Founded in April 2026, the Phạm Gia Khang Pickleball Junior Club has brought together 12 players born between 2009 and 2015 from Pleiku, An Khê and neighbouring Kon Tum Province.
The club was established by Nguyễn Đồng Hưng, Director of Phạm Gia Khang Trading, Service and Import-Export One Member Limited Liability Company, after he identified a lack of organised spaces for young pickleball players.
Mr Hưng, who previously managed a pickleball club featuring around 20 experienced athletes competing in tournaments across and beyond the province, said his travels exposed a growing interest in the sport among children and teenagers.
He was also inspired by the success of nationally recognised 16-year-old player Hoàng Samurai.
“We have a very close relationship with Hoàng Samurai. Having been introduced to pickleball early, and thanks to his talent and hard work, he has become one of the country’s top players,” Mr Hưng said.
“Thanks to pickleball, his future has opened up. So I thought, why shouldn’t Gia Lai have its own Hoàng Samurai, or at least a community where kids can freely play and share their passion for this sport?”
The club provides regular weekly coaching sessions and supports members with uniforms, backpacks, tournament registration fees and travel expenses for competitions held outside the province.
The initiative has already produced notable results. At the inaugural Pickleball Coach Xuân Trường Tournament 2026, held in Diên Hồng Ward on May 17 and featuring more than 250 athletes, club members secured two championship titles and one runner-up finish.
Trần Quốc Đạt, born in 2011, won the mixed doubles 4.7-point category, while fellow 2011-born player Trần Nguyên Khang claimed the mixed doubles 5.2-point title. Châu Gia Bảo and Nguyễn Tấn Dũng, also born in 2011, finished runners-up in the mixed doubles 5.2-point event.
Earlier in May, Quốc Đạt captured the mixed doubles 5.25-point championship at the Hà Thanh Quy Nhơn Pickleball Tournament. He and Võ Nhật Khang, born in 2010, also finished runners-up in the mixed doubles 5.55-point category.
At the AK Pickleball Hùng Phát Cup in late April, the club earned one first-place finish, two second-place finishes and one third-place result.
Several members are already regarded as promising players within the local pickleball community. Nhật Khang currently holds a 2.78-point rating, while Quốc Đạt has a 2.69-point rating.
Quốc Đạt said he first became interested in the sport through his parents. “My parents play pickleball and often take me along. I’ve been training for over a year now”, he said.
“Previously, I had very few friends to play with, but after joining the Phạm Gia Khang Pickleball Junior Club, I met many peers to compete and have fun with. After school, I really enjoy going to the court to practice and hope to compete in more tournaments to further improve”.
According to Mr Hưng, the club plans to organise a month-long training camp during the summer of 2026 to prepare for the Hào Hiếu Open Pickleball Tournament scheduled for late June.
The competition is one of the few tournaments dedicated to U16 girls and U14 boys, with organisers expecting around 50 young players from provinces and cities across the region.
Nguyễn Văn Hùng, a pickleball coach in the Pleiku area, described the club as an effective model for youth sports development.
“The Phạm Gia Khang Pickleball Junior Club is an excellent model, leveraging social resources to create a playground for teenagers”, he said.
“Here, the kids not only train and interact through sports, but more importantly, they develop discipline, share experiences, and strive together in their studies.
Thanks to the guidance of experienced coaches and participation in many grassroots tournaments, the children have made rapid progress and will be the future of pickleball in the mountain city”.