Philippines pickleball tournament to mark independence day with 300 players

Nearly 300 pickleball players are set to compete in Kawit, Cavite, as DAILY TRIBUNE and ArenaPlus launch the first ArenaPlus-KaTribu Pickleball Tournament on June 12 at The Dink Lab Elite. Branded the Dink-Dependence Day Showdown, the event is timed to the 128th anniversary of Philippine Independence Day and gives the sport a national stage it has not had before.

The partnership was formalized in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, where TRIBUNE sports editor Julius Manicad and ArenaPlus representative Jasper Vicencio signed a memorandum of understanding at ArenaPlus headquarters. That matters because this is not being packaged as a low-key club meet. The tournament comes with cash prizes, trophies, medals and premium rewards such as hotel stays and food vouchers, while every participant is scheduled to receive competition shirts, snacks, drinks and sponsor giveaways.

The sponsor list shows how far pickleball has moved beyond its grassroots beginnings. Support is coming from the Villar Foundation, the Department of Finance, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go and Senator Mark Villar, with the Philippine Sports Commission and JC Premiere also named as event sponsors. For a sport still building its public profile in the Philippines, that mix of media, corporate and institutional backing gives the tournament a level of legitimacy that could help attract more players and more organizers.

Vicencio has framed the push as part of ArenaPlus’ broader move into sports beyond basketball and volleyball, with pickleball and golf now part of that expansion. His background in backing major properties such as the International Series Philippines and the Philippine Golf Championship also adds weight to the partnership, suggesting this is more than a one-off branding exercise. It is a sign that pickleball has started to draw the kind of sponsorship attention usually reserved for more established sports.

The timing and setting sharpen the message. Kawit is the town where Philippine independence was first proclaimed, so staging the tournament there on June 12 gives the event a built-in civic identity. That symbolic backdrop arrives as the Philippine Pickleball Federation continues to map the sport’s growth, with its site listing 419 clubs and 1,043 courts and using its 2026 calendar to help organizers avoid conflicts and raise visibility.

The federation’s competitive pipeline is also becoming clearer. Its 1st Philippine Pickleball Amateur Nationals was held March 28-30 in Las Piñas and served as an official qualifier for the EPIC World Amateur Championships. From the clinic that introduced pickleball to the Philippines in Cebu in 2016 to a sponsor-backed Independence Day showcase in Cavite, the sport is now moving into a more organized, media-driven phase, one that could set the model for tournaments across the Philippines and beyond.