For most kids, gym class is the highlight of the school week. It’s a much-needed break from serious class work and a chance to run around, play with friends, and expend energy playing basketball, soccer, volleyball, and floor hockey. Today, an increasing number of schools are adding pickleball to the menu as a way to provide students with a fun, easy way to increase physical activity and combat childhood obesity while addressing their ever-shrinking budgets.

Tailor-Made For Schools

Many aspects that have made pickleball so popular with adults – it’s easy to learn, it’s a fun workout, games are quick, and it allows people of various abilities and fitness levels to play together – also make it a great fit for school gym classes. Students can progress very quickly, which builds up their self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment and can lead to improvements in their overall academic achievement.

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Pickleball is also ideal for schools because it solves the problem of how to provide students with a fun physical activity while adhering to tight budgets. According to The Society of Health and Physical Educators, (SHAPE America), the average elementary school spends only $462 per year on physical education. That’s not per child —that’s for the entire school. Given these constraints, pickleball provides a cost-effective activity that many students can play while meeting government mandates for physical education.

DUPR Fuels the Growth of Pickleball Among Younger Players 

The Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) estimates that 8.9 million people played pickleball in 2023. As the average age of pickleball participants continues to trend downward – it’s currently at 35 – DUPR is working with organizations across the country to expand the sport further among younger players. For example, the most recent National Junior Pickleball Championships powered by DUPR was held in October in Las Vegas and featured 113 boys and girls ranging in age from 9-18 competing in singles, doubles, and team tournaments. 

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Bringing Pickleball to Schools

In addition to DUPR’s efforts, the nonprofit organization PHIT America is making it easy for schools to add pickleball to their physical education curriculum. PHIT America’s Play Pickleball initiative donates everything a school needs – paddles, nets, balls, training aids -- to introduce pickleball to students. Launched in Spring 2023 with the ambitious goal of delivering more than 100 kits to elementary schools throughout the US, PHIT America is partnering with pickleball pro KaSandra Gerke to spread the word about the fun and health benefits kids can enjoy from playing pickleball.

Pickleball is all about teamwork and good sportsmanship and therefore fits nicely with the values schools teach every day. The sport’s explosive growth over the past few years is poised to continue, and anyone who has watched an MLP or PPA match is witnessing the success younger players are having on tour. Seventeen-year-old Anna Leigh Waters continues to dominate and teen phenoms Hayden Patriquin and Quang Duong consistently compete at the highest levels. You never know, somewhere in America a student could be picking up a paddle in gym class for the first time, get hooked on the sport and soon play in a few pickleball tournaments, get their DUPR rating, and maybe become tomorrow’s next great pickleball champion.