Bulacan Province in PH Launches Own Pickleball League as All-Star Champions Opens with 80-Plus Teams

Pickleball fever has officially hit Bulacan in the Philippines, and the province now has a league to match.

Bulacan has launched the All-Star Champions Pickleball League and held its first tournament over the weekend at the Capitol Gymnasium in Malolos City. More than 80 pickleball clubs and teams from across the province took part, according to Vice Gov. Alexis Castro, who spearheaded the event.

A First for the Province

It’s the first time a major pickleball competition has been held in Bulacan, and the timing makes sense. The paddle sport has become a craze in almost all of the province’s 20 towns and four cities, and the numbers on opening weekend suggest the appetite is real.

The craze is visible beyond the courts, too. Provincial tourism officer Limuel Jan Lobederio said coffee shops with pickleball courts and other creative spaces have become local attractions, a sign of how the sport is blending into everyday life in the province.

For Castro, the league is about more than medals. He said he was glad the tournament had been launched, calling pickleball a developing sport that even the busiest professionals from various fields find time to play and enjoy. Promoting healthy lifestyles and sports in the province, he added, is part of the officials’ mandate.

The vice governor even offered a few real-life results. “I have seen many professionals who were really huge but now became slim and healthy,” he said.

What Comes Next

The source doesn’t say how the league will be structured, or when the next tournament will be held. Still, having more than 80 teams show up for a first event is a strong start, and a league format could give Bulacan’s players what many local scenes lack: regular, organised competition.

Indeed, from coffee shops with courts to a provincial gymnasium packed with players, Bulacan is proof that pickleball’s growth in the Philippines isn’t confined to Metro Manila or the big-name tournaments. It’s spreading town by town.