Kuching South opens two new pickleball courts at MBKS Sports Village

Two dedicated pickleball courts opened at MBKS Sports Village in Bintawa, giving Kuching South players a new public-access option at RM30 an hour from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m., including public holidays. The city-backed opening marked a practical step for a sport that has been forcing municipal facilities to adapt quickly, and it immediately widened court access for beginners and recreational players looking for affordable play without private-club fees.

The newly repainted multipurpose court now houses three badminton courts, two pickleball courts and one netball court, a layout that shows how Kuching South City Council is trying to squeeze more use out of existing space rather than wait for a brand-new complex. Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng said the facilities were meant to do more than host exercise, pointing to the social connection and healthier routines that public sports spaces can create. He also emphasized that the council’s rates were lower than many outside courts, a detail that matters for new players deciding whether to try the game for the first time.

The opening was not a sudden experiment. MBKS first said in May 2025 that it planned to convert two existing badminton courts at Sport Village into pickleball courts as a pilot project, and the June 12 opening completed that plan. The council’s approach reflects a broader municipal pattern in Sarawak and beyond: repurpose what already exists, measure demand, and then decide whether to expand. For amateur players, that means more places to book a court, more room for casual doubles, and fewer bottlenecks on shared indoor space.

The momentum around the sport was already visible in MBKS’s Community Pickleball Training Month in July 2025, when free sessions were held every Saturday at Picklepro Kuching and Tabuan Laru Family Club. By then, 168 participants had registered, and many were preparing for the Kuching Festival Mayor’s Pickleball Championships on Aug. 2 and 3, 2025, which featured women’s doubles open, men’s doubles open, mixed doubles open and veteran men’s doubles open. Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian later said the Sarawak government was looking into creating more pickleball courts to meet rising public interest, signaling that Kuching South’s new courts may be less an endpoint than a template. MBKS, a corporation established under the Local Authorities Ordinance 1996 and responsible for 61.53 square kilometers of Kuching South, is now treating pickleball as part of the region’s core recreation mix.