SIbu Pickleball Association Commits to Growing Sport in Sibu, Set to Build Courts and Organise Tournaments
The Sibu Pickleball Association (SPA) is going all-out in promoting pickleball.
Among the many ways the SPA is staying true to this comittment is by building a pickleball stadium and by holding its first inter-secondary school competition. Aside from promoting the fast-growing sport of pickleball, these steps aim to discover and cultivate local talent and foster grassroots development in a country that has fallen in love with pickleball.
For these programs, the SPA will be allocating RM3 million, according to its president, Joseph Chieng. This budget allocation falls under the Rural Transformation Programme (RTP) to build the Bukit Lima Sports Arena (Phase 1). This sprawling new arena is set to have 10 indoor pickleball courts. Another RM2 million has also been allocated for Phase 2 of the project, which will start in 2026.
“Sibu Municipal Council, as the implementing agency, is in the process of appointing consultants. “Once finalised, the design and site application will commence soon after,” said Chieng, who is also Bukit Assek assemblyman.
Chieng bared these exciting updates as the SPA helped in setting up pickleball clubs in 11 schools in the Sibu district. The schools who established a pickleball club with the help of the SPA are SMK Methodist, SMK Sacred Heart, SMK Bukit Assek, SMK St Elizabeth, SMK Tung Hua, SMK Deshon, SMK Sungai Merah, SMK Bandar Sibu, Catholic High School, SM Wong Nai Siong, and Woodlands International School.
According to Chieng, the said initiatives are part of the SPA’s two-pronged mission of setting up pickleball clubs as part of co-curricular programmes in schools and of building more courts to support the sport’s long-term growth in Sibu and beyond.
“SPA is working towards this mission step by step, with commitment and collaboration from all stakeholders,” said Chieng, who also shared that the Association will be hosting the Sibu Inter-Secondary School Pickleball Competition in early September in partnership with the Sibu Division Education Office.
The tournament is expected to become an annual event to cultivate camaraderie, sportsmanship, and a talent pipeline.
“Through the competition, we can select potential Sibu and Sarawak junior players respectively for the future Sukan Sarawak and Sukan Malaysia,” Chieng added while also highlighting the support of the local community of SIbu.
In fact, the Catholic High School Alumni Association has already built three courts in the school’s premises. The Sibu Methodist Schools Alumni Association, on the other hand, is aiming to build three courts at SMK Methodist.
“At the same time, I would like to urge more school boards and alumni associations to assist in the building of pickleball courts at their respective schools,” Chieng added. “We are working together with teachers and students to make Sibu the champion in the game.”
With the SPA leading the way, that vision might just become a reality in the very near future.
