You walk into a local park and you’ll see it: a fast-paced paddle sport that looks like tennis, but isn’t quite. The game is smaller, the paddles are solid and the ball bounces in controlled ways. This is pickleball, a sport that’s quickly gaining fans across the Philippines.
While it may feel new to most Filipinos, pickleball has actually been around for nearly 60 years.
A sport born from boredom
According to the website of the USA Pickleball Organization, the game began one lazy summer Saturday in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friend Bill Bell returned from golf to find their families restless. With an old badminton court but no rackets, they improvised, using ping-pong paddles and a plastic ball. They initially volleyed with a high net but soon discovered that the ball bounced better on asphalt, prompting them to lower the net to 36 inches.
Joined by Barney McCallum the following weekend, the trio wrote the first rules of the game, borrowing heavily from badminton but with one goal in mind: to create something the whole family could enjoy together.
From its humble origins, pickleball steadily grew. By 1967, the first permanent court was built. A corporation was formed in 1972 to safeguard the sport. By 1975 and 1976, national media began noticing what they called “America’s newest racquet sport.”
Filipinos catch the pickleball fever
Fast forward to the 2010s, and Filipinos are catching on. According to the Philippine Pickleball Federation website, the sport first made landfall in Cebu in 2016 with the country’s very first pickleball clinic. What began as a curious introduction has now blossomed into a daily habit for thousands across the archipelago. Clinics and tournaments have popped up nationwide, bringing this once-obscure sport into barangay gyms, seaside boardwalks and community courts.
Building a home for pickleball in the Philippines
To bring structure and credibility to the growing sport, the Philippine Pickleball Sports Association was established on April 15, 2019. By late that year, it began operating under a new name, the Philippine Pickleball Federation (PPF), and earned recognition from the International Federation of Pickleball (IFP) as the official national sports association for the country.
Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, when most sports paused, the PPF pressed on, connecting with neighboring nations to form the Asian Federation of Pickleball. In 2022, the PPF made a bold move by withdrawing from the IFP due to leadership disputes, joining other countries like the US, Canada and France in a push for a unified governing body. The PPF continues to play a key role in shaping the sport’s global future.
Team PH shines
Most recently, Team Philippines made headlines at the World Pickleball Championships Asia Grand Slam in China, where over 800 players from 20 countries competed. In a June 2025 news report by the Philippine News Agency, Filipinos brought home one gold, one silver and five bronze medals.
Dino Jimenez and Davis Alano clinched gold in the 35+ men’s doubles open category. Jimenez, a former top junior tennis player, also earned bronze in singles and another in the doubles second leg in Baoding City. Despite a torn calf injury just weeks before, Alano pushed through and credited teamwork for their win. He also took home bronze in the 19+ men’s doubles with Kim Ivor Saraza.
Meanwhile, Anna Clarice Patrimonio won silver in the 19+ women’s singles and Medene Ramos-Saraza and Patricia Raymundo grabbed bronze in the 19+ women’s doubles. The Philippine team, composed of Jimenez, Alano, Saraza, Ramos-Saraza, Patrimonio, Ken Unique Dela Cruz and Christian Joshua Luna, also earned bronze in the team event.