You Have to Love This: Pickleball Leads to a Vow Renewal in the Caribbean

This is a love story … or so I’ve been told. At first, it sure seems like a pickleball story. Somewhere in a conversation with Mike Nealy, CEO of USA Pickleball, which recently chose Sandals and Beaches Resorts as the official all-inclusive for the fastest-growing sport in America, I’ll supposedly find a romantic story about loving and cherishing. While the matchmaking on the playing surface makes perfect sense (Sandals, Beaches, couples, families, and all-inclusive pickleball at 14 beachside resorts across eight dreamy, outdoorsy Caribbean islands), I’m not really sure where to find the romance.

But this is Sandals, so …

Picture: Sandals Dunn's River is one of the 14 pickleball and paradise meet, a match made in heaven!

I enter the conversation with a dozen business-like questions for Mike. How did a hockey and football executive become a pickleball executive? Why do USA Pickleball and Sandals make a good fit?
Mike is honest. “The first time I played pickleball, I knew nothing about the sport. It was kind of intimidating at first, but I couldn’t get enough — just like millions of other players.”

Mike is revealing. “The values at Sandals align with everything that’s personally important to me. They’re always asking, ‘what are we doing to make the world better?’”

You have to love that answer. But is it the happily-ever-after love story I’ve been promised, or is there another window Mike hasn’t opened yet? Before I can ask another question, he says, “How about if my wife, Brenda, joins the conversation.”
We might be getting somewhere. Turns out, it was Brenda who initiated Mike’s first shot at pickleball. She bought the paddles. She tempted him to play. She’s the one who walked onto the court as a comforting presence when neither one of them were sure what to expect on their first day.

“I’ve played a lot of sports,” Brenda says, “but from the start, pickleball was by far the most welcoming of all. It brings people together — friends, couples, families. It’s brought Mike and me closer together. There’s something special about this game.”

Still, neither of them could have seen it coming when a year later Mike, a longtime sports executive, accepted his CEO role with USA Pickleball.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Mike says. “Brenda and I were just having fun playing when the job came up. Then the people at Sandals reached out because they wanted USA Pickleball to make sure their facilities would be exceptional.”

Brenda’s gentle voice casually interjects, “We’d been wanting to go back to Sandals for a long time.”
“But,” Mike adds, “a vow renewal wasn’t on our radar at all.”
I’m taking notes on all of this: Fun sport. Togetherness. Back to Sandals. Exceptional pickleball facilities. Vow renewal.
Hold it!
“Did you say you wanted to go ‘back’ to Sandals? And there was a vow renewal?”

We’re about to enter the promised love story.

Let’s take a quick trip back to 1999. The lights go down on Mike and Brenda’s wedding and a day later the sun is shining on their honeymoon at Sandals Regency La Toc in St. Lucia. For the husband who grew up vacationing in a camper and for the wife who grew up on a dairy farm and rarely vacationed at all, it’s a stunning introduction to the Caribbean.

“I wanted to do something extraordinary for the woman of my life,” Mike says. “The pressure was on. Sandals and Saint Lucia seemed nice when I booked the trip, but I didn’t know how it would actually go until we arrived in the lobby.”
The details remain vivid enough for the two of them to volley memories back and forth.

“The staff greeted us with tropical drinks and smiles, they were always smiling,” Brenda says.
“And the answer to anything we asked for was always ‘yes,’” Mike says.
“The beauty was overwhelming,” Brenda says. “We went to our room and there’s the incredible ocean in front of us, and our own bar. I must have said something to Mike about my beverage of choice because thirty minutes later a bottle of it was sitting outside our door.”

“The way they treated us was different from anything we’d ever experienced,” Mike says. “We always had this idea in the backs of our minds to return to Sandals for an anniversary. Five years. Ten years. Fifteen. But it was challenging to get away because of work and we were enjoying time with our daughter and son.”

Twenty-six years later, they finally shifted from reminiscing to planning. They’d take an anniversary getaway to Sandals Dunn’s River. This time, with no pressure and no uncertainty. They’d arrive to welcome drinks, the omnipresent smiles, a suite with an ocean view, and — coincidentally — an immaculate grid of new pickleball courts.
“During one of my pickleball conversations prior to our trip, someone with Sandals said we should also renew our vows,” Mike says. “We could bring our kids Regan, now 24, and Simon, 20. They’d have their own suite and they’d witness our ceremony on the beach. It was morphing into something more spectacular than we imagined. Like I said, everything happens for a reason.”

All of the everythings led to a flowered trellis on the beach. There, on a crescent of perfect sand, Mike stood with Regan, Simon, and the wedding officiant until Brenda appeared in the distance, approaching on a Sandals-exclusive “wedding chariot.” This ceremony would be vastly different from the one they barely remember from 1999.

“Our wedding was a blur,” Brenda says. “This time, we took it all in.”
“The natural beauty, the smiles, our children,” Mike says. “We took time during the week to relax and think back on all of our years together, to remember why we married each other, and all of the steps that brought us to this moment in this place.”

Among the steps leading up to the vow renewal, Regan and Simon earned their SCUBA certifications with Sandals dive instructors. The family took an ocean cruise and went on an excursion to Dunn’s River Falls. They explored the restaurants on property, used the state-of-the-art fitness center, and walked on the beach where Mike and Brenda would eventually say “I have,” “I will” and “I do” with a whole new perspective.

They would also see those pickleball courts, representing a sport that brings couples and families together — and the Pandora’s box to a love story with a dozen angles. In fact, when talking about Sandals Resorts, Mike uses the word “love” freely without thinking about it.

“We love the culture. We love the happiness. We love the people and what they stand for.”

He points out the fact that the Sandals Foundation is committed to taking the love of pickleball into island communities, where it will provide healthy recreation and bring people who live on the islands closer together — the same as it does at Sandals Resorts.

“Every time I’m with anyone from Sandals, it strikes me what good people they are,” Mike says. “They don’t write checks so they can tell people about it. There’s a purpose to everything they do. It’s all about loving others.”

And to think, we started with pickleball when all along this really is a genuine Caribbean love story.

Ready to plan your own vow renewal in paradise? Visit our Inquiry Page to connect with a Sandals wedding specialist today — and let’s make your dream celebration a reality!