Meet the 2025 Team

Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Aye is known for her fiery singles game, tactical mindset, and unshakable grit. A lifelong athlete, she played Division I tennis at Tulane University and also grew up competing in soccer—experiences that laid the foundation for her movement, discipline, and competitive drive on the pickleball court. 

She discovered pickleball while helping her best friend through cancer—a journey that not only deepened her perspective on life but sparked a new passion that turned into a professional career. With over five years on the pro tour, she’s earned multiple podium finishes and is widely respected for her singles dominance and smart, strategic doubles play. 

She balances elite competition with coaching, international teaching, and running a thriving functional medicine practice, where she’s committed to helping people live healthier, fuller lives. Passionate about her roots, she regularly spends time in Thailand—teaching, training, and staying connected to the culture and community that continue to inspire her. 

Off the court, her favorite place to be is with her two dogs, Allie and Niko. Her guiding belief in both medicine and sport: What happens to you matters to you—because every experience shapes how we show up, heal, and compete.

Michael Chen is a co-founder of the National Pickleball League, LLC (www.nplpickleball.com), which is the first ever professional pickleball league focused on team play for Champions Pros (Age 50+) representing currently 12 cities across the USA.  

He also is the CEO of Chen & Associates, an advisory services firm focused on the financial services, media, aviation, and sports industry, and his firm was instrumental in assisting with the restructuring of Bridgewater Associates in 2022.    

He currently serves on the board of Grace Farms Foundation (www.gracefarms.org) and Board of Finance for the Town of New Canaan.  

From 2012-2013, he was a Management Committee Advisor and Strategic Partner to the Chief Investment Officer at Bridgewater Associates. 

From 2011-2012, he was the President of NBC News’ Strategic Initiatives Group and served on the Board of Directors for The Weather Channel.  

Prior to joining NBC News, Michael was a GE Officer and President & CEO of GE Capital’s Media, Communications, and Entertainment (MCE) business from 2006-2010.  

He also created and was the Chairman of the Board of the Peacock Equity Fund from 2006-2010, which was a digital media fund supported by GE and NBC Universal. The fund was sold to Comcast successfully in 2011. 

Michael started his career at IBM in finance and spent 12 years at GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS), where he was the Manager Director, North America of GECAS from 1999-2006.   

Michael has been featured in Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. and was named one of the best salespeople in America in the best-selling book “Secrets of Great Rainmakers,” by Jeffrey Fox. 

He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rochester and an MBA in Finance from the SC Johnson School of Business at Cornell University.  He was born in New York City and currently lives in Connecticut with his wife Jeanette.   They have four grown boys, and one granddaughter.

Amy is a litigation attorney who became a pickleball addict in 2020 when her son suggested she give it a try. Amy’s skills as a former college tennis player quickly transitioned to pickleball wins at tournaments. Amy loves introducing family and friends to her love of the game and also helping the community come together to play pickleball and support various causes such as Big Brother Big Sister. Amy resides in Houston with her spouse, two sons and three dogs.

Ellen was born in Kyiv, Ukraine and immigrated to South Florida with her family when she was 5 years old. She was a top 10 junior tennis player in Florida and went on to play college tennis at the George Washington University in D.C.  Ellen then attended law school at the University of Miami and has been practicing as a litigation attorney in Miami for the last 26 years.

Ellen had been playing beach volleyball when one of the women she played with introduced her to pickleball in October, 2019. Immediately, the tennis and the beach volleyball were replaced by pickleball. It was a perfect fit. Ellen loves the strategy involved with pickleball; she enjoys coming up with game plans based on the tendencies of her opponents and the strengths and weaknesses of her partner. Ellen believes that her immigrant grit, her lawyer logic, and her tennis skills all combine to make her a formidable pickleball player.

Ellen is particularly looking forward to playing for the Houston Hammers and being part of a team. Rumor has it that she memorized the theme song within a week of the announcement that she was drafted by the team and has been proudly singing it to anyone who will listen.

From Ogden, Utah.  I have been playing pickleball for 11 years now and just had my 30th Anniversary April 1st!  My wife Melissa, pushed me to to chase my dream and now I am a Houston Hammers.   I have three children, my son Treyten is running our restaurant Tokyo Station, so I can pursue my pickleball dream.  We also have twins –  Kyra is getting her Master’s degree and Jaxsen is working for Beta. We also have a grandchild name Theo who is 3 years old and keeps us on our toes!  So proud of my family cause we are good people and good things happen to good people!  So excited for this year with Houston Hammers!

