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Pickleball is on the FHSAA board agenda. What's next for the sport?

The Florida High School Athletic Association is considering the addition of pickleball to the state's high school sports calendar, after receiving survey responses from more than 500 schools.

While the process is still in the early stages, the FHSAA board of directors is scheduled to discuss the sport during its June 8 meeting in Gainesville, the final meeting of the 2025-26 school year.

In its meeting agenda, the FHSAA reported that it received 547 responses from schools on an interest survey, a preliminary step in the long road required for pickleball to become an officially sanctioned high school sport in Florida.

Of the 547 schools responding, 166 (slightly more than 30%) said they had interest in the FHSAA sanctioning pickleball as an official sport, while 121 had no interest and 260 were unsure.

North Florida schools, the FHSAA said, had some of the highest favorable responses (17 of 49 answering Yes, or 34.7%) of Florida's regions. Those numbers were 18.6% for Central Florida (11 of 59), 34.8% for East Coast (8 of 23), 20% for Southwest Florida (6 of 30) and 31% for "South/Other Florida" (95 of 306). The FHSAA did not specify the boundaries of these regions.

Currently, 48 of the responding schools reported having pickleball as a club sport. However, only 56 schools reported access to dedicated pickleball courts.

At the county level, 19 of 27 responding counties reported that there was some pickleball activity at schools there, with seven expressing interest in FHSAA sanctioning and 17 others unsure.

The board is scheduled to discuss the survey findings June 8, but no action is planned at this time.

Several more steps would lie ahead before pickleball, or any other new sport, could attain official status. Under FHSAA rules, adding a new recognized sport requires at least 10 percent of its high school member schools, including members in at least two of the association's four administrative sections, to send letters of petition to the board of directors. From there, the process could go to the board for further consideration.

In addition, the FHSAA would need to specify rules, procedures, time of year and postseason format before implementing high school pickleball in the state. The National Federation of State High School Associations does not currently list a rulebook for pickleball.

The FHSAA last added sports in the 2021-22 season, when it began sanctioning girls wrestling and beach volleyball. During 2023-24, the association issued a survey regarding esports, but has not moved forward with introducing esports as an official sport.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: FHSAA to discuss adding high school pickleball in Florida

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