In Dien Bien province, over the past few months, Pickleball has been developing very strongly, especially in the school environment. At Dien Bien Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, there are currently 6 Pickleball courts, of which 4 courts have been put into operation. Currently, the school is developing a plan to include Pickleball in the 2nd semester curriculum for grade 10.
Speaking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Vu Trung Hoan - Principal of Dien Bien Province Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities said: "The school is considering two options: introducing Pickleball into the entire school year or combining Pickleball with other sports so that students have more options. It is expected that from the 2025-2026 school year, Pickleball will be taught to all 3 grades."
According to Mr. Hoan, choosing Pickleball to include in the curriculum is completely appropriate, because this sport not only helps students improve their health but is also very accessible and rarely causes injuries.
With the dedicated guidance of teachers, students of Dien Bien Provincial Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities are not only equipped with basic knowledge of the rules of the game but also have the opportunity to practice skills, demonstrate talents and be ready to participate in tournaments inside and outside the school.
Mr. Hoan said that if the Ministry of Education and Training had distributed the program and textbooks, it would be very easy, but currently, schools have to develop their own programs. In addition, the biggest difficulty in bringing Pickleball to schools is the problem of facilities.
“Building a standard Pickleball court can cost about 50 million VND/court, which is a large expense for many schools. However, the Department of Education and Training will provide full equipment for teaching Pickleball, similar to other sports,” Mr. Hoan emphasized.
At Nam Po District Ethnic Minority High School, the school’s first Pickleball practice field has been officially completed and put into use. This is the result of the efforts of all staff, teachers, employees and students through the savings movement “Two thousand dong per day for education”.
Previously, in mid-October, the Dien Bien Department of Education and Training organized a Pickleball training course for key teachers of its affiliated units. This is the basis for contributing to the development of Pickleball in schools.
According to Mr. Cu Huy Hoan - Deputy Director of Dien Bien Department of Education and Training, to develop Pickleball, the Department has increased updating and developing Pickleball for managers, teachers, staff and students. Particularly for high school students, schools have been asked to include it in their elective sports content.
In addition, schools have developed plans to organize the teaching of Pickleball from the 2024-2025 school year. At the Sports Festival of the Education and Training sector held in the fourth quarter of 2025, pickleball will be officially included in the competition program and athletes will be selected to participate in the Provincial Sports Festival.
Pickleball is a new sport, with many similarities to table tennis, badminton and tennis. Pickleball has 2 playing formats: singles (2 players) and doubles (4 players). In which, one person will use a racket to serve and pass a Pickleball over a 0.86m high net to make the opponent commit a foul or not be able to catch the ball.
