Simone Jardim, Kyle Yates, and John Gullo will be inducted to the Pickleball Hall of Fame on November 14th in Mesa, AZ
The Pickleball Hall of Fame has announced the addition of two Players and one Contributor to comprise the Class of 2024. In the Player Category the two individuals selected are Simone Jardim and Kyle Yates with John Gullo earning the honor in the Contributor Category.
“The Pickleball Hall of Fame is honored to welcome these pickleball legends and salute these individuals for their outstanding contributions to the game,” said Stu Upson, Pickleball Hall of Fame President. “Simone and Kyle have had tremendous success at the professional level while John has been a pioneer in the development our professional game.”
SIMONE JARDIM was born in Santa Maria, Brazil and came to the United States to attend college on a tennis scholarship. She continued in the tennis world as an assistant coach at Fresno State and College of William and Mary before rising to the head coach position at Michigan State University.
She became a professional pickleball player in 2016 and won her first singles title at her first U.S. Open Pickleball Championship. She captured triple crown titles at the U.S. Open in both 2017 and 2018. In 2019, she won another singles title and won gold in the mixed division with fellow future Hall of Famer, Kyle Yates.
In 2021, she was ranked No. 1 in women’s doubles with partner, Lucy Kovalova. In 2023, she again won the U.S. Open women’s doubles with Paris Todd and was named Female Doubles Player of the Year by the APP.
KYLE YATES, the youngest member of the hall at age 29, was born in Florida and played soccer and tennis as a youth. He developed a love for the game of pickleball and in his first entry to formal competition in 2014, won singles at the So Cal Classic. He followed that up at the USA Pickleball National Championships where he won gold in doubles. By 2016, Kyle won the grand slam of men’s pro doubles by winning the U.S. Open, the Tournament of Champions, and the USAP National Championships.
His reign of victories continued with 7 U.S. Open pro doubles titles, 2 Tournament of Champions pro doubles titles, and 4 USAP National Championships pro doubles and was named the world No. 1 doubles player by the WPF in 2018
Kyle continues feeding his competitive juices by playing on the APP tour, often teaming with fellow inductee, Simone Jardim, in mixed competitions, has competed in five seasons of MLP, and is currently playing for the Brisbane Breakers MLP Australia team.
JOHN GULLO is well known as a pickleball ambassador for Northern Utah and for his role in establishing The Tournament of Champions as the first and highest paying tournament for professionals. Under Gullo’s guidance, the Brigham City courts (originally called the Gullo Pickleball Grotto in 2009) were tripled in size, including a championship court and bleachers, as the Tournament of Champions grew in numbers and popularity. “The Father of Professional Pickleball” always had the player and the player experience as his primary focus. The Tournament of Champions was the first to pay referees and the first to live stream a pickleball tournament.
Gullo was also responsible for establishing pickleball in 10 Utah cities, and today there are over 360 busy pickleball courts in Northern Utah. Gullo’s establishment of the American Dream Foundation was instrumental in engaging teenagers to play pickleball, donating over $25,000 in scholarships for Junior events at The Tournament of Champions.
Visit the Pickleball Hall of Fame website for more information.
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