About Us

Gary Levinson, President

I am a Colorado native living with my wife, Tibby for the last 39 years outside of Denver on the High Plains. We have a little acreage and a Santa Fe style strawbale home that I built in 1998. At the age of 22, in 1974, after 12 years of training in Judo and Karate, I opened a Karate Academy in Denver, Colorado. Over the following years, the school grew into one of the largest in Denver. During that period, I lived at the school and taught classes early in the morning, throughout the afternoon, and into the evenings.

The time between classes allowed me to begin investing in small apartment buildings. I purchased properties, rehabilitated them, and sold them at a profit, repeating this process over many years. During this time, I also founded Key Management, Inc., a property management company that provided oversight for out-of-state owners. I sold my interest in the Karate Academy and went full time in real estate receiving a Broker’s license.

I had met Tibby during this time and we were married in 1978. My Broker’s license was only used to purchase and sell my own properties until Tibby’s father, Bill Wehmiller (see one of the courts dedicated to him), asked me to negotiate for him with the Urban Renewal Authority. He had moved his business into a fringe of downtown Denver several years before and needed to focus on his business. I realized that I needed to enhance the value from what some saw as Skid Row to what I saw as its potential. I spent the next 18 months I convincing 13 of the 15 owners (many of which had been in their location for decades) that this was possible and 6 more months to get it closed. This was enough land for a developer to build a 40 story tower thereby increasing the value for the property owners more than five fold from $10-$20 up to $100 per square foot. Most of my real estate closing have been assemblages where I could enhance the land value for the sellers, some apartment buildings and of course my own properties that I continued to purchase, fix up and sell. I quit managing other people’s properties.

During this time also I helped Tibby start New Image Studio of Dance and later Flamingo Junction which she had for 15 years. This was a high end hair salon in Denver in which Tibby did Computer Hair Imaging …. (if curious she can explain better than I).

Periodically thru the 90’s we began coming to San Carlos to visit Tibby’s father who had moved here full time. Of course we were enchanted and purchased a lot on the water in 2001. Colorado and work still had its tenacles on us until we built in 2012. From then on we are here 9 months per year.

We were fortunate to “discover” this new sport called Pickleball when Tibby was introduced to it by Karen Stewart in 2014-15. There were only private courts around town at that time until some very forward thinking folks created the 6 pickleball courts from 2 decrepit tennis courts at Mirador. These were soon outgrown and now our wonderful 14 court jewel here in San Carlos. Tibby and I were able to help financially as very many have, with our present courts but until now all of the hard work was done by so many others. I have just recently decided that I could be of service to SCPC at this time furthering the dream as we enter the final push to finish our facility. I love that Pickleball has brought together the expats and the Mexican community for what is most important. That is Community first, Exercise second and third finally of little importance, the Score (i.e. whether the game was won or lost). I look forward to continuing this realized dream for the future of Pickleball and the future of San Carlos for generations to come. Thank you for your trust and support.

Kelly and her husband, Scott spent 11 winters living aboard their boat while sailing the Sea of Cortez. When Covid hit in 2020 and closed the ports, they wintered at Marina San Carlos. They quickly fell in love with the town, bought a house, became permanent residents, and moved here full-time in 2021.

Kelly holds a business degree in Operations Management, and a minor in Accounting from Colorado State University. She spent most of her career as a contract bookkeeper with multiple clients, while she also owned and operated an Embroidery and Screen Printing Business, as well as a Food Truck Business.

Kelly started playing pickleball in December 2021, and immediately became addicted. Her other activities (church, cards, softball) have had to take a back seat to her love for the game.

Originally from Chihuahua, Mexico, I have made Guaymas my home for over 15 years.

With academic degrees in International Relations and Law, I have been working in the real estate industry since 2019 as part of the Coldwell Banker Encantado team in San Carlos.

This career allows me to stay professionally active while also being present for my family.

I was the Secretary of AMPI (Real Estate Association) for the last 2 years (while Carlos was the President) and look forward to working with the San Carlos Pickleball Club as Secretary.

I’m passionate about outdoor sports, music, and enjoying quality time with family and friends.

Fabian Sanchez, Construction Committee

I was born in Durango, but my family moved to San Carlos when I was just six months old. San Carlos has been my home for 48 wonderful years, and I wouldn’t trade it for any place in the world. I absolutely love my San Carlitos.

My pickleball journey began during the COVID pandemic, thanks to an invitation from Ron Halverson and Karen Stewart. Later, Terry and Angie Parmely made it their mission to get my wife, Fabiola, and me completely hooked on the game — and they succeeded!

I graduated from Civil Engineering in 2001 and have been at Sanchez Arquitectura ever since.

