Rafa Hewett

Gender

Male

Age

31

Location

Auburn, Alabama

Plays

Left-handed

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Born in Bradenton, Florida, Rafa Hewett exhibited athletic prowess from a young age. He attended the Bollettieri Tennis Academy, where he competed at a high level, even defeating players closer to age 18 as an eleven-year-old. Throughout his childhood and teenage years, Hewett’s main focus was tennis, yet he also played basketball and ran cross country.

In 2012, Rafa held the title of #1 in the State of Idaho and Top 10 in the Pacific Northwest for Juniors Tennis. Hewett played four years of collegiate tennis at Point University in West Point, Georgia, as the team captain, leading the team to Nationals. After graduating in 2018 with a degree in Business Administration, Rafa and his wife moved to Idaho, where his family owns a cattle ranch and Rivaura Winery.

Intending to work alongside his grandfather, he worked for a year before discovering pickleball. His first paddle was a birthday gift from his grandmother, which sparked his interest in the sport. He quickly entered a small tournament in Spokane, Washington, where he won his first gold in Pro Men’s Singles.

By the end of 2019, Rafa was traveling on professional tours, gaining a fanbase while working 60+ hours on the Hewett Ranch and in the vineyard. After a period of juggling ranching and pickleball, Hewett decided to focus solely on pickleball, relocating to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, to train with Tyson McGuffin. After four months, Hewett landed a job at Moore’s Mill Club in Auburn, Alabama, as the Director of Pickleball.

As Director, he developed a Junior Pickleball Academy that is continuously growing each week, focusing on the next generation and believing the sport will continue to grow if we begin pouring into the younger generation now. While Hewett developed many programs to include Cardio Pickleball, clinics, classes, and leagues, pickleball has grown significantly in the South region where Rafa teaches, and he hopes to expand his programming in the future. Not only is Hewett a coach, but he is also the “Pickleball Dad” as a father and husband.

His wife, Brooklyn, and his two daughters, Chaelyn and Peaches, and son, Mills, are frequently traveling the tour alongside him. Hewett loves to have his family cheering him on out on tour and especially during MLP. Brooklyn is most definitely his loudest fan, while his kids keep him busy off the court; you can almost always count on seeing him with a baby on his hip in between matches if his family is around.

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