Photo Credits to: PCL Asia
The Philippines’ U19 pickleball calendar is about to get sharper, faster, and more team-focused.
PCL Asia Rising Stars (U19) is rolling out three Philippine sectionals - Davao, Manila, and Cebu - each built as a qualifying battleground inside a wider regional development pathway. The mission stays consistent: identify and elevate emerging talent through a structure that rewards more than individual brilliance.
This isn’t a typical junior tournament built around isolated brackets. Rising Stars is team-based by design, with mixed-gender squads composed of two boys and two girls, all aged 19 and under. The format puts chemistry and decision-making under a spotlight. It asks young athletes to compete like a unit, manage pressure together, and deliver in match-play situations that feel closer to league environments than junior ladders.
Davao Opens The Philippine Sectionals At Pickletown
The first sectional lands in Davao on February 28–March 1 at Pickletown, staged as part of Pickle Fest 2026.
Davao’s role is simple: set the tone. It brings together top young players in a team setting that highlights skill, partnership, and match readiness. As a key regional qualifier within the Rising Stars pathway, the Davao sectional offers high-level competition - and the kind of national visibility that can accelerate a junior player’s trajectory.
Manila Takes Center Stage At SM Megamall
A week later, the Manila sectional runs March 7–8 at SM Megamall, placing youth pickleball inside one of the country’s most high-energy public venues.
In a space like this, the sport doesn’t sit quietly. It’s seen. It’s heard. And that changes the texture of competition. Teams will need more than clean shots - they’ll need composure, communication, and the ability to steady themselves when momentum swings. Manila is built to mirror that higher-level reality: not just playing well, but competing well together.
Cebu Closes The Philippine Sectionals At Net & Paddle
The final sectional arrives in Cebu on March 14–15 at Net & Paddle, continuing the Pickle Fest 2026 youth pathway through the Visayas.
If Davao is the launchpad and Manila is the bright-stage showcase, Cebu becomes the closing statement of the Philippine sectionals. It’s the final weekend in this three-weekend national rollout, and the urgency is different because every match is a direct audition for what the Rising Stars pathway is meant to reward - poise, cohesion, and performance when the moments get loud.
The Larger Goal: A Finals Stage At AEPA In Hainan
Rising Stars (U19) is designed as a structured ladder that culminates in a Finals event hosted at the Asia Elite Pickleball Academy (AEPA) in Hainan, China.
AEPA is being built as a high-performance training and competition hub, planned to operate to international standards with professional-grade courts, coaching, and event infrastructure. Hosting the Finals there reflects the program’s central thesis: youth development should be built with credible structure, consistent environments, and real long-term opportunity.
As part of the Rising Stars (U19) pathway, the winning team at the Finals - along with a select group of standout players from the Finals - will be eligible for scholarships to attend AEPA. These scholarships are designed to provide exceptional young athletes with access to world-class training, education, and daily immersion in a high-performance environment - an opportunity that can reshape what “next” looks like for a junior player with elite potential.
Standardized Equipment, Cleaner Competition
Rising Stars (U19) is also built around consistency in equipment, and RPM Pickleball serves as an Official Paddle Partner of the program.
Through that partnership, standardized competition paddles are supplied for Rising Stars athletes, aiming to reduce equipment disparity and keep results centered on preparation, execution, and teamwork.
RPM’s involvement is also designed to carry into the championship environment. The RPM team, including founder James Ignatowich, is expected to be present at the Rising Stars Finals, adding a layer of mentorship and on-court guidance for the teams competing at AEPA.
What’s Next?
With Davao, Manila, and Cebu running on consecutive weekends, the Philippine sectionals will create three distinct snapshots of the country’s next wave - Mindanao’s rising groups, Luzon’s brightest stage, and the Visayas closing statement.
Each sectional will produce its own story. But together, they point to a bigger outcome: a clearer national map of U19 talent, and a pathway that doesn’t end at the sideline - one that leads toward a Finals stage in Hainan, where the region’s best young teams can measure themselves against the future of Asian pickleball.
