Competing one challenge at a time

Susan Gutierrez has always been a competitor. From football to cornhole, she’s willing to try just about anything, and once she jumps in, she usually finds a way to succeed.

Gutierrez arrived in Las Cruces about 40 years ago, a move dictated by her husband’s job. Four decades later, she figures that makes her a local. These days, you’re most likely to find her on the pickleball courts or competing in the Doña Ana Senior Olympics but her path there has been anything but narrow.

For 22 years, she worked alongside her husband in residential and commercial construction, taking on plumbing and heating work — hands-on, technical jobs not often associated with women of her generation.

“I learned a lot,” Gutierrez said. “I learned a lot business wise. I learned a lot as far as the mechanical part of how things work. That was great and I'm very happy that I spent that time learning because, as a woman, men can take advantage in places where I can say, ‘No, that's not what I need to do,’ and so I'm aware, which has been good. It was quite the adventure.”

That willingness to step into unfamiliar spaces — and figure them out — traces back much earlier.

Growing up, Gutierrez didn’t just play sports. She chased them. She trained as a ballerina and participated in gymnastics, but with three brothers and a neighborhood full of boys, much of her childhood was spent competing in whatever game was available.

“I did just about every sport the boys would do. We did all the basketball, football and I also played softball,” she said. “That's where I got my athletic development.”

Competition wasn’t something she discovered later in life. It was something she grew up in.

In 2021, that competitive instinct found a new outlet: pickleball.

One of the fastest-growing sports in the country, pickleball blends elements of tennis, table tennis and badminton, and for Gutierrez, it was a natural fit.

Her introduction came through table tennis.

“I started playing table tennis here with some seniors and one of the seniors told me that I needed to start playing pickleball, so I decided I would take it up,” Gutierrez said. “I started playing and I really liked it. The little bit of tennis experience I had helped me a lot to be able to pick it up. I kind of got obsessed with it for a while.”

That background continues to shape her game.

“Table tennis has a lot of spinning and different things like that,” she said. “If you get into that with the pickleball, you can read the ball and be able to return it easier.”

Like most things she takes on, Gutierrez didn’t wait for formal instruction.

She figured it out.

Gutierrez describes herself as a self-teacher, someone who learns by watching, listening and, most importantly, doing. She studied others on the court, picked up tips where she could and developed her own approach through repetition.

“I just started playing and playing, and of course everybody would give you advice, telling you what you should do, what you shouldn't do, and I learned from a lot of people. Everybody has their ideas and sometimes you have to say, ‘Well, thank you very much, but this is how I do it.’”

That independence has been a constant, whether she was navigating construction sites or learning a new sport.

But for Gutierrez, pickleball isn’t just about competition. It’s about connection.

“I’m very competitive, that's the first thing, so I liked it because of that,” Gutierrez said. “I always want to win. Also, I worked construction for 22 years, so I was in people's homes, but I never really got a chance to be in the community getting to know people my own age, so that was really nice for me because I finally became friends with so many people. At our age, you’ve kind of spent all of your life competing but now you're not trying to impress anybody. It’s just very fun.”

That mix — competition without pressure, intensity without expectation — is part of what keeps her coming back.

In 2023, she brought that same mindset to the Doña Ana Senior Olympics.

And, true to form, she didn’t limit herself to just one event.

“There’s a lot of different things you can do (in the Dona Ana Games) and so being competitive, I want to do everything I can,” she said. “I played soccer, there's a soccer thing for accuracy and just kicking the ball into the goal, pretty simple. So, I did that. I've done the cornhole competition, and I did well in that. Frisbee throw I did okay, but I don't throw a frisbee well. I did it anyway just for fun. I'm just competitive, so whatever I can do.”

It’s not about mastering one lane. It’s about being willing to step into all of them.

For those who have driven past a pickleball court and wondered what’s going on, Gutierrez has a simple message.

“Don’t be afraid to get out there and start because it's really easy, but also, it's very addictive. You have to tell them that,” Gutierrez said. “I would tell just to try. That’s the only way you’re going to get better.”

For Gutierrez, that philosophy extends beyond the court.

Try it. Figure it out. Keep going.

It’s how she built a career. It’s how she found her community. And it’s how she’s still competing — one new challenge at a time.