I’m proud to have been part of the team that helped build the Club’s walls and prepared the ground for the courts’ construction. Now, I am a Board Member and want to continue building this beautiful community.

Fabiola and I share a competitive spirit in every sport we play, always striving to improve. Personally, one of my goals is to sharpen my skills at the net and continue enjoying the journey of becoming a better player.

Karen Stewart

Karen has been involved in organizing and supporting pickleball in the community since even before we were playing at Mirador. She helped arrange tournaments and other fun events for the pickleball community when we were still scattered at courts around town. She helped get the Mirador courts started and joined the newly formed board as VP at that time.

Karen started, and has owned, Seaside Realty since 2006. She also owned several businesses throughout her career, including ERA Town and Country Realty, Gifts Remembered, and a Campground at Woodland Park.

She has lived all over the world (Paris!), and has called San Carlos home for the last 20 years.

Carlos Dessens, past President

Carlos is from Guaymas. He is an Industrial Engineer, and has certifications in Administration. Carlos is co-owner of Vive Real Estate. He previously co-owned a sheet metal fabrication company with 250 employees in multiple locations.

Carlos Joined the Board in 2020 and was President until the end of 2025.

Christa Thomas, past Vice President

Christa was a business law lawyer, and partner in a firm in Toronto, Ontario. She had several not-for-profit clients and served on one of their boards.

In 2009, she started What’s Up San Carlos, and continues to update the community on What’s up in San Carlos with a weekly newsletter, website and Facebook.

Since moving to San Carlos in 2006, she has volunteered with several of the local charities, including helping several with their websites. For 4 years, she was on the board of Pro San Carlos / Pueblo Escenico, now the San Carlos Foundation.

Christa worked on turning the rundown Mirador tennis courts into pickleball courts and joined the newly formed board as secretary in 2017 and became Vice President in 2022. Christa does communications for the pickleball club, including the website and newsletter.

Christa was Vice-President until the end of 2025.

In 2011, James relocated to the mountains of Colorado serving as the Athletic Director for the City of Glenwood Springs. He quickly got to work creating a Pickleball program in his town and was asked to become the District Ambassador for the Rocky Mountain Region. He created the Western Slope Tournament series, Directed tournaments for the surrounding communities, and was later hired as a consultant for new Pickleball programs. He brought pro-level instructors to develop and teach workshops, helped create an official referee certification for the USAPA, and played in many tournaments along the way.

In 2018, James made the crazy decision to sell everything and move to a small, beach town that we all know and love. He was immediately embraced by the Pickleball community and took a position on the Board. As a Board member, he was responsible for directing many smaller tournaments and round robin events, co-directing the larger events, conducting free skills and drills workshops, giving private lessons, and bringing pros to the area to teach workshops. Ben Johns, Christine McGrath, Coach David Alexander, Helle Sparre, Scott Crandall, and Irina Tereschenko have all made visits to our town. In 2020, James was asked to step up into the role of el Presidente. His mission as President was to purchase land for the construction and expansion of the San Carlos Pickleball Club.

Sue really helped grow the sport in San Carlos by getting the 6 courts at Miramar built, forming the club and starting the very popular Sombrero Showdown pickleball tournament.

Debbie Forrester, past Secretary

As a “founding” pickleball player in San Carlos (2011), Debbie has been a part of its growth since before the first private court was built. She then organized play, orchestrated the first tournament, and later became a member on the first official board for San Carlos Pickleball Club.

She has spent hundreds of hours teaching pickleball and running clinics, round robins and tournaments, including the fun Amigos Cup.

Debbie also just ended a 3 year Board position on United States Senior Pickleball, formerly SSIPA, and has been a USAPA Ambassador for 10 years.

In her working life, she owned a pharmacy, managed a mail order pharmacy, and was administrator of a hospital.

Debbie played for 20 years on the women’s pro and national handball circuit, winning 2 world titles and 5 national titles.

She has enjoyed working on the San Carlos Pickleball Board since it’s inception and seeing the growth of pickleball in our community.

Theresa was a teacher, coach, and High School Athletic Director in Colorado before retiring part-time to San Carlos.

She has been helping the pickleball community since before we were playing at Mirador and has been on the Board since its inception. She organized tournaments for us when we were still playing at courts all over town. She also ran or helped run the Great Plains Regional Tournament in Colorado Springs for 5 years. At Mirador, Theresa ran the very popular Sombrero Showdown and many other smaller tournaments for the Club. She has also given many clinics and lessons to beginners, for free.

Ryan Kuiken

Ryan joined the pickleball board in late 2021. In 2023, he worked alongside James Main to market the club, increase visibility, and help secure funding for the new courts.