Pickleball found Carlos Di Laura slowly, then all at once.
Born in Lima, Peru, and raised in Austin, Texas since the age of 10, Carlos grew up on a tennis court. He played Division I at Texas Tech, then jumped into coaching at Utah State. But after years in the sport, the grind wore him down.
“I was burned out,” he says. “I needed a break.” So he stepped away and shifted into the corporate world, taking a digital marketing job and settling into what seemed like a new chapter.
But the game wasn’t done with him yet.
The Accidental Beginning
The first time Carlos heard the word “pickleball,” he was 14 years old. A friend of his dad’s invited them to hit on a tennis court that had been awkwardly retrofitted with tape lines and wooden paddles. “I thought it was super dumb,” Carlos admits. “I was so deep into tennis—I didn’t even hit a ball.”
Fast forward to 2020: Carlos and his wife are visiting her family in California. Her parents had gotten into pickleball and invited him to join their neighborhood crew. “I hit a few balls, but I still didn’t get it,” he says. “I was like, this is kind of silly.”
But when they got back to Austin, everything changed.
Dreamland, a massive entertainment venue just outside the city, had become a hub for the emerging pro pickleball scene. One day, Carlos showed up for open play. “I was doing 3.0 rec games and just crushing people. That’s when I realized…maybe I could actually be decent at this.”
From there, he started climbing. One invite led to another, and suddenly he was surrounded by stronger players. He drilled more, studied more, and began to understand the game on a strategic level. “At first I just wanted to play points. No structure. Just hit. Looking back, I didn’t know how to play at all.”
The more he trained, the more the obsession grew. “Even while I was working full-time, all I could think about was pickleball.”
Turning Point
Like many of the sport’s rising stars, Carlos had to take a leap of faith. In 2022, that leap was forced on him when the company he worked laid off 7,000 employees—and he was one of them.
“I got a decent severance package. I told myself, I’ve got five months. I’m going all in.”
He started playing pro events. He connected more deeply with top players in the area. One of them was Zane Navratil—a player he now trains with daily and calls one of his best friends.
“Zane helped me level up. He’d bring me in for singles drilling, then doubles. If he needed a fourth for a high-level session, he’d invite me. That changed everything.”
Building the Lab
In 2023, he founded The Lab, a high-performance indoor pickleball court and content hub in Austin. “It’s part content studio, part training center,” he says. “We’ve got pros coming in every day. It’s where Zane films all his stuff. It’s where we drill, lift, create, connect.”
Today, The Lab is one of Austin’s go-to facilities for top-level players—part of a grassroots movement to build pro pickleball from the inside out.
Joining the Chicago Slice
In 2024, after signing with the PPA Tour, Carlos became eligible for the MLP Premier Draft. The Chicago Slice—who had finished near the bottom of the Challenger League the season prior—took him with the very last pick. Carlos joined the team officially as a player-coach, and helped reshape the culture. With a roster that includes powerhouse names like James Ignatowich, Callie Smith, and Max Freeman, the Slice have become a unique blend of grit, youth, experience, and controlled chaos.
“It’s a quirky mix,” Carlos says. “But it works.”
The Right Shoe for the Job
As the Official Footwear Partner of the Chicago Slice, SQAIRZ has played a key role in helping Carlos and his teammates move with confidence on the court.
“I’ve always preferred lighter shoes,” Carlos says. “But usually that means you’re sacrificing stability or support. With SQAIRZ, I don’t feel that.”
Carlos was one of the first players to lace up in the XRZ™, SQAIRZ’s performance pickleball shoe built specifically for the lateral speed and stability demands of the sport.
“Right out of the box, I could tell. The comfort was there. The toe box gave me space to move naturally. I wasn’t thinking about my feet. And that’s the best sign.”
What stood out most was the balance. Carlos, who spends hours on court daily and trains with a strength coach two to three times a week, knows how critical it is to avoid injury and stay sharp.
“Other shoes I’ve worn—New Balance, Mizuno, Babolat—they always needed break-in time or felt off. The XRZ™ just worked. It let me play the way I wanted to without thinking.”
The extra stability helped him stay aggressive on the right side of the court, where he thrives baiting attacks and countering with quick backhand hands.
He shares the court and the grind, with his wife, who’s also a signed PPA player for the Texas Ranchers. They were the original duo featured in the SQAIRZ pickleball photo shoot. They share a one year old son. Carlos says “ Our son is the best kid you could ask for.” You can catch him in the stands cheering on Mom and Dad at their next tournament.
Advice for the Next Generation
“If you’re going to go for it—go all in,” Carlos says. “Give yourself a year. Find people who support you. And don’t try to play like anyone else.”
Instead, he urges players to double down on their strengths. “Everyone wants to fix their weaknesses, but sometimes they forget to maximize what makes them great.”
Carlos also keeps it simple on court. “The best matches I’ve played are when I’m relaxed. When I’m having fun. The second I get in my head, the game moves too fast. You have to let yourself play.”
What’s Next?
Carlos knows the sport is still young and so is his window. He doesn’t take any of it for granted.
“I’d love for this to be a full-time thing forever, but I’m also realistic. I’m 31. I’ve got a one-year-old. The game’s going to get younger. That’s why I’m investing in both sides: the business and the game.”
He sees a future where pickleball is an Olympic sport. Where there are junior academies, college teams, and international championships. And he plans to be part of building it—on court, off court, and everywhere in between.
Carlos Di Laura is helping define the future of pickleball—one step, one shot, one breakthrough at a time. And he’s doing it in the shoes built for that future.