By Drew Silverman – Red Line Editorial
Shortly after the Arizona High School Pickleball Championships, tournament director Brett Warner was asked to reflect on the inaugural event.
Without hesitation, he answered: “It exceeded every expectation.”
Naturally, Warner should be thrilled with the tournament. After all, 145 high school athletes from 25 schools across Arizona gathered at Dink & Dine Pickle Park in Mesa for the two-day event in early December. The tournament crowned an inaugural state champion (Xavier College Prep for boys, and Brophy College Prep for girls) and awarded medals in boys and girls singles and doubles divisions plus mixed doubles.
“It was very cool to see the teams that got organized, that practiced, that had intraclub ladders, that had coaches and staff sponsors — those are the teams that did very well at the tournament,” Warner said. “And those other 20 schools that were represented, they now know where the bar is. There is going to be an action/reaction as they’ve seen what they have to do to be competitive.”
The responses from players, coaches, referees, sponsors and fans were equally positive.
“People got a chance to see what high school pickleball can look like in a professional setting,” Warner said. “It was perfect. And a lot of the feedback was: ‘We’re going to be back.’”
For Warner, though, the weekend wasn’t just a celebration — it was proof of concept. In fact, Warner and the company he co-founded, PURE Pickleball & Padel, have much bigger plans in mind.
“The response to the event secured our next decision to build Arizona Regional Leagues, powered by PURE, starting in February and March,” said Warner.
That, however, is just the beginning.
PURE