The Philippines approves more than 100 coaches at once, building instructors before venues

Pickleball in the Philippines has moved from a phase of adding venues to one of developing coaches. What local media reported on July 25 is a plan by the international coach certification program RacketPro (RPO) APAC to run a Level 1 certification tour in three cities — Manila, Cebu, and Davao — and train more than 100 coaches. Not a new venue, not a bid for a tournament, but first putting the number and quality of teachers in order. That ordering offers a clue for anyone thinking about growing pickleball in Japan.

RPO APAC certifies more than 100 coaches in Manila, Cebu, and Davao

RPO APAC's Level 1 certification combines online and in-person work covering player development, structured teaching method, lesson design, and on-court instruction. Former pro Collin Johns leads the technical side, with Conor Nguyen on operations and Derek Sawyer on experience design among the instructors. Certifying more than 100 people in an intensive run from late July into early August is a different animal from a one-off taster clinic. It is built on the assumption that graduates will go on to run clubs and classes in their own areas. Because it is a certification with a common standard across APAC rather than a certificate that only works at home, it also backs up the quality of coaching when players head abroad for tournaments.

492 member clubs and 46,400 registered players, with coaches unable to keep up

The Philippine Pickleball Federation (PPF) publishes figures of 492 member clubs, more than 46,400 registered players, and 427 venues nationwide. Places to play spread first, and people who can teach at them are chronically short. That order is a wall many countries new to the sport run into. A federation disclosing its membership in numbers is also an act of handing government and sponsors something to base investment decisions on.

Helios25面とPPA Tour Asiaが指導者育成と同時に動く

指導者育成は単独で走っているわけではない。Kosmas Athletic VenturesとRobinsons Landが組んだ複合施設「Helios」は、17,500平方メートルの敷地に25面のプロ仕様コートを備え、ジムやスポーツクリニック、飲食まで抱える。開業予定の2028年に向けてPPA Tour Asiaが同会場での大会開催を計画しており、興行と施設を接続する見取り図がすでに描かれている。指導者（教育）、登録選手（大衆参加）、複合施設（商業投資）、プロツアー（興行）が、別々にではなく束になって前に出ている点が、この動きの核心だ。

A coaching course in Tsuyama, Okayama also filled its places

Japan is making steady progress on building courts and holding tournaments, while certifying coaches systematically and building a route from classes to clubs to regional leagues tends to get pushed back. At home, in Tsuyama, Okayama,a coaching course filled its places, exposing the shortage of people able to teach, so demand is already running ahead. The base of players is spreading beyond the cities into the regions, and in the Philippinesone of the country's largest facilities went up on Negros rather than in the capital, while in Sabah, Malaysia,a 160-woman tournament started up outside the main citiesas well. If the pro tour settles into the region, Japanese players and tournament organizers will also have to remeasure where they stand on that map.

Put venue construction and coach certification in the same plan

Two concrete steps stand out for associations and venue operators in Japan. One is to write a target number of certified coaches into the same plan that schedules new courts, and to design the places those graduates land — classes, clubs, regional leagues — as one continuous path. The other is to manage membership and venue counts in a form that can be disclosed externally, giving sponsors and local governments something to base investment decisions on. The Philippines went after people and numbers as a foundation before the more visible facilities. The ordering itself forces a rethink of what Japan should take on next.

Source:Context.ph (July 25, 2026)／World Pickleball Magazine／Pickleball.com (Helios complex)