La Cocina Pickleball co-founder and CMO Carlos Zambrano was introduced to pickleball in 2021. Since then, and like so many others, the Venezuelan-born entrepreneur has become obsessed with the sport and is now transforming his passion into a business focused on growing the game in Spanish communities.
In August of 2022, Zambrano’s involvement with pickleball began to ramp up to what he refers to as a “full on addiction”, paving the way for the inspiration to launch La Cocina Pickleball.
“I think in life and in the world of social media and the internet, people have lost a sense of community since we are on our phones all the time,” said Zambrano. “The only way people have a way to engage with each other is going to bars and drinking. I think pickleball is bringing a cool, fun way and healthy way for people to come together.”
With a gap in well-executed, Spanish pickleball content, Zambrano and co-founders Jose Bravo (CEO), Juan Jose De Benito (COO) and Jhonnaten Medina Alvarez (Partnerships) got to work, launching the La Cocina Pickleball brand in the early months of 2023.
Life comes at you quickly, and despite launching just six months ago, the La Cocina crew found themselves centre field at the Miami Marlins’ Pickleball Day powered by La Cocina event last month.
“The most exciting venture so far was about two weeks ago,” added Zambrano. “We were able to sponsor the Miami Marlins Pickleball Day in the city of Miami, Florida. That was super cool. We have a group of ambassadors that work with us—Judit Castillo, Jhonnatan Medina Alvarez, Glauka Caravajal Lane.
“They were playing exhibition games against other PPA (Professional Pickleball Association) tour players and they were playing with all the people that came to the event, so it was just super cool to go to an event of that magnitude and seeing how much the Marlins corporate office liked the event.”
Next up, La Cocina Pickleball plans to continue producing content for people interested in picking up the sport, as well as providing updates on pickleball’s professional tours, hosting live events and building courts, as well as working with other communities to create ambassador programs.
“The mission is to promote the sport in every corner of the world that people speak Spanish,” added Zambrano. “From Spain to Cuba to Venezuela, anywhere. Basically, it’s just to promote the sport in every corner of the world and I don’t know if I’m crazy but I do think that as Steve Kuhn, the MLP founder said, I think pickleball can make the world a better place. The only way we can do it is by teaching people and creating that great community through quality events and quality content.”
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