Michael Ray Pallares González

Biography

Michael-Ray Pallares González is the Second Cousin Once-Removed of the Mirabal sisters.

Junior career

As a junior, Michael-Ray was a two-time USTA National Champion winning the USTA National Interscholastic Championships in Lexington, Kentucky as well as the USTA National Port Washington Easter Classic at the famed Port Washington Tennis Academy in Port Washington, New York.

Past winners of these events include Jim Courier, John McEnroe, Butch Buchholz, Arthur Ashe, Roscoe Tanner, Harold Solomon, Bryan Shelton, Chris Woodruff, Luke Jensen, Brian Baker (tennis), and Donald Young (tennis) amongst others.

College career

Michael-Ray accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where he played for the Alabama Crimson Tide men's tennis team which was ranked Top 10 in NCAA Division 1 Men's Tennis. In 2003, he was voted the Most Improved Player and was an instrumental part of the team that advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 in Athens, Georgia. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

Professional career

Participated as a member of club teams in Italy - TC Volpago, Germany - SV Blankenese e.V., Austria - TC Grün Weiß Steyr, and France - Racing Club de France.

Coaching career

Michael-Ray Pallares González is the Owner & Head Professional of Crown Elite Tennis Academy, a high performance tennis academy specializing in junior development.

He has served as Professional Tour Coach and/or hitting partner for several Top 10 ATP & WTA Players including Nicolas Almagro, John Isner, Vera Zvonareva & Alla Kudryavtseva.

He also served as Director of Tennis for the Panamanian Tennis Federation and Turkmenistan Tennis Federation as the International Tennis Federation Expert Coach undertaking the Development of National Sport Structure, creating an action plan to strengthen the tennis program approved by the NOC, International Olympic Committee and Olympic Solidarity.

Philanthropy

Michael-Ray Pallares González founded One Love Tennis Inc. in 2011, which is a non-profit organization designed to reach underprivileged and low income youth through affordable tennis, education, and fitness. He has travelled all over the world, organizing Play-Day events designed to introduce kids to tennis providing them with the opportunity to continue to develop and enhance their skills. Play-Days are a welcoming way for kids to experience the social and competitive aspects of tennis, promoting a sense of achievement through a fun and spirited atmosphere.

In April 2014, Michael-Ray teamed-up with Tennis for Colombia to host his first Play-Day event for a group of 10 ball boys in the rural neighborhood of Puerto Caldas, a municipality of Pereira, Colombia in the foothills of the Andes located in northwest South America.

In December 2015, North Okkalapa Township located in the eastern part of Yangon, Myanmar in southeast Asia was host to an event. The event was held at the Damayaketa Monastery for 25 children from the Myat Mingalar Orphanage.

In July 2016, Pallares-González traveled to Southern Africa and teamed up with Jane Kaye-Bailey's Butterfly Tree Charity along with John Nomad's Nomad Sports Academy to conduct an Exhibition and Play-Day event for a group of 20 orphans from the Mukuni Village in Livingstone - Southern Province, Zambia.

In December 2016, the Clayview Country Club in Kansas City, Missouri was the first site in the United States to host an event. The Play-Day event was held for a group of 10 children who - by no fault of their own - were unable to remain in their homes and were placed in The Salvation Army Children's Shelter due to either a family crisis or child abuse, including issues of physical, sexual, emotional and psychological abuse, or severe neglect.