Rooted in Latin America. Representing talent worldwide.
Rooted in Latin America. Representing talent worldwide.
Valencia Sports was founded on a simple observation: talent is everywhere, but the path to opportunity isn't. The agency exists to build that path, for players from anywhere in the world trying to reach U.S. college tennis or the professional circuit.
Valencia Sports begins with a tennis lesson in the early 2000s
Valencia Sports begins with a tennis lesson in the early 2000s
Edgar's family moved from Venezuela to South Florida when he was six years old. Like most Venezuelans, his first sport was baseball - the national sport, the one every kid plays. Tennis didn't enter the picture until a summer back in Venezuela visiting family. The school year there runs on a different calendar than in the United States, and Edgar found himself with nothing to do. His aunt suggested he try tennis to pass the time. He hesitated at first. Then he fell in love with it.
Edgar's family moved from Venezuela to South Florida when he was six years old. Like most Venezuelans, his first sport was baseball - the national sport, the one every kid plays. Tennis didn't enter the picture until a summer back in Venezuela visiting family. The school year there runs on a different calendar than in the United States, and Edgar found himself with nothing to do. His aunt suggested he try tennis to pass the time. He hesitated at first. Then he fell in love with it.
The moment he was back in South Florida, he signed up for the summer tennis camp at SilverLakes Tennis Complex in Miramar. His first coach was Rudy Diaz de Vivar, a Paraguayan junior champion who had moved to the United States to coach. That's where this organization really began, even if neither of them knew it at the time.
The moment he was back in South Florida, he signed up for the summer tennis camp at SilverLakes Tennis Complex in Miramar. His first coach was Rudy Diaz de Vivar, a Paraguayan junior champion who had moved to the United States to coach. That's where this organization really began, even if neither of them knew it at the time.
Edgar played competitive junior tennis through his early teens, but around fourteen or fifteen he hit a wall. He was good, but not good enough to turn pro, and back then that was the whole conversation: go pro or nothing. College tennis wasn't the recognized path it is today. He might have had a real shot at the college game, but no one was building that bridge, and the realization that the pro level was out of reach slowly pulled the love out of the sport. He walked away, and didn't set foot on a court again for fifteen years. Today the college path is real, and it's one of the reasons Valencia Sports exists.
Edgar played competitive junior tennis through his early teens, but around fourteen or fifteen he hit a wall. He was good, but not good enough to turn pro, and back then that was the whole conversation: go pro or nothing. College tennis wasn't the recognized path it is today. He might have had a real shot at the college game, but no one was building that bridge, and the realization that the pro level was out of reach slowly pulled the love out of the sport. He walked away, and didn't set foot on a court again for fifteen years. Today the college path is real, and it's one of the reasons Valencia Sports exists.
Rudy's path ended differently. He had the level. He had the results. What he didn't have was the money to sustain a career on the international circuit involving overseas travel, entry fees, coaching, and years of grinding through ITF and Challenger events without prize money to cover the costs. The same story played out for most of the players he grew up with in Paraguay. Their families couldn't afford the path forward, and the path closed. Rudy moved to the United States to coach, and to build a life from the sport in a different way.
Rudy's path ended differently. He had the level. He had the results. What he didn't have was the money to sustain a career on the international circuit involving overseas travel, entry fees, coaching, and years of grinding through ITF and Challenger events without prize money to cover the costs. The same story played out for most of the players he grew up with in Paraguay. Their families couldn't afford the path forward, and the path closed. Rudy moved to the United States to coach, and to build a life from the sport in a different way.
Edgar didn't make it to the level. Rudy did, and ran out of road. Both versions of the story end the same way: a kid with talent, no longer playing.
Edgar didn't make it to the level. Rudy did, and ran out of road. Both versions of the story end the same way: a kid with talent, no longer playing.
Edgar went on to build a career in banking and as a financial analyst, and to launch and grow a chain of restaurants and bakeries. Rudy went on to coach players on the professional circuit. The connection between them and to the sport never left.
Edgar went on to build a career in banking and as a financial analyst, and to launch and grow a chain of restaurants and bakeries. Rudy went on to coach players on the professional circuit. The connection between them and to the sport never left.
Years later, that became the question behind Valencia Sports: what if the system that didn't exist, a real, structured route into U.S. college tennis and the professional circuit, with the resources and the opportunities behind it, could be built for the next generation of players, wherever they're from?
Years later, that became the question behind Valencia Sports: what if the system that didn't exist, a real, structured route into U.S. college tennis and the professional circuit, with the resources and the opportunities behind it, could be built for the next generation of players, wherever they're from?
Across soccer, baseball, and tennis, the organizations that have actually moved Latin American athletes onto the world stage share one thing in common: their founders are from the communities they serve. Their personal stories are not marketing. They are the proof the pipeline works.
Across soccer, baseball, and tennis, the organizations that have actually moved Latin American athletes onto the world stage share one thing in common: their founders are from the communities they serve. Their personal stories are not marketing. They are the proof the pipeline works.
The agency's roots are in Latin America, and that shapes who we are: our network, our culture, our instinct for the players the system overlooks anywhere in the world. The bridge it builds runs in every direction. A junior in Asuncion, Madrid, Seoul, or Miami faces a version of the same problem: real ability, and no clear route to the platforms where careers get made. That's the problem Valencia Sports was built to solve.
The agency's roots are in Latin America, and that shapes who we are: our network, our culture, our instinct for the players the system overlooks anywhere in the world. The bridge it builds runs in every direction. A junior in Asuncion, Madrid, Seoul, or Miami faces a version of the same problem: real ability, and no clear route to the platforms where careers get made. That's the problem Valencia Sports was built to solve.
So he built the organization he wished existed.
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We know the road because we lived it
© 2026 Valencia Sports Group
We know the road because we lived it
© 2026 Valencia Sports Group
We know the road because we lived it
© 2026 Valencia Sports Group