Kentucky will add pickleball, girls flag football as high school sports

The Kentucky High School Athletic Association will offer state-sponsored championships in pickleball and girls flag football.

The KHSAA Board of Control officially voted to sanction pickleball as a new high school sport, set for the fall of 2027-28. The sport was approved following strong interest from member schools. 

During the latest triennial survey that weighs the addition of new sports, nearly half of respondents and a third of the KHSAA’s membership expressed interest in the sanctioning of pickleball. Of the 214 survey-question respondents, 102 voted “yes” for a state pickleball tournament. 

One hundred schools were in favor of girls flag football; about 40% of the “yes” votes endorsed either a spring or fall season, but not both. The KHSAA requires a “yes” from 15% of its 293 member schools to enter discussion on sanctioning a new championship.

The pickleball season and state tournament will be played in the fall, opposite the spring tennis season. 

Flag football will be held in the spring. 89 of the 100 “yes” voters were in favor of either season or spring. It’s to be determined whether pickleball will be a co-ed sport or have girls and boys championships.

A Kentucky High School Girls Flag Football Association has already held a state tournament last fall. A few small colleges in Kentucky have added women’s flag football to their varsity sports in recent years. Multiple Division I schools have set target dates for its addition by the end of the decade. The sport will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, and the NFL is expecting to launch a pro league for men and women. 

Participation data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association last year showed that pickleball was the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. for a fourth consecutive year.


(AP Photo Eduardo Munoz Alvarez)