17-year-old Jalina Ingram recently signed an exclusive contract to play on the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tour and with Major League Pickleball (MLP).
Let’s get to know the teenager.
Childhood and Adoption
Ingram was born in Tucson, Arizona, in 2007. Her birth mother was unable to take care of her, so at the age of six, Jalina was adopted by relatives.
Marion (mother) and Michael (father) are relatives of Jalina’s birth mother and became foster parents to take care of Jalina, before officially adopting her. Marion was born in Trinidad and Tobago and moved to the US and joined the Army. She met Michael in North Carolina, and they have been happily married since.
When they adopted Jalina, Marion and Michael lived in Peoria, Arizona, a northwest suburb of Phoenix. The three have lived in Peoria ever since.
Jalina was officially adopted on National Adoption Day, which the State of Arizona really supports and promotes. When I interviewed Jalina for this piece, I sat down with both Jalina and Marion. The adoption day was very special and memorable for both mother and daughter.
It rained on Saturday, November 23, 2013, the day Jalina was adopted. On average, the greater Phoenix area, only has 36 days of rain per year. The rain made for a beautiful ceremony, and Marion felt like the day was blessed because of the precipitation.
To celebrate, the family went to Disneyland, where they were magically gifted VIP tickets when the staff found out they were celebrating Jalina’s adoption.
Athletics Growing Up
From an early age, Jalina loved sports and wanted to play everything she could. She played soccer, swimming, gymnastics, flag football, and more.
However, once she found tennis, Jalina fell in love. She got a couple of lessons and was hooked. She started training regularly at the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa at the age of seven, and never looked back.
Like most parents of elite level athletes, Marion and Michael made a ton of sacrifices while Jalina was rising through the junior tennis days. Long car rides, weekends in other states, and constant driving to training, engulfed the Ingrams throughout Jalina's youth tennis career.
“Without the support and sacrifice of my mom and dad, there is no way I would have made it as far as I did in tennis.” - Jalina Ingram
Ingram excelled in juniors, winning multiple events. Her junior career was highlighted by an L2 victory in Tucson, Arizona, in February 2020 in Girls 12. She also won an L4 and an L5 in Girls 14, in 2020, as well. Additionally, Ingram won an L4 in doubles, with her partner, Hi’ilani Williams.
Tennis Academy and Burnout
Continuing to progress in tennis, Marion realized Jalina needed to expand her horizons and attend a full-time tennis academy. Jalina spent the summer of 2022 at the renowned John Newcombe Tennis Ranch, in New Braunfels, Texas.
If you are a pickleball fan and saying to yourself, “that sounds familiar,” it should.
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Current pickleball pros Chris Haworth, Hunter and Yates Johnson, and Thomas Wilson, all played at the Newcombe Tennis Ranch, known as one of the best youth academies in the country.
Because of her great play in the summer of 2022 at Newcombe, Jalina was offered a residency in the 2022-2023, which she accepted.
The highlight of her year at the John Newcombe Academy came in March 2023.
Ingram captained the Newcombe Academy team at an L3 event in Tucson, AZ, her birthplace. She went 7-1 on the weekend and won the doubles event.
Shortly after the win, Ingram got burnt out from tennis. Security issues at Newcombe and bullying from academy players caused Marion to worry about her daughter, and she ended up driving to Texas from Arizona to pick Jalina up, and bring her home.
The security issues have since been addressed by the tennis academy, Marion assured me.
However, the damage was done. Jalina moved back to Peoria, and tried to get back into tennis. In October 2023, Jalina played a tennis tournament and as soon as she lost, she knew she was done playing tennis. She had no desire to continue her career in the sport.
Picking up Pickleball
A couple of weeks after deciding to not play tennis anymore, Jalina picked up a pickleball paddle. Marion was looking for a fun way to exercise, and wanted to help Jalina keep her competitive spirit she developed from tennis and continue her athletic career.
They played at their local courts in a neighborhood called Vistancia, and the local players were welcoming and kind. Jalina was hooked. In a quintessential ex-tennis player story, Jalina fell in love with pickleball immediately, and hasn’t looked back.