Lance Cowart was born and raised in Dallas, Texas.  He played college tennis at Abilene Christian University earning All American honors.  Lance went on to earn an ATP world tennis ranking in both singles and doubles.  Post playing tennis, he went on to enjoy a 25 year career In medical sales, retiring in 2022 in executive leadership.  Lance found pickleball in 2022 and decided to go all in accepting a fulltime position with USA Pickleball.  Lance currently is the Managing Director of National Championships for USA Pickleball acting as tournament director for all the golden ticket events and the USA Pickleball National Championships. 

Lance credits all his success to his wife, Angie, of 34 years.  They have 2 children, Conner and Katherine who are twins and 26 years old.

Missy Grant is a highly accomplished athlete and fitness professional based in Birmingham, Alabama. During her college years, she played tennis at Auburn University where she was ranked #2 on the team and at Flagler College on the national championship team for two consecutive years.

After her college years, Missy became a triathlete and found her calling as a Pilates teacher and coach. She started pickleball during Covid and has not looked back!

Mary Beth grew up in Tomball, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston.  As a fightin’ Texas Aggie (undergraduate class of ’93 and masters in ‘08), she has worked for Texas A&M University for 24 years, as professor of Kinesiology and Sports Management.   

Her first loves are her husband, Neil, and son, Tyler.  Her second love is of course – PICKLEBALL. She found pickleball in 2018 and has directed over 20 tournaments and is the co-advisor for the A&M pickleball club team.  She is also the USA Pickleball Ambassador.  She is a 5th generation Texan; lives on a farm North of Houston; owns 12 Nigerian Dwarf Goats, 4 dogs, 2 cats, and a handful of free-range chickens.  Her nickname is the ball crusher (ask her about this unique story); she can juggle and can do the worm, but not at the same time. and loves a good campfire.  Her personal philosophy –Live life to the fullest, LOVE with all your might, and include laughter every day, even if it’s at yourself … As a breast cancer survivor, she is always grateful for each day on earth and feels EXTREMELY blessed to represent H-TOWN and to be a part of this Houston Hammers organization.

Helen is originally from England, but moved to the US as a child and became a US citizen in 1983. She was a collegiate tennis player, and won several USTA national tennis titles with her father, Ken Crump, and her daughter, Rachel Thompson. After having hip replacement surgery when she was 46, she was looking for a sport that was less damaging to her body. Her father introduced her to pickleball in 2018, and she has been actively playing the senior tour since then. Helen has been a proud member of Team Engage since 2018.

Kim has been playing pickleball since 2019, when his partner, Helen Wilhelm, convinced him to finally try it. Helen knew Kim would be a “natural”, because Kim was a standout collegiate tennis player at SMU,with his team placing second, third and fifth in the NCAA tournament from
1982-1984; and he individually was a southwest conference champion. After college, Kim endeavored on a career in professional tennis, achieving world rankings in singles and doubles. After retiring from tennis, Kim pursued his other passion of food and entertainment. Kim is a
restaurateur owning several establishments, including Sambuca, the Rayleigh Underground, and Lawless.

Andrew Painter was a doubles specialist on the ATP Tour & appeared in the men’s doubles main draw of the Australian Open 3 times, Wimbledon 3 times and the US Open.  Best result  was qualifying and making the second round of the 1998 Wimbledon Doubles Championships.

His big career highlight was qualifying in singles as a teenager at the Wimbledon Championships in 1995 and facing top seed & number 1 in the world Andre Agassi in the opening round.

He made 1 ATP Tour Event final and won 5 ATP Challenger doubles titles during his career which spanned from 1994-2002.

After retiring from the ATP Tour he worked at Lakes Tennis Academy for 12 yrs running the junior elite tennis program, traveling with juniors, TCD and adult programming. 

He began playing pickleball in 2022 and started playing some PPA Pro Tour events in 2023.

He has 3 PPA Titles in men’s 5.0 doubles and 5.0 Mixed doubles & has qualified for main draw of 2 PPA Pro mixed doubles events. 

Andrew was born in Australia and since retiring in 2002 from the ATP Tour  has resided in Frisco and now Prosper. He is a full time real estate agent with the Painter Jackson Group @ Compass RE & enjoys teaching private lessons/clinics and corporate events. 

Hal Martin is an entrepreneur and owner of Hal Martin’s Watch and Jewelry. He is also the managing partner and owner of Pickleball Country Club. Hal has been playing pickleball for the past 7 years, winning gold and silver medals along the way. He is an ambassador for USA Pickleball, a charter member of the Professional Pickleball Registry (PPR), and a certified professional. Hal has brought his love of pickleball to the community in Punta Mita, Mexico, where he has taught clinics, helped organize tournaments, and even won the club championship.