Venezuela have just selected their first ever World Cup team – and it’s down to a British expat.
Leo Stango was introduced to pickleball by an aunt, and the experience encouraged him to find out more. After some initial enquiries, he became Venezuela’s ambassador for pickleball, equipped with just a couple of paddles.
Now, a few short years on, Stango is the president of the Venezuelan Pickleball Association as well as the PFA’s board member for Latin America. Venezuela now has 140 pickleball courts and around 4,000 players – and a team set to travel to the World Cup in Peru in October.
“It’s been a real rags to riches kind of story,” he says.
“We’re in all the barrios, we’re in public schools, universities, because financially Venezuela is a bit of a melting pot. But pickleball has fitted in very well, because it reaches the poor and it reaches the rich and famous.
“This has been a unifying sport, because now you’ve got ex-champion tennis players playing with kids in the barrio at the same courts, and everyone’s getting better. It’s a real social experiment.”
And pickleball’s progress has had a profound impact on his own day-to-day life, as he now works full-time in promoting the sport.
“It’s unbelievable,” he says. “I’ve got such a cool job because I’m travelling the country, setting up courts, giving speeches, setting up schools, and it’s all from pickleball.”
