By CESAR JOLITO III
Former Hinoba-an Councilor Jason Tupas believes pickleball is more than just a passing trend as the biggest pickleball hub in Bacolod City officially launched on Thursday, May 14.
Tupas, who now serves as president of newly opened Paddle City, said the sport is still in its “discovery stage” in Bacolod and Negros and has yet to fully reach its peak popularity.
“At first, we thought it was just hype, but after seeing the pickleball community and how people embraced the sport, we realized this is something that will stay for a long time,” Tupas said during the grand opening.
The new pickleball hub, located along Magsaysay Avenue in Bacolod City’s Barangay Singcang, currently features seven international-standard and tournament-ready courts, with expansion plans already underway to increase the total to 15 courts in the coming months.
According to Tupas, the facility was once a warehouse that had been abandoned and untouched for nearly a decade.
The idea of transforming it into a pickleball destination came to him while he was at a grocery store, prompting him to contact several friends and also successful businessmen in the city who later became incorporators of Paddle City.
“We saw a warehouse that had been unused for 10 years — a forgotten structure left sitting idle for so long. While others saw abandonment, we saw opportunity. Where others saw just a warehouse, we envisioned a future community. Where others saw emptiness, we saw life waiting to happen. That’s how this all started,” Tupas said.
Among those who joined the project were Dexter Telis, Jet Gabriel Pili, Michael Veñegas, and Charles Go.
Tupas said the group shared the vision of building a premier pickleball hub in the city that would not only cater to players but also become a lifestyle destination for families and sports enthusiasts.
Aside from the courts, Paddle City also has several amenities that were designed as a multi-use lifestyle hub and some features are operating now, including a carwash facility and pop-up food stalls inside the compound.
Future developments also include plans to install air-conditioning systems in the courts and add a co-working space.
Paddle City is open from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight from Sunday to Thursday, while operating hours are extended until 2:00 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.
For open play sessions, rates are set from P150 to P500 per hour per court.
The hub also introduced a loyalty rewards program where players may receive discounts and freebies. Every 10th open play comes with a 50 percent discount, while every 20th and 50th open play grants free sessions, social media features, and Paddle City merchandise.
Celebrity couple EA Guzman and Shaira Diaz-Guzman, who attended the grand opening as guests, shared that pickleball has become one of their favorite bonding activities as a married couple.
The couple said they usually play after work or during their spare time, describing the sport as both enjoyable and good for the health.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson, who also graced the grand opening, said pickleball continues to gain popularity across the country and expressed optimism that the sport could eventually become part of the Palarong Pambansa, the country’s largest national sporting event for student-athletes.
“The more pickleball courts we have, the better it is for Negrenses who are starting to love the sport,” Lacson said.
Also present during the grand opening were 3rd District Representative Javier Miguel Benitez, Bacolod City Councilor Jason Villarosa, Barangay Singcang chief Rosinie Distrito and members of the different pickleball teams from Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
The hub aims to become the largest pickleball hub in the Visayas, with the capability to host national-level competitions./CJ, WDJ