An Ashton mom, who voluntarily coaches the North Fremont High School pickleball team, wants to turn the sport into a recognized state high school sport.

“I’m the Pied Piper of pickleball. I am pretty passionate about it,” said Lynn Beck.

Beck reported that the recently created Youth Pickleball Organization has 150 athletes from eight Idaho high schools including Pocatello’s Century High School, Idaho Falls-based high schools Idaho Falls, Hillcrest and Thunder Ridge, St. Anthony’s South Fremont Junior High, Rigby High School and Madison High School in Rexburg.

“Our ultimate goal is to make pickleball a state high school sport. In order to do that we need to prove that it works on the club level,” Beck said. “We need about 40 of the 171 Idaho high schools to have a club team before we can petition the Idaho High School Activities Association.”

Once the 40 teams make themselves known, Beck can then present a proposal listing the groups to the IHSAA. She noted that in recent years the state has added new sports like swimming and women’s wrestling.

If swimming can become an Idaho sport, then pickleball should be recognized as well, Beck said.

“We’ve shown pickleball can work at big schools and little schools in a competitive structure,” she said. “We have a petition going through the schools. What I’ve found is that people like to support youth sports.”

Once pickleball is accepted as a legitimate high school sport, then coaches would get paid, teams would have gym access and would be mentioned in yearbooks. It could also eventually mean college scholarships for pickleball athletes, Beck said. From there college players could join the professional pickleball leagues and make up to $260,000 a year, reports the Professional Pickleball Association.

In the meantime, once the sport is sanctioned, high school pickleball players could then officially represent their schools, Beck said.

“Right now, we are associated with the school as a club as opposed to a sanctioned sport,” she said.

Pickleball is perfect for youngsters who have no interest in traditional sports like basketball and football. It’s generally quite safe and offers everyone of any age and any skill level the chance to play, Beck said.

“It’s a combination of ping pong, tennis, and racquetball,” she said. “If you’ve played any other racquet sport, you have a leg up on skills. Even those who haven’t picked one up — they take a lesson, and after one hour or less, they go out and play. Some sports take years to get good at.”

Beck’s pickleball sport program isn’t about children from each grade competing against youth in the same grades at other schools but is instead about children playing against others at the same skill levels. That means a high school senior could be matched with a 7th grader during competitions, Beck said.

“We have smaller schools like North Fremont playing bigger school like Madison. We rate beginning, intermediate and advanced,” she said.

The sport is relatively inexpensive and only requires paddles and paddle balls that large paddleball companies often donate to upcoming youth teams. Pickleball courts are usually free to use via city parks, churches, and school gyms, Beck said.

“Pickleball Fever,” as it’s often called, has spread across the Upper Valley where courts may be found at the Ashton Park and inside the city’s community center. About 18 months ago, St. Anthony built a brand new tennis/pickleball court. Rexburg has the courts at Neptune Park that are routinely in use. The city is also working on building another pickleball court at Smith Park.

Beck noted that pickleball brings people together.

“Anyone can just show up and be welcomed,” Beck said.

Pickleball has grown increasingly popular in recent years, and Beck believes it’s a result of people wanting to get back out and mingle following the COVID years.

“Another thing, there’s so much divisiveness especially on social media,” she said. “In pickleball, nobody cares if you’re a Democrat or a Republican. It’s just fun. The learning curve is pretty quick.”

Children love it because it’s so easy to learn, she said.

“I see their eyes light up,” Beck said. “They don’t play other sports, and they say, ‘I’ve found a sport I can play’. It’s just fun and is so satisfying for them. I have one home schooler whose father tells me that his son suffers from social anxiety so badly that playing pickleball is the only time that his son spends with other kids.”

Not only the young but the young at heart may play the game, she said.

“There are people in their 70s and 80s who play three hours a day,” she said. “Pickleball keeps people young. You can pretty much play forever as long as you stay active.”

Beck once taught a 12-year-old girl and her 82-year-old grandmother how to play the sport.

“What other sport can a kid play with her great-grandmother?” Beck asked.

Beck’s pickleball players compete every Thursday, and next month they’ll have tournaments where youth compete individually. She noted that her athletes will also play in a tournament on Oct. 30 — dressed in Halloween costumes — at the Idaho Falls indoor SpitFire Pickleball Court.

Pickleball is for everyone and can become a lifetime sport, she said.

“There’s something very addicting about pickleball,” she said. “It’s good exercise. People who play are hooked on it like a drug.”

For more information on Beck’s efforts in creating high school statewide pickleball recognition visit Pickleball4all.us