The Paredes Family: The First Family of Hawaii Pickleball

Sep 8

Written By Operations MT

Cover Story: The Paredes Family; Elaina, Kyle and Kylena (front)—-Photo: Enzo Viso

ATHLETICISM, ALOHA, AND A WHOLE LOT OF HEART: HOW THE PAREDES FAMILY IS SHAPING HAWAII’S PICKLEBALL STORY—TOGETHER.

It all started with a Christmas gift.

In December 2017, Kyle Paredes spotted some strange, oversized paddles on a table at the Honolulu Club.

“What’s the big ping-pong paddles?”

he asked his racquetball buddies.

“Pickleball,” they told him. “You should try it.”

He did and immediately got hooked. Right away, he ordered three paddles. A few days later, on Christmas morning, the family opened their presents.

Pickleball paddles.

Their reaction? Confusion. “What is this?”

Elaina asked. Kyle told them, “It’s the new sport we’re all going to learn. Today.”

That afternoon, the Paredes family hit the courts at Petrie Park, where senior players taught them the basics. He said, “We spent the whole day from afternoon all the way to late evening till the lights went off.”

And despite being lifelong athletes—Kyle a racquetball champ and former college football player, Elaina a soccer standout and PE teacher—they got crushed in their last game against two seniors, who dinked and dropped their way to victory.

They left stunned—and signed up for their first tournament within weeks. “Kyle just said, ‘Let’s go!’ and I said, ‘We don’t even know the rules!” Elaina laughs. “But we did it.”

And just like that, a family pickleball dynasty was born.

DIFFERENT STYLES, SHARED VISION

Today, the Paredesfamily doesn’t just play together. Theytrain,teach, travel, and compete as a unit—bringing their unique blend of elite athleticism, education, and aloha to every court they touch.

KYLE: THE DRAGON

Kyle, now a Senior Pro, is the performance architect of the family. With a background in exercise and sports physiology—and seven pro-level sports under his belt (yes, seven)—he brings a scientific and deeply analytical approach to coaching. His style is direct and results-driven—a “realist and straight-shooter,” according to Elaina.

Indeed, he brings strategy and intellect into every aspect of the game. “You know, being an island boy, I wasn’t gifted with size, so I had to always find a way to make up for it— with talent and the cerebral side of athleticism.” That philosophy carries over into the family’s pickleball academy, where he trains players from all walks of life. “We’re not just teaching shots—we’re teaching systems.” In other words, he believes in building a strong, cohesive foundation—rather than patching together scattered tips without structure. But when he steps onto the court as a competitor, it’s a different energy. He’s nicknamed “the dragon” for a reason. He’s quiet—until opponents start chirping… and the dragon awakes.

He played football in college on a full scholarship, and when that ended, he dove full-force into racquetball, eventually earning over 20 state titles. He later added mountain biking, MMA, freediving, and motorsports to his resume—racing downhill and enduro events that demanded laser focus and fearless precision. As he rattled off that list, I immediately thought: adrenaline junkie. I asked him about it. “I’m actually not an adrenaline junkie,” Kyle says. “I don’t like to take a lot of risks. It’s all very calculated—I know what it’s like to get injured. I just love testing the limits of human performance. And that’s how I coach.”

WHAT I’M MOST PROUD OF:

“I’m most proud of defying the naysayers in my sports career, that I cannot do certain things…that I wouldn’t be able to play at the college level and so forth… today I’ve accomplished more than I can possibly imagine from an athletic career standpoint.” —Kyle

Photo: Enzo Viso

ELAINA:

THE ENCOURAGER AND CULTURE KEEPER

Known affectionately as “Mary Poppins” by her students, Elaina leads with joy and encouragement—so much so that Kyle teases her for sometimes being “overly positive.”

A former high school PE teacher for over 20 years and longtime soccer coach with nearly three decades of experience, she transitioned naturally into pickleball coaching.

She also founded Arsenal FC Hawaii, a soccer club that remains intentionally small, affordable, and community-driven.Her coaching style—whether on the soccer field or the pickleball court—is rooted in positivity, biomechanics, and human connection. “I came from coaches who weren’t so positive,” she says. Her college softball coach changed that for her. She said “In college, my softball coach was the best coach I ever had. And so I wanted to be just like her. She really connected with the players, always on a positive note.”