As she continued to play, she got better play and eventually ended up visiting the Surprise City courts. It is one of the best public places for regular amateur open play in the country. If you just show up on a random Saturday, there is a good chance you will find multiple 5.0 players.
It was at the Surprise courts where Jalina met the Lams - Larry Lam and Mikki Lieu. Jalina made great strides through playing with the Lams and quickly progressed in the game through playing with them. The Lams are a very well known pickleball family in Arizona, and their son 16-year-old son is a rising star in the game as well.
Through mutual contacts, Jalina started taking private lessons through David Furman, a local senior pro with a storied history in the game. She has continued to train with Furman to this day, and credits him with a lot of her progression to the pro level.
Furman introduced the Ingrams to Grand Canyon University (GCU) club player, Kale Klein, who was instrumental in introducing her to a lot of the local Arizona pros and making connections.
Professional Pickleball
The title of this article is Jalina Ingram - A Story of New Beginnings. I bet you can guess where Jalina made her pro pickleball debut.
The JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort and Spa. The place she took her first tennis lessons at the age of seven. So many things in Jalina’s life and athletic career seem to have come full circle for her.
In the 2024 PPA Desert Ridge Open, Jalina made her pro pickleball debut at the age of 16. She made it out of qualifiers in singles, and beat Madeline Saunders in the Round of 64. Dominique Schaefer withdrew, and Jalina made it to the round of 16 and lost to Liz Truluck, 7-11, 2-11. Quite a performance for a 16-year-old who had picked up a paddle less than six months prior, playing in her first ever pro event.
Since then, Jalina has seen her star rise, culminating in her signing with the PPA Tour recently.
Some of Jalina’s best singles and wins and results, since beginning pro pickleball:
- October 2024 - Win over Alex Walker, 2-11, 11-6, 11-6
- February 2025 - Win over Helena Spiridis, 11-3, 11-6
- March 2025 - Win over Alix Truong, 11-6, 11-1
- March 2025 - Win over Genie Bouchard, 11-6, 12-10
In doubles, Ingram has made it out of qualifiers multiple times throughout the last year in both mixed and gender doubles. Her best doubles win was against Tatiana Ruhl and Juan Benitez, with her partner, Rio Newcombe.
Additionally, Jalina and James Kaoma were the only mixed doubles team to take a game off of Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns in the Cape Coral Open, in March. They lost the match, 2-11, 11-7, 2-11.
Sights Set on the Future
Ingram is graduating from high school at the Arizona Connections Academy later this month. She is going to start college at Estrella Mountain Community College and pursue a degree in communications.
Marion is the type of mother who has instilled an excellent drive for excellence and the ability to always have a backup plan. Once her pro pickleball career is over, Jalina will be ready for the next chapter in her life.
Just four months ago, Ingram triple crowned at the PPA Tour Masters, in the 5.0 level in each event:
In terms of pickleball, now that she is playing exclusively on the PPA Tour, Ingram has set new goals for herself:
- Become a Top 20 Singles player on the PPA Tour by the end of the year and make a semi-final (she is already 29th in The Race Points)
- Find a high-level regular women’s doubles partner she can train and grow with
- Ingram feels her mixed doubles game is very good, and wants to make the quarter-finals of a PPA Tour main draw event by the end of the year
Jalina is playing and training with a bunch of local Arizona pros as often as she can. Players like Lindsey Newman, Andre Mercado, Jace Morris, Jace Howard, Daria Walczak, Angie and Alex Walker, and Graig Johnson.
Future Potential
Kyle Koszuta, aka That Pickleball Guy, and one of the most trusted educational pickleball content creators in the space, has trained with Ingram a few times and when asked about her skills, had this to say:
“I saw her a year ago and played with her a couple of weeks ago. In that year in between, her rise has been incredible. If she continues training and progressing at the rate she has over the last year, she is going to be a top star in pickleball.” - Kyle Koszuta
Erik Tice
I see the same thing Koszuta does in Ingram. She is an elite athlete and has a ton of power from both wings. If she continues working hard and finding better partners, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jalina is top 20 in all three categories by the end of 2026. From there? Who knows where this new beginning takes the rising star.
