Masri Abdul Rahman does not have to check the weather forecast before deciding whether to play pickleball anymore. The courts are across the street, they are air-conditioned, and they are open. Some days he plays twice.
The 47-year-old civil servant from Jalan Kayu had been playing pickleball for about a year before The Sports Arina opened its second branch in his neighbourhood on 12 July—making his commute to the nearest courts a 15-minute walk to outdoor facilities at Sengkang Sport Centre, subject to Singapore’s reliably uncooperative weather. Now he simply crosses the road.
“The best part about this thing is I get to know my neighbours here at the courts, not at my block or the lift lobby,” Masri said. “So this place has become another community space for us to mingle and play sport together.”
Fostering a Sense of Community Thru Pickleball, Sports
That sense of community is precisely what The Sports Arina @ Jalan Kayu was built to create. The 80,000 square foot multi-sport venue—the largest privately operated facility of its kind in the area—cost approximately $5 million to build and houses 10 air-conditioned pickleball courts alongside a badminton hall with four air-conditioned courts, three AI-enabled padel courts, a seven-a-side and nine-a-side outdoor futsal pitch with overhead shade covers, and a basketball and netball court.
Beyond the courts, the venue houses academies and schools for table tennis, swimming, football, gymnastics, pickleball, and padel. The names attached to those programmes are significant. Multiple Olympic medallist Feng Tianwei runs her eponymous private table tennis academy from the facility. Olympic champion Joseph Schooling’s Sports Schooling operates aquatic programmes including learn-to-swim classes and aqua fitness sessions in a heated pool. The Lion City Sailors Football School—the grassroots arm of the Singapore Premier League champions—runs youth programmes for children aged four to 12 at the Jalan Kayu branch.
Serving the Community
The Sports Arina’s partner and director Alan Kwek was clear about what the facility is trying to be—and who it is trying to serve.
“We have a lot of residents who are just around TSA, so we want to cater to the families around here, to strike a balance so there’s something for everybody here—for the young, the parents and the grandparents,” Kwek said.
The vision is working. Since the soft opening in May, close to 1,000 Jalan Kayu residents have registered for membership or resident benefits, which include two-day priority booking, a 10 per cent discount during peak hours, and a 20 per cent discount during non-peak timings.
Rudy Ng, a 38-year-old business development executive, is another resident who has already adjusted his routine around the new facility. Before the Jalan Kayu branch opened, he would make the trip to Laguna National Golf Resort Club or Pop Padel in Bukit Merah for padel once or twice a week. Now, with courts five minutes from his front door, he and his wife play almost every other day.
“What we were looking forward to the most was the convenience and all the other facilities we wanted to try out,” Ng said.
For those who need something beyond sport after a session, the venue also offers a pilates studio, a bathhouse with ice baths, a magnesium hot pool, a sauna, and a day care centre for children—the kind of full-service offering that turns a sports facility into a daily destination rather than an occasional visit.
Jalan Kayu MP Ng Chee Meng, who attended the official opening alongside Feng Tianwei, national swimmer Ardi Azman, and former national footballer and Lion City Sailors ambassador Adam Swandi, captured the broader ambition of the venue simply.
“I look forward to seeing this venue become a vibrant community space where families, friends and neighbours can connect, stay active and spend meaningful time together,” he said.
The Sports Arina @ Jalan Kayu is TSA’s second branch alongside its existing facility at Expo. If the early response from the neighbourhood is any indication, it will not be the last word on what a community sports hub in Singapore can look like.
