The 1,000 Club
How pickleball is finding room in the Philippines
By Darina Ayazbayeva
October 7, 2026 • 4 min read
A pickleball court does not always begin with a new building. Sometimes, it begins with a place that already serves a neighborhood, a playing schedule, and a system for deciding whose turn comes next.
At the Looc Covered Gym in Lapu-Lapu City, the barangay’s published pickleball program sets aside three evenings a week for resident players. Three courts operate through a paddle-stacking system, with the next four paddles in line determining who plays next.
The arrangement is local. The growth story behind it reaches much further.
In a September 4, 2026, report, DUPR ranked the Philippines first among its 10 fastest-growing pickleball countries, reporting 1,213% user growth over the preceding 12 months. Indonesia followed at 405%, while China recorded 183% and India 182%.
That figure brings international attention to Philippine pickleball. Understanding how the sport is expanding requires looking beyond registrations to the places where people learn, play, and return.
What the Number Measures
DUPR is a pickleball rating platform. Its report examines growth in its own users, providing a measure of how quickly players are joining that system.
It does not count every pickleball player in the Philippines. Someone who plays regularly at a neighborhood gym may never register for a rating. Another person may join the platform after playing for months.
The ranking therefore supports a specific conclusion: the Philippines led the countries listed in DUPR’s report for user growth during that period. It does not, by itself, establish an equivalent increase in total national participation. The published report also does not provide the underlying country totals or exact dates of its measurement window.
Other records help explain what is happening on the ground.
A Boom With Earlier Beginnings
The Philippine Pickleball Federation traces the country’s first known pickleball clinic to February 2016 in Cebu, where pro player Sara Ash, a prominent Filipino-American PPR certified coach, introduced the game to its founders. By April 2018, the founders were organizing Saturday evening street play in Ortigas Center, Pasig.
Those early sessions gave the sport a way to reach people before dedicated facilities became more common.
The federation’s history records 181 member clubs and 10,717 players at the end of 2024. In May 2025, it reported that its 250th member club had joined, bringing its estimated player population to 15,346.
Those are the federation’s own reported figures, rather than an independent national participation survey. Within its records, however, the change represents 69 additional clubs and an increase of approximately 43% in its reported player population in less than half a year.
The timeline suggests that today’s expansion has years of organizing behind it. Clinics, recurring play sessions, and local clubs helped establish places where newcomers could try the game.
Finding Space to Play
Pickleball’s physical layout helps make that introduction possible. According to USA Pickleball, a regulation court measures 20 feet wide by 44 feet long for both singles and doubles. The playing area is badminton-sized, although facilities also need adequate clearance around its boundaries.
That compact layout gives organizers options when working with existing sports spaces.
A project announced at Clark Freeport in April 2026 illustrates the approach. Plans for the ₱12-million Clark Pickleball+ facilities included redeveloping a former warehouse, adding eight public pickleball courts and a tournament court, and providing a basketball court convertible into four additional pickleball courts.
The proposal combines dedicated courts with a surface that can accommodate multiple sports. It also shows how pickleball investment can involve adapting existing structures rather than starting with an entirely new site.
Shopping centers are providing another route.
In June 2026, SM Supermalls reported 86 pickleball courts across 29 malls, with additional courts planned. Its announcement also described a tournament series connecting players from several locations.
The count describes SM’s own network. It cannot establish how many courts exist nationwide, but it demonstrates the scale of one operator’s investment in making the sport available.
Who Can Join the Growth?
More venues do not automatically mean that everyone can afford to play.
In July 2026, The Freeman reported that the Mandaue City Council had approved a resolution urging pickleball’s inclusion in school and city sport programs. The initiative sought cooperation from all 27 barangays to identify open spaces, covered courts and gyms suitable for the game.
Councilor Carlo Fortuna pointed to the concentration of courts in private establishments as an access problem. He cited private sessions costing around ₱500, describing the expense as a barrier for many residents.
That price was his reported example, not a nationwide average. The concern nevertheless raises a practical question for a growing sport: how many interested players can become regular participants?
Looc offers one example of neighborhood organization. Its program reserves play for barangay residents and requires player profiling. Sessions run from 7 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and winning teams must leave the court after two consecutive victories.
Those details address the everyday work of sustaining participation: establishing eligibility, providing predictable hours and sharing limited court time.
What Comes After the Surge
The available figures describe different parts of Philippine pickleball: platform registrations, federation clubs and players, and an operator’s court network. Together, they show expansion in both organization and places to play. They should not be combined into a single national growth rate.
For communities, the next stage is more immediate. A new player needs somewhere to learn. A returning player needs a workable schedule. A busy court needs a fair rotation.
The Philippines’ 1,213% headline captures the speed of growth within DUPR’s records. Whether that momentum becomes a lasting sporting habit will depend on the opportunities available after someone first picks up a paddle.
At a neighborhood gym, that opportunity can be as straightforward as knowing when play begins, and that a turn will come. ●
Pickleball in the Philippines
Pickleball is experiencing an explosive growth boom in the Philippines, evolving from a single clinic in 2016 to a massive grassroots sports movement with over 100,000 players registered on tournament and scheduling apps like Reclub. The sport has successfully transitioned into the local mainstream, now recognized by the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) as an official National Sports Association discipline.
About Darina Ayazbayeva
Darina Ayazbayeva is a journalism student at Penn State University and an editorial intern with The Pickleball Weekly. Originally from Kazakhstan, she has experience in print, digital, and broadcast journalism through student media and reporting projects, and is particularly interested in sports, international stories, and multimedia journalism.
Read the full magazine issue! Click below, then tap Full Screen for the best reading experience.
