Meet Sarah Jane Lim, the mother leading Philippine pickleball

GRIT. Sarah Jane Lim in action during a pickleball tournament.

Contributed photo

Even after climbing to the No. 1 spot in Philippine pickleball and getting drafted into Major League Pickleball Australia, Sarah Jane Lim prioritizes her role as a mother above all sports demands

AT A GLANCE

• Sarah Jane Lim, the top female pickleball player in the Philippines, is motivated by her daughter, Piper, and emphasizes the importance of self-care in motherhood.
• After transitioning from tennis to pickleball in 2023, Lim adopted a mindset focused on collective improvement rather than competition, which has contributed to her success in the sport.
• Lim advocates for young athletes to separate their identity from sports performance, encouraging them to focus on personal growth and kindness, both in sports and in life.

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Sarah Jane Lim may have reached the top of Philippine pickleball, but for the No. 1 female player in the country, her biggest motivation is not anything about the sport. Rather, it is her daughter, Piper.

Lim never imagined pickleball would reshape her athletic life, much less her journey as a mother.

A former competitive tennis player who represented UP in the UAAP, Lim stepped away from racket sports for eight years. She turned to running, rock climbing, and obstacle course racing before discovering pickleball in April 2023.

What began as a new sport became a different way of looking at competition.

“When I discovered pickleball, I took it from a whole different perspective. The goal is not to beat this person or not to be the No. 1. It’s to have a mindset that we’re all trying to get better here,” Lim said.

That mindset has helped Lim rise to the top of the local pickleball scene. At the same time, the sport has become a way for her to stay healthy and active for her daughter. 

Lim believes being a mother starts with taking care of herself first, so she can be the best version of herself for her family.

“I’m more than a mom. So I need to be healthy as a mom first, and then wife, and then for my pickleball,” Lim said.

Lim was drafted into Major League Pickleball Australia, where she played for the Western Vipers and Gold Coast Glory before becoming captain of the Southeast Asia Surge squad.

Alongside top-ranked male player Leander Lazaro, she also spearheaded the 38-member Team Philippines at the 2026 Pickleball World Cup in Da Nang, Vietnam.

But even with the demands of an international athletic career, Lim remains determined to be present for Piper.

She homeschools her daughter while making sure Piper sees the work that goes into staying fit, competing, and taking care of herself.

“I bond with my daughter through pickleball. We work out, like she sees me work out. My whole life is just trying to be an example for her. I want to be able to teach her by modeling to her what I want her to be: a respectful, kind human being,” Lim said.

“That’s how she sees that through how I play, how I train, how I deal with people, how I look at myself, how I talk about myself, how I talk about other people and how I take care of my body.”

Locally, Lim plays for the Parañaque Titans in the Manila Premier Pickleball Tour while remaining involved with The 3rd Shot, a pickleball hub and training platform focused on coaching and growing the local community.

As she helps develop the next generation of players, Lim wants young athletes to understand that their performance should never become their identity.

“To young athletes, what I always say is, don’t associate your identity with your sports performance because you are more than enough. You’re a daughter, you’re a son, you’re a sister, you’re a brother, you’re a friend. Your wins and your losses don’t define who you are.

“So if you’re able to detach your identity from your performance, then you’re free to actually perform better, to try harder, to put yourself in positions where you can fail in front of people. Because when you’re able to put yourself there, that’s the growing part.

“So I’m very, very intentional in nurturing young athletes and helping parents support their young athletes by helping them disassociate their identity from their sports performance, and just really be excellent and see how far you go. Because you can’t control the outcome. You can only control your effort and your attitude.”

For Lim, that philosophy applies to motherhood, too. She aims to continue to show her daughter what it means to keep improving, to take care of yourself, to treat people with kindness, and to never let a result define who you are.

“For me, that’s also the core of it all. Everything I say online, that’s really the core: don’t make it your identity because you’re more than an athlete,” she said.

“I always tell them to focus on getting better where you are, whether it’s an aspect of your game or whether it’s physical or mental. Just focus on getting better every day, even if it’s just 1%.” – Rappler.com