Mother-Son Duo Turning MatchPoint Vadodara Into Pickleball Brand
In the heart of Vadodara, a mom and son team are putting in very long hours to change the sports scene in their city through pickleball, which is a very fast-growing racquet sport. Neha Shah, who is one of India’s first certified pickleball coaches and has a Professional Pickleball Registry (PPR) from the U.S., is at the head of this effort with her son, Aman Shah. Their company, MatchPoint Vadodara, is slowly but surely becoming a brand that is not only for the promotion of the sport but also for building a great community around it.
Pickleball has seen the likes of tennis great Andre Agassi come out in support of it, and it has also been put in play for Olympic Games inclusion in Vadodara. We see the game reviving thanks to Shah’s work. She turned a wasteland in the New Alkapuri area into a full-scale pickleball court, which has become a great spot for all age groups to play. While the court is open to all, what Shah is really pushing is the young adult crowd in the 25 to 30 range, which is looking for what they see as more accessible options to tennis and badminton.
Pickleball is drawing in players away from the tennis courts. Easy to pick up and almost immediate fun, while tennis requires more out of your energy reserves, reports Shah, who also notes the sports’ growth.
Wearing Many Hats
Neha Shah’s background is in her love of racquet sports. As a seasoned player, she represented at the national level in badminton and tennis tournaments. Later, she put that passion to use in community organization, which in particular included senior and women players, into which she formed groups and networks for they to have a chance in competitive tennis. Out of these experiences grew her move into pickleball management.
Building From Scratch
Before we see the launch of MatchPoint Vadodara in late 2023, Shah put in the time to study the growth of pickleball in the U.S., which has a 43% share of the global market and reports in at almost $1B in revenue. She saw the play there in tier-1 cities like Mumbai, but went for the challenge of creating a pickleball hub in Vadodara, which at that time had low awareness.
Scaling up proved difficult. From a population of 3.5 million, we saw at first just a few who were interested in the sport. Also, reports came out of tennis academies that were turning their courts into pickleball spaces. Although there was doubt put forth that the sport would do well, Shah held out confidence.
I put in a great deal of time into organizing free workshops and getting out the word to different groups that they should try pickleball. The response was very positive, which made me think we had something. She says. Her perseverance paid off, with enrollment in the games growing steadily over the past year.
Rise of the MatchPoint Pickleball League.
What made MatchPoint Vadodara stand out was the introduction of its signature event, the MatchPoint Pickleball League. Modeled after the Indian Premier League, it includes team auctions, captains, and many competitive categories. The first season was a success, and the second, which begins in March 2025 with support from Axis Bank, is to feature 96 players in men’s and women’s singles and doubles events.
A Growing Brand
In terms of growth and recognition, MatchPoint Vadodara is seeing success with their regular coaching sessions, playgroups over the weekends, and access to high-quality equipment. Their growth mirrors that of pickleball in general, which in that same time saw player participation grow by 159% from 2019 to 2022 and the installation of 50 60 new courts every month.
As we see in the case of Neha and Aman Shah’s campaign, which is still in progress, MatchPoint in Vadodara is a live example of what dedication and community development can do for a new sport to become a successful local brand.
