Lapu-Lapu City opens four-day pickleball clinic for beginners

Lapu-Lapu City opened a four-day pickleball clinic Tuesday, turning the City Auditorium into a beginner-friendly entry point for residents who want a fast way into the sport. The Pickleball Summer Clinic runs through May 23, with evening sessions from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. so students, young professionals and working adults can get on court after school or work.

The setup matters because it is built for first-timers, not just regular players looking for extra reps. The program is aimed at beginners, recreational players, sports enthusiasts and residents of all ages, giving the city a low-barrier way to introduce pickleball to people who may never have picked up a paddle before. That kind of access is exactly why the sport keeps spreading in local recreation programs: it is easy to start, easy to scale and easier on the body than many racquet sports.

Inside the clinic, the city is not treating pickleball like a casual open play night. The curriculum includes paddle control, serving, footwork, court positioning, strategy drills and practice games. That combination gives new players enough structure to understand the game instead of just rallying aimlessly, and it gives them a realistic path from basic contact skills to point play.

Mayor Cindi King Chan invited residents to join the clinic and tied it to the city’s summer push for physical activity, especially among young people. The message is practical as much as promotional: if the city can fill a four-day evening clinic, it signals real demand for beginner programming and a wider appetite for organized recreation in Lapu-Lapu.

The clinic also fits into a much bigger regional buildout. Cebu’s inaugural Pickleball Open is scheduled for June 27 at Net and Paddle inside the LuDo Complex in Cebu City, and organizers have said they want to help institutionalize the sport and explore forming a National Sports Association for pickleball in Cebu. The Philippine Pickleball Federation says it already maintains an official player registry, recognizes clubs and coordinates clinics and tournaments nationwide, with tournament management and international rankings handled through its partnership with Pickleball Global.

That local expansion mirrors the sport’s broader momentum. USA Pickleball said in April 2026 that participation in the United States topped 24.3 million and that pickleball remained the country’s fastest-growing sport for a fourth straight year. With the International Pickleball Federation and World Pickleball Federation moving toward a unified governing body in late 2024, Lapu-Lapu City’s clinic looks less like a one-off and more like the kind of entry-level infrastructure the sport now needs.