Tucked away in the heart of central Florida, The Villages, a living community for those 55 and older, is known as somewhat of a pickleball hotspot. Ronan Camron is a frequent visitor to The Villages because his grandparents are residents here. This story begins in 2018 when one such visit became more significant than the others.

When he visited his grandparents in late 2018, Camron picked up pickleball and decided to take it back with him to his hometown of Fort Myers, Florida. He began playing consistently and started competing in local tournaments.

“I was like ‘I have a chance at this,’ or ‘I’m good at this,’ it’s something I feel like I can play as a sport and I started to train full-time,” recalls Camron, who hadn’t played racquet sports growing up. “Luckily there was some top talent in the Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton area that I was able to get some good practice with.”

In 2023 Camron began participating in APP Tour events in and around Florida and the southern states that didn’t require too much travel, as he was still in high school. At the age of 19 he won a silver medal in men’s pro singles at the 2023 APP Houston Open, which gave him confidence and put Camron on the pro pickleball map.

The following year, in 2024, in an effort to meet friends and find doubles partners, Camron became a regular on the APP Next (formerly APP Next Gen) scene. The APP Next program was developed to serve as a platform for top American pickleball players to receive mentorship, coaching and education from senior professionals while competing, with the goal of preparing players to represent the United States in APP Tour and international professional competitions.

“The APP Next is the competition side of the APP Player Development Program. It’s for ages 14 and under along with a $15,000 prize purse for ages 15 to 23 year olds. APP rankings points for the APP Tour are awarded for the older kids’ brackets,” explains Ken Herrmann, APP Tour and APP Next founder.

A big break for Camron came when he was named to the 2025 APP Next U.S. National Team, which was comprised of 13 of the best up-and-coming pro players under the age of 23. This meant a portion of the entry fees for Next events and APP Tour events were covered.

“That was a big breakthrough for me,” asserts Camron, now 21 years of age. “It helped my parents financially a little bit, they didn’t have to pay for as many events, which was huge. At the time it was about $500 to play all three events [in a tournament]. That’s a big chunk of money all the time if I wanted to do it consistently.”

One of the highlights of Camron’s 2025 season was the English Open, held in Telford, Shropshire, England at the beginning of August. The APP Next U.S. National Team traveled to compete in the tournament, which featured over 2300 players from more than 40 countries around the world.

It was 10:00 p.m. local time by the time the men’s singles championship match was on the court, but there were plenty of people, including Camron’s National Team teammates, in attendance to cheer him on as he took the gold medal.

“It was pretty late that night so it gave me extra motivation to win for anyone who had stayed,” Camron remembers. “My whole family was back at home watching the livestream at a local bar and it was pretty late for them as well, so for them to stay up late and watch the tournament was pretty sick. I like big crowds and if the crowd is on my side, then I want to do it for them, and I really wanted to make Ken happy.”

“My goal for all players is for them to play their best and help them with getting ready for their matches,” says Herrmann. “Ronan was playing well and I knew he had a shot at winning, but the field was deep and this was his first international event. I was really proud and excited for him along with APP U.S. National Team coaches Chad Edwards and Lee Whitwell. Ronan played a very clean match and was not overtaken with the championship court or playing in front of a large crowd in the finals.”

Winning in those circumstances was no doubt a huge spirit-booster for Camron, who had only been outside the United States once before the trip to England.

“The English Open was a big breakthrough in my head, and it gave me some great exposure and confidence, knowing that I could not only compete at the level in the States, but I could go overseas with that sort of pressure, not being with my family, and compete,” confesses Camron, who maintains close relationships with his family members.

With his success at the English Open in the rearview mirror, Camron added his first APP Tour title to his resume just a few months later at the 2025 APP Mesa Open in November. After an unruly travel experience the day prior, which resulted in a sleepless night, Camron booked his ticket to Championship Sunday.

“I was like ‘oh, this is great, it’s a great start to the week. Maybe I just need to not sleep before tournaments,’” laughs Camron, whose family watched the championship match from the same bar they had watched his English Open win from.

“I was able to get it in two games, and that was just the biggest confidence booster, it made my family proud,” continues Camron. “I was very supportive towards the APP, I thanked them a bunch and I think they’re a big help and confidence booster for me. Without them the avenue to be playing pro pickleball probably wouldn’t be as easy for me, so I was very grateful to get a win there. I think it boosted my confidence going into this year and I’m having a great year this year so far and I hope to continue it.”

So far in 2026, Camron is the top-ranked men's pro singles seed and he has three silver medals in three tournaments, including one in men’s pro doubles. Being that both doubles games are areas where he is seeking to improve, his year is indeed off to a good start.

As his journey to play full-time pro pickleball continues, Camron credits the APP Next program for playing a large role in his development.

“It’s a funnel, it’s a talent funnel,” describes Camron of the Next program. “If you want to move up the ranks, now you even get APP pro points for the Next events, which is great. So I think any player that is struggling to make the main draw in the APP Tour events should be trying to play Next tournaments if you’re under 23.”

In addition to the top-level coaching, international experience and programming that Camron benefitted from being on the APP Next U.S. National Team, the relationships he was able to form was a highlight for him.

“I would say the biggest thing that came from the program is that there are multiple friends that I’ve created that have helped my game, and without the APP I probably wouldn’t have met those people - Richard Livornese, Jack Munro, Zack Marceau, Drake Palm - there are a handful of kids that are now at the APP top level that Ken and the APP brought me to meet and compete with, and if I didn’t go through that program I’d probably still be trying to do it on my own,” Camron asserts. “Now, those are some of my best friends, I’m able to contact them on a daily basis and ask for tips on my game or any sort of advice…it’s just a big community.”

That community is now consistently making headlines, Championship Sundays and earning medals at every APP Tour stop, which has, in turn, opened up a new set of doors for these players to walk through.

Ronan Camron has already come a long way from The Villages in Florida, but with his APP Next experience, the confidence he’s gathered so far, and the support of his family, he’s going to be building his pro pickleball empire for a little - or maybe a lot - longer.