Kabayan Riyadh Pickleball has grown from around 10 players to roughly 200 members in just one year. On the surface, it looks like another pickleball growth story. Look closer, and it reveals something far more important about how the sport is spreading around the world.
- Kabayan Riyadh Pickleball has grown rapidly during its first year in Saudi Arabia.
- The club’s roots within Riyadh’s Filipino community reflect a common pattern in pickleball’s international expansion.
- Across emerging markets, expatriate communities are often building the sport long before formal institutions arrive.
One of the most common assumptions about sports development is that growth begins with institutions.
A governing body launches an initiative. A federation creates a pathway. A government builds facilities. A national strategy follows.
Pickleball often seems to ignore that script entirely.
Again and again, across different continents and cultures, the sport appears to spread through people rather than organisations.
Friends introduce friends. Families introduce families. Small communities form around shared enthusiasm.
Only later do the structures arrive.
Kabayan Riyadh Pickleball, known as KRP, offers a fascinating example of that process in Saudi Arabia.
A year ago, it was a small group of roughly 10 players. Today, it has around 200 members, organised tournaments and ambitions for further expansion.
The numbers tell one story.
The people behind them tell another.
The Filipino Connection
KRP was founded by Raul Palenzuela Jr and Wilson Loren, with Tournament Director Junar Gunita helping shape the club’s development.
Together, they have overseen the transformation of a small playing group into one of Riyadh’s most active pickleball communities.
What makes that significant is not simply the growth itself.
It is where that growth started.
The club’s foundations sit within Riyadh’s Filipino expatriate community, a group that has become one of the driving forces behind pickleball’s expansion in the region.
That pattern is not unique to Saudi Arabia.
In many countries, the first people introducing pickleball are not federation officials or sports administrators.
They are people who encountered the game somewhere else.
They move for work, education or family reasons.
They bring the sport with them.
Then they start building.
If you’re following how the global game is shifting week by week, the World Pickleball Report breaks this down every day in our morning briefing.
A Pattern Repeating Around the World
The more global pickleball becomes, the more familiar this story feels.
Someone discovers the game in one country.
They introduce it to friends in another.
A social gathering becomes a regular session.
A regular session becomes a club.
A club becomes a community.
Eventually, competitions, ratings and structures emerge around it.
The sequence is remarkably consistent.
It is one reason pickleball has expanded into so many different territories in such a short period of time.
The sport does not always require major investment to begin.
It requires people willing to organise.
That distinction matters.
Many sports depend heavily on formal infrastructure before meaningful growth can occur.
Pickleball often creates its own momentum first.
The institutions frequently arrive later.
From Community to Ecosystem
That transition is where KRP’s story becomes particularly interesting.
Growing from 10 players to 200 players is impressive.
Turning those players into a functioning ecosystem is considerably harder.
As membership increased, the club began introducing elements designed to create long-term sustainability.
Reclub was adopted to help manage events.
DUPR ratings were integrated, connecting local players to the wider pickleball world.
Competition became more structured.
Goals became clearer.
Progress became measurable.
None of those developments generate the same excitement as membership numbers.
Yet they are arguably more important.
Participation creates a community.
Infrastructure creates longevity.
The strongest clubs understand the difference.
KRP increasingly appears to be one of them.
Why the Women’s Tournament Matters
The most revealing decision the club has made may not be connected to growth at all.
It may be connected to who gets the opportunity to participate.
Alongside plans for Kabayan Cup Season 2, organisers are preparing the Picklebabe Tournament, a competition designed specifically for female athletes.
At first glance, it is simply another event.
Viewed more closely, it represents something larger.
Many emerging sports communities focus on attracting more people.
The best communities also think about attracting different people.
That distinction often determines whether growth lasts.
Women’s competition creates visibility.
Visibility encourages participation.
Participation creates future players, organisers, coaches and leaders.
In other words, it helps create the next generation of builders.
For a club entering only its second year, that is a surprisingly mature way of thinking.
The Challenge of Year Two
The first year of a club’s existence is about proving there is interest.
The second year is about proving there is a future.
That is the stage KRP is entering now.
Its anniversary celebration, featuring a glow-in-the-dark tournament, was a chance to reflect on what had been achieved.
Winners included Junar and Nerah in the couples division, Richard and Tyrone in the men’s competition, and Crystal and Jojan in the women’s event.
The results mattered to those involved.
The bigger questions sit beyond the podium.
Can the club continue broadening participation?
Can it deepen competition?
Can it maintain the sense of community that attracted people in the first place?
Can it continue producing new organisers and leaders rather than relying on the same few individuals?
Those questions will determine whether KRP remains a successful club or becomes something more influential.
What Riyadh Reveals About Pickleball’s Future
The simplest version of this story is that a club in Riyadh grew from 10 players to 200.
That is true.
It is also the least interesting part.
The more revealing story is what happened between those numbers.
A group of expatriates introduced a sport they loved.
A community formed around it.
Structures followed.
Competition followed.
Ambition followed.
Across the global pickleball world, that sequence is becoming increasingly familiar.
The sport’s expansion is often discussed through participation statistics, investment announcements and federation strategies.
Those things matter.
But they are rarely where the story begins.
More often, it starts with people far from home sharing a game they want others to discover.
One year ago, Kabayan Riyadh Pickleball was a small group of enthusiasts.
Today it is a growing ecosystem.
And its journey offers a reminder that pickleball’s global expansion may be driven less by institutions than by the communities building the sport one court at a time.
Further Reading
- Latest pickleball news from around the world
- Tournament coverage and results
- Rankings and player profiles
- Regional pickleball coverage
For a clearer view of where the sport is heading each month, you can download the latest free issue of World Pickleball Magazine.
Chris Beaumont
Founder and Editor-in-ChiefChris Beaumont is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of World Pickleball Magazine. Chris follows the global game closely, reporting on the latest news, developments, stories and tournaments from all five continents. He also hosts the World Pickleball Podcast, interviewing people at…
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