The Rise of Courtsite: How a Booking Pet Project Became Malaysia’s Pickleball Engine

When Aaron Sheah first hacked together a bare-bones prototype to solve the headache of court bookings, he wasn’t planning to reshape an entire industry. He simply wanted to stop calling badminton halls and repeating his name over static-filled phone lines. But eight years later, that small student project has evolved into something Malaysia didn’t know it needed: a digital backbone powering the country’s fastest-growing sport.

What began as a simple directory of badminton centres has turned into a full operational ecosystem, payments, e-invoicing, lighting automation, even auto-unlocking doors. Courtsite’s mission stayed simple throughout: make running a facility effortless, so owners can focus on their unique identity, whether that’s premium club vibes or no-frills, play-and-go setups.

Then came pickleball.

The moment the sport collided with the Courtsite platform, bookings exploded. From 35,000 monthly pickleball bookings in April to a staggering 63,000 just a few months later, the sport's rise wasn’t just fast, it was seismic. Today, more than 190 pickleball venues live on the platform, officially surpassing badminton supply.

Pickleball’s magic is simple: low barrier of entry, social at its core, and accessible to every age group. Combined with a digital marketplace that instantly places every new court in front of half a million users, growth became inevitable.

According to Sheah, the industry is now entering a maturity phase where operators are sharpening their USP. Facilities are moving from “just courts” to clearly defined experiences premium, community-centric, private, or specialised. The next three to five years will be shaped by legitimacy at the national level: mainstream competitions, national representation, and eventually, the kind of visibility that pushes pickleball into schools, state circuits, and national development pathways.

Pickleball isn’t a trend. It’s a revolution and Courtsite has unintentionally become its engine.

This article is an excerpt from our interview with Aaron Sheah. Watch the full video here.