Pickleball and Girls Flag Football will be Officially Sanctioned Kentucky High School Sports

High school athletes in Kentucky will be able to play a pair of new sports in the 2027-28 school year. The KHSAA voted on Wednesday to add pickleball and girls flag football as officially sanctioned sports.

Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America. Instead of using rackets on a large tennis court, smaller paddles are used to hit wiffle balls over a 34-inch-high net on a badminton-sized court. It’s become popular with older folks who enjoy the competition, but don’t necessarily want to run around a giant court.

Kentucky will become one of the first states to offer a high school state championship in pickleball. Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland have held pickleball championships since 2024.

Will and Darby Stein: Big pickleball fans.

4 players
3 sets
2 meltdowns
1 epic comeback
0 major injuries

Great day at PKL Lex & with @CoachWillStein & his wife Darby.

Please ask @ChrisDoering who won…#WelcomeToTheSEC https://t.co/BGq64pxG51 pic.twitter.com/RZWSj8aF6O

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) May 7, 2026

Pickleball will be a fall sport, allowing the competitors to play tennis in the spring. The first Kentucky high school pickleball state championship will be in 2027.

The KHSAA will crown a girls’ flag football champion in the spring of 2028. Once reserved for boys before introducing helmets and shoulder pads, flag football has become highly competitive. A 7-on-7 circuit has developed in the high school ranks, akin to AAU basketball. The NFL has made significant efforts to promote flag football. The sport will be played in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

For years, girls’ flag football was limited to an annual powder puff game. In Louisville, Assumption and Sacred Heart raised money for charity by competing in a game, with the boys from St. X and Trinity serving as the game’s cheerleaders. It’s no longer a one-off gimmick.

There are now more girls’ flag football teams than boys tackle football teams in the city of Louisville. Nearly two-dozen teams competed in last year’s Kentucky High School Girls Flag Football Association state tournament, with the finals played at UofL’s L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. More than 35 colleges have sanctioned club teams, including Eastern Kentucky. In January, Nebraska became the first Power Conference school to add girls’ flag football as a varsity sport. Matt Rhule handed out the school’s first scholarship offer.

The KHSAA Board of Control voted 15-2 to approve the addition of girls’ flag football. Kentucky becomes the 23rd state to add girls’ flag football as a varsity sport.

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