Despite an inauspicious start in the fledgling All Florida Pro League, the St. Pete Iceburgs have rebounded and are playoff-bound. After losing their first three matches, they
are 4-5.
Carlos Zambrano, the former pro at the Racquet Club of St. Petersburg who now is in that role with the Lakewood Ranch Country Club, put the team together. Victoria Shinkaretzky and Grayson Hall are from St. Petersburg with Maksims Kazijevs and Simon Le Xiong from Delray Beach.
“We didn’t have a good start, so we didn’t have the biggest expectations going forward, but they’ve all grown,” Zambrano said. “They play at the highest level.”
In a recent overtime win, Shinkaretzky and Kazijevs teamed up for a pivotal victory over the Miami Blaze.
“I saw Maks and I loved his game,” Zambrano said of selecting Kazijevs during a preseason combine. “He’s probably the quickest player I’ve ever seen. He’s just a very fast player.”
On the other end of the spectrum is Shinkaretzky, a relative newcomer who has played pickleball for less than a year.
“She’s so good in such a short time,” the coach said. A former standout in tennis at Palm Harbor University who twice advanced to states in No. 1 doubles, Shinkaretzky got her start in pickleball by playing with friends’ grandparents at courts in Dunedin and Largo.
“I had a few people tell me, ‘You’re pretty good,’” she recollected, adding, “I realized I could keep up with (top-notch) players.”
While some captains in the first-year league play on the court as well, Zambrano, ranked as a 5.3 DUPR player, focuses solely on coaching.
“I’m a very passionate player, so I could do both (well),” Zambrano reasoned, adding that he is “learning more about how the mind of a good player works. You want them to play free and have fun, and it always comes down to the basics.”
Like most coaches in the league, Zambrano often encourages his players to occasionally take some time off.
“All of my athletes are pickleball addicts,” he said, noting that they practice daily and play in weekend tournaments. “Sometimes I’ve got to tell them to take a day off. Forget about
pickleball for a little bit and come back fresh.”
Like many pickleball players, Zambrano has a background in tennis as well as golf. At 26 he relishes coaching in the AFPL but some day envisions coaching pickleball at the college level.
Like Zambrano, Hall, a former volleyball player, and Shinkaretzky are glad to be playing on the state’s pro circuit.
“It really is such a fun sport,” Shinkaretzky said.
By Steve Lee
Times Total Media Correspondent
Photos courtesy of Carlos Zambrano
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