

This is an uplifting and heartfelt conversation about pickleball, Costa Rica, health transformation, weight loss, community, Pickleball Kingdom, tournament directing, sportsmanship, inclusion, teaching, resilience, and the life lessons that remind us never to underestimate anyone and never to say no to the chance to welcome someone in. 

http://www.zz2pickleball.com

https://pickleballkingdom.com/lynnwood-wa/


📘 The Expanded Edition of Life Lessons from Pickleball™   is now available on Amazon

Learn about the book and us at: https://www.lifelessonsfrompickleball.com

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An uplifting collection of short reflections and life lessons inspired by our podcast conversations with people from around the world. Through stories of community, empowerment, and joy, the book offers inspiration both on and off the court. about community, empowerment, and joy through the game of pickleball.

A portion of every purchase supports Operation PaddleLift™, a Global Pickleball Federation initiative providing paddles, balls, nets, and other essential pickleball equipment to underserved communities around the world.

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Music gifted to us by Ian Pedersen: @ianpedersen