Camila Zilveti's global life, 98 countries and counting in pickleball

Camila Zilveti does not read like a standard pro profile. At 29, she is chasing 100 countries before her 30th birthday in September, and that global footprint gives her pickleball story a travel-forward edge that feels tailor-made for destination retreats. Raised across languages and borders, she brings the kind of worldliness that can change how a clinic feels from the first drill to the final dinner.

A player shaped by movement

Zilveti’s background starts long before pickleball entered the picture. Her parents were early backpackers who traveled internationally before the internet era and before Google Translate, atlas in hand, and she grew up in Guatemala with German, Spanish, and English around her at home. She did not speak English until she was 13, a detail that says as much about adaptation as it does about language.

That same adaptability shows up in the way her life has unfolded. Pickleball.com says she attended the University of Texas at Austin and graduated with a degree in international relations and business, then spent time in the Netherlands, returned to Texas, studied abroad in Spain, and later moved to Sweden for marketing work after graduation. Even after coming back to Austin during COVID, she kept traveling, kept collecting new places, and kept building the kind of perspective that now makes her stand out in pickleball circles.

She now calls Austin, Texas, home, and Pickleball.com lists her as a pro since 2022. The profile also notes that she is 5-foot-4, right-handed, and has a long racquet-sport foundation that stretches through squash, tennis, racquetball, and ping pong, along with competitive volleyball, an 18 handicap in golf, and annual skiing trips. That athletic mix helps explain why her game and her personality travel so well.

How she found pickleball, and Brian Kerr

Her pickleball origin story is rooted in Austin too. According to Pickleball.com’s player profile, she started playing about two years ago at the Pan Am courts on the east side of Austin, then quickly fell for the sport. She also fell for Brian, her mixed doubles partner, and the two later married in Ha Long Bay, Vietnam, on a boat at sunset.

That progression matters because it shows how closely her personal and pickleball lives overlap. A player who can turn a local court session into a partnership, then a global wedding in Vietnam, brings a different kind of energy to the sport. She is not just a pro who travels; she is someone whose life, relationships, and athletic identity are all shaped by the same instinct to move, adapt, and connect.

A March 11, 2025 Pickleball.com feature already pointed to that larger-than-life quality, noting that she had visited more than 85 countries and that she had made a denim jacket embroidered with a world map and country flags she adds as she travels. A later Pickleball.com item about pros on break in the PPA Tour schedule described her as arguably the most well-traveled pro player and said she spent a trip in Nicaragua sandboarding down a volcano with her mom and brother. The pattern is clear: travel is not a side note in her story, it is part of the main storyline.

Why a global pro changes the retreat experience

That is exactly why Zilveti is such a compelling case study for pickleball retreats. A player with 98 countries behind her does more than run drills. She can shape a retreat atmosphere that feels broader, warmer, and more culturally aware, especially for guests who want more than court time and a buffet line.

In a retreat setting, her background could translate into a few concrete advantages:

• Destination clinics with context. A pro who has lived in Guatemala, studied in the Netherlands and Spain, and worked in Sweden can naturally connect the sport to place, helping guests understand not just how to play, but how to experience where they are.

• Guest experience that feels personal. Her multilingual comfort and international upbringing suggest an ease with mixed groups, different accents, and players arriving with different expectations, which is exactly what makes a destination retreat feel smooth instead of scripted.

• Cultural immersion beyond the courts. Someone who names India for its food, culture, people, and intensity, and Colombia for its vibe, food, and architecture, is likely to appreciate the non-pickleball parts of a getaway in ways that matter to travelers.

• A more human pro-led format. A retreat led by a player with this kind of background can feel less like a lesson package and more like a shared experience, with travel stories, local curiosity, and a broader sense of connection baked in.

Her favorite destinations reinforce that point. She has spoken highly of India, describing it as unforgettable because of the food, culture, people, and intensity of the experience. She also recalled a hostel encounter there that led to an invitation to a wedding with 600 guests and a four-day celebration, the kind of story that makes a retreat coach feel like a guide to the world as much as a guide to the game. Colombia also stands out for her, especially for the vibe, the food, and the architecture.

The sport around her is getting bigger and more international

Zilveti’s appeal lands at a time when pickleball itself is spreading fast. USA Pickleball’s 2025 Annual Growth Report says the Pickleheads database now lists 82,613 total known courts in the United States, including 14,155 new courts added in 2024. The Sports & Fitness Industry Association says approximately 24.3 million Americans played pickleball in 2025, a 22.8 percent jump from 2024, which helps explain why players with distinctive backstories are resonating with a bigger audience.

The professional calendar is widening too. The PPA Tour’s 2026 schedule includes international events in New Zealand, China, Japan, Italy, Singapore, Vietnam, Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Canada. That matters because the more the sport travels, the more value a global-minded pro brings to clinics, retreats, and fan-facing events.

Zilveti fits that shift almost perfectly. She is a U.S.-based pro with international roots, a multilingual upbringing, a racquet-sport base, and a travel record that already stretches to 98 countries. Put that profile in a retreat environment and the result is more than coaching. It becomes a model for how pickleball can feel when the instructor brings the world with her.

And that is the real takeaway from her story: the closer she gets to 100 countries, the more she shows how a great pickleball experience can be built not just on forehands and footwork, but on perspective, place, and a life lived far beyond the baseline.