Tama Shimabukuro is a 15-year-old from Hawaii who just became one of the youngest champions in pro pickleball history — and he got there without ever picking up a tennis racquet. Before the paddle, he was a sponsored skateboarder. This is the story of how a kid from Honolulu traded a board for a pickleball court and wound up a world champion. — Jason Regan, Regan Family Pickleball
The 30-second version
- 15 years old, born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii.
- Was a sponsored skateboarder (Nike, RVCA, Zero) with Olympic dreams — not a tennis player.
- Found pickleball by accident on a skate trip — bought cheap paddles at Target and set up a net on the street.
- Now a 2026 Pickleball World Championships men’s doubles champion at 15.
Who is Tama Shimabukuro?
Shimabukuro is a teenage phenom out of the Kaka’ako neighborhood of Honolulu. Unlike most of the pros he now shares a court with, he didn’t come up through tennis or junior racquet sports — he came from skateboarding, and he was seriously good at it.
From skate phenom to pickleball court
He started skating at age 6 after watching his older brother, Tahje, and was good enough to land sponsorships from Nike, RVCA, ROKA and Zero Skateboards, earn an invite to the famous Berrics skatepark in Los Angeles, and set his sights on the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. His idols were skate legends like Nyjah Huston and Yuto Horigome.
Pickleball found him almost by accident. As he told pickleball.com, on a skateboarding trip to Southern California his family saw people playing and wanted in: “We went to Target, got some cheap paddles and a net, and just set it up on the road.” Back home in Hawaii they kept playing at Mother Waldron Park — and before long the board gave way to the paddle for good.
A rapid rise
Shimabukuro climbed fast. He broke out with a run to the singles final at the Atlanta Pickleball Championships, earned a multi-year PPA Tour contract while still just 14, and was named to Team Asia International for the MLP Nations Cup. His athleticism and fearless hands — honed on a skateboard, not a baseline — make him one of the most watchable young players in the sport.
World champion at 15
The breakthrough came at the 2026 Pickleball World Championships, the biggest event on the calendar. Partnering veteran JW Johnson, Shimabukuro helped erase a two-game deficit in the men’s doubles final — winning three straight to take gold against Christian Alshon and Andrei Daescu. At 15, in just his fifth event with Johnson, he was a world champion.
What’s next
He’s only getting started. With a global pickleball calendar expanding into Asia and beyond, Shimabukuro is set to be a fixture for the next decade. For young New England players, there’s a real lesson in his story: you don’t need a tennis background to fall in love with this game — you just need a paddle and a court. See more of the names shaping the pro game at Pro Corner, and explore the gear the pros trust on our paddles hub.