Elaina beams when talking about her students. Her proudest moment? “All 16 of my seniors are going to college. Five or six of them are playing soccer. That means everything to me—knowing I had a positive impact on their lives.” But “beyond the X’s and O’s of soccer”, Elaina says “it’s teaching them how to persevere…that it’s okay to try hard and fail, but to never try is actually the failure. Those kinds of life lessons are what I try to teach, and in pickleball too.”

Even though she officially retired from high school soccer, Elaina still coaches after-school pickleball and soccer for elementary students at Mid-Pacific. “It’s just all about fun and getting them maximum touches on the ball, and making new friends and helping them get out of their shell. Some of them are shy…they just need a little push to know that it’s okay to try new things”.

And when asked what success looks like for her, Elaina says, “besides maintaining a high level of play, I want to be able to affect my pickleball students and raise them up and to be as best as they can be. I know that not everyone wants to be a tournament player but just to keep them loving the sport and help them through times where they might doubt themselves.”

She continued, “My other success would be getting to a point where we can share our techniques and our systems beyond the state of Hawaii…to share the pickleball aloha from Hawaii”.

KYLENA:

GRIT, GRACE, AND THE BABY DRAGON

At just 18, Kylena is already a force. A 5.0 pickleball player, high school soccer and flag football standout, she’s collected accolades and injuries in equal measure—and risen stronger every time.

When asked what she’s most proud of beyond the trophies and titles, Kylena doesn’t hesitate.

“I’ve never had a healthy high school

season,” she says.

Freshman year: broken right knee. Sophomore year: broken left knee. Junior year: sprained ACL and MCL. Senior year: sprained ankle. “But I never let it stop me. It actually made me want to heal faster and get back into my sports because sitting on the sideline…I knew I could help out my team and make a big difference if I was out on the field with them.”

She said she’s most proud of “how far I’ve come and how much I’ve been able to persevere and bounce back from all of the setbacks that

I’ve had in my career.”

Explains Elaina, “She had two knee surgeries and on her first knee surgery she couldn’t walk for seven months. She had to learn how to walk again.”

Just three years later, after multiple surgeries and injuries, Kylena not only earned a spot on the Hawaii State Championships All- Tournament Team, but was also named ILH Division 2 Soccer Offensive Player of the Year, and Mid Pacific Institute’s Most Outstanding Female Athlete of the Year.

This competitive streak started young. At just eight years old, tagging along with her dad as he competed in a mountain bike race in

“In all my years of coaching football and coaching in general, this individual is one with all the talent but also thinks about team before herself. She is a once in a lifetime rare athlete.”

— MPI Athletic Director, when naming Kylena the MPI Most Outstanding Female Athlete

Kona Johnny Throwback – Kylena and her first mixed partner, 12-year-old showdown champions.

Idaho, Kylena spontaneously entered a kids’ BMX race. She was the youngest in her age category of 12-year olds, and she competed on a mountain bike.

She didn’t know it at the time, but it happened to be the Idaho State Championship.

She won.

It was an unforgettable moment: an 8-year-old girl from Hawaii, riding a mountain bike and decked out in full race gear, beating a field of 12-year-olds to become Idaho’s state champion—without even being from Idaho.

Another defining moment was at age 12, when she flew to the Big Island to play with a Canadian boy known as “Kona Johnny.” Together, the two small-but-mighty kids made it all the way to the finals—beating six-foot adults along the way.

Her style of play?

Unpredictable, creative, and bold…” a high-risk, high-reward kind of player.” She’s played eight sports in her lifetime—gymnastics, dance, mountain biking, BMX, racquetball, pickleball, soccer, and flag football— and has competed at the highest levels in each.

Her next chapter begins at Chicago State University, where she’ll play Division I soccer and study sports management. In the off-season, Kylena hopes to continue playing pickleball and running clinics in the Windy City.

“My plan is to coach while I’m in college,” she says. “I want to represent Hawaii—and share what we’ve built.”