When Melina Hwang discovered pickleball, it’s not overstating things to say it changed her life.
In just over a year in the sport, she has become one of the few Malaysians certified as an IPTPA Level II coach. She is also a “trained referee” with the Asia Federation of Pickleball. Melina leads numerous open play sessions each week and has been a pioneer for the Reclub app (which brings pickleballers together), where she started the Klang Valley Pickleball Club, which now boasts over 2000 members.
She loves to play in tournaments, recently taking gold in the women’s over 50 doubles at the Skechers KL international tournament.
Melina has helped organise several local pickleball competitions. Recently, she took the plunge and decided to organise her own tournament – the Novice Pickleball Challenge, which will take place on August 17th at the Picklejam courts in Kuala Lumpur.
We caught up with Melina to find out more about this novice tournament.
What inspired you to set up a novice tournament?
“I have gathered feedback from many pickleball players in the community who are new and playing at a ‘beginner level.’ They voiced that we should organise a competition just for novices, as most of the usual ones tend to focus on intermediate players or higher.
“Intermediate players are more experienced than novices. They have more control over their shots compared to novices and beginners. So, I felt that anyone who is below 3.5 (DUPR) and not considered intermediate should have the opportunity to experience playing in a tournament where they can still have competitive games and have a chance to do well or even win.
“I really felt this competition served a need, especially because the pickleball community in Klang Valley is growing rapidly. We see the numbers in the Klang Valley Pickleball Club on ‘Reclub’ increasing significantly every day.”
How much interest has there been since you announced this tournament?
“The interest has been enormous. Amazingly, within four hours of announcing the tournament, we had filled all the slots with 50 teams registering across two categories (men’s doubles and mixed doubles). We also had a long waiting list for both categories.
“I knew that the event would be popular and well-received, but I didn’t expect all the slots to be taken up in four hours. I had expected it would take at least a week of promoting the event to get all the players’ slots registered.”
What do you hope participants will gain from taking part in this tournament?
“I feel participants will get a chance to experience playing against a whole range of new players with different levels of ability.
“At the end of the day, they will gain a good experience with exciting challenges on the court, having a large variety of different players to test their skills in new ways.
“The tournament itself will not make players better, but it will show them where their level is now and what they need to do if they want to reach higher levels. It will also give them confidence for when they enter bigger tournaments in the future.”
How important is it to get support of local sponsors when running an event like this?
“It’s great to have support from local companies who are showing support based on their ‘love for the game.’
“Also, the financial support allows us to increase the value of the prizes on offer, which I know has also heightened excitement about the event among the players.
I am especially grateful to our main sponsor Kevin from MyPickleball as he has been so supportive to the sport in general in Malaysia, sponsoring many players with equipment and paddles. As soon as he heard about this competition, he was so excited as he is passionate about supporting new players on their journey
“Pickleball attracts a wide spectrum of players, from CTOs and CEOs to journalists and even radio presenters. Everyone who joins starts on a level playing field, and I think that makes pickleball attractive to sponsors. They see value in supporting efforts to increase the popularity of the game.”
