Martin and Tammy Emmrich are truly living the pickleball dream, working, playing, training and traveling together as pro athletes with their daughter, Gabriella, who gets to come along for the ride. 

So how did Tammy and Martin meet? 

“We met on the tennis court in 2017,” began Tammy. “Martin had retired from tennis and started coaching, but I was still playing and my coach at the time was really good friends with Martin. One day at practice, Martin showed up to the court just to say hi to my coach and he and I ended up sitting on the bench for two hours talking after practice. We’ve been together ever since.”

In December, they’ll be celebrating their seventh wedding anniversary.

“Before pickleball, we’d actually never spent one night apart from each other,” she said. “The first time we ever spent a night apart was when he played for the St. Louis Shock. We’ve only spent one other night apart from each other since.” 

Tammy and Martin make a strong and inseparable team off the court, but on the court they prefer to play with different partners. 

Some pickleball couples routinely play together, like Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova.

“It’s better for the marriage if we don’t play together,” she said with a chuckle. 

However, they train and practice together regularly. 

“I don’t know if my balls are fast enough for him and the men’s game,” admitted Tammy. “So, he’ll mix in playing with high level guys, too, but we make it work. He’s very disciplined, so that’s amazing for me because he makes me do the boring stuff. Ninety percent of our practice is drilling, so we drill together a lot.”

But the life of a pro pickleball player includes regularly traveling to tournament venues across the country... with Gabriella in tow. 

“It’s chaotic, but we enjoy it. It’s brought us together as a family because before, when we were playing tennis, we’d be away from home,” mentioned Tammy. “But with pickleball, we get to travel as a family.”  

When asked to share advice for traveling with a little one, Tammy had this to say.

“Being parents does not stop you from going out, being adventurous, having fun, following your dreams, and chasing your goals,” she said. “For moms traveling with their kids, my advice is don’t stress the small stuff. If bedtime isn’t at the same time, it’s okay. We’ll all be good. It’s tough being on the road with my daughter and finding food she likes, but I really try to take it all in stride and do my best because that’s all we can do as moms, right? My daughter’s happiness is my priority, then I’ll worry about pickleball after that.”

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