Want to be a Philippine-ranked pickleball player? Here’s how

MANILA, Philippines – The pickleball craze has swept the country in recent years, transforming once-empty public spaces into makeshift courts almost overnight.

As more players chase the next level, the Philippine Pickleball Federation (PPF) has built a national ranking system to identify the country’s best and form the backbone of future international squads. Here’s how you can be part of the official national pickeball database:

According to PPF president Shery Anne Cu, players can access the national registry, known as the Philippine Pickleball Participant (PPP) Registry, through registry.pickleball.ph.

The site will ask for personal information, a player’s Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating (DUPR), a global metric that tracks match results, points won, and opponent strength to measure skill, among others.

Cu said it will allow the PPF, the sport’s national federation recognized by the Philippine Sports Commission, to track players across sanctioned events and build a clear national rankings ladder.

It also gives emerging players a pathway to rise through the ranks and earn shots against elite competition.

“This is truly a grassroots sport. While other sports have been having difficulty to be recognized or even known by the community, pickleball is different,” Cu said. “People are just interested in the sport and gravitating towards it.”

Like tennis and badminton, pickleball is played in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles, often with and against similarly skilled players.

“Some of the top players of our country today are actually ex-tennis college division players. But a lot of the amateur, the recreational players who are playing competitively — because there are a lot of amateur tournaments going on — several also have racket sports backgrounds,” Cu said. “So playing against each other boosts your skill level, it jumpstarts your pickleball career.”

Through the PPP, players can earn national ranking points when they participate in PPF-sanctioned tournaments such as the 1st Philippine Pickleball Amateur Nationals 2026 on March 28 to 30 in Las Piñas.

According to Cu, national meet winners will earn the right to represent the Philippines at the EPIC World Amateur Championships in Singapore from April 30 to May 3.

It will be part of the PPP’s 12-month rolling mechanism that updates players’ national points and rankings.

Planting pickleball seeds

Beyond building a national framework, the PPF is planting seeds in schools to secure the sport’s future.

Cu said the federation has been active in integrating the sport in schools with the University of the Philippines’ College of Human Kinetics signing a memorandum of agreement with the PPF to teach pickleball through a structured module.

Introducing pickleball early builds a deeper talent pool, Cu said, with tournaments spanning divisions from 16-under to 60+.

“There are tournaments for beginners and novice players, just as events for young kids who like to learn the sport,” she said.

“Most people, they see pickleball as a recreational sport, but others can treat it as a competitive one. We’d like to have people from all motivations to build the sport in the country even further.”

For now, the federation aims to continue scouting talents across the country and potentially develop some into world-level athletes.

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