Victoria and Valerie Simon of Serve for Strength. By Seán Kinane (2026).
A local pickleball professional is using what could have been a career-ending injury to help other athletes in similar situations to recover.
Valerie Simon is a PPA athlete. She founded a foundation called Serve for Strength with the help of my family after major bone surgery.
“So I have 4 titanium rods in my body, 2 in each ankle, and I want to help as many people as possible,” Simon said. “We’ve started this, we’re officially 501(c)(3) in January now, and we’ve, we’ve done a couple of pickleball fundraisers and raising money for medical research to help prevent all these surgeries and to try and help all people of all ages.”
Serve for Strength puts on fundraisers and awareness events with the help of Valerie’s younger sister, PPA signed pro Victoria, and her mother, Daniella.
“I started playing pickleball when I couldn’t really walk. I was just starting to get back into like being normal again, starting to get back on my feet,” said Valerie Simon. “So the community kind of brought me into it. I met so many nice people that just believed to be my journey and it started as well pickleball for me started as physical therapy. So it was nice to meet so many nice people that helped me get along with my journey.”
In October, they’re holding a pickleball clinic in Riviera Maya, Mexico.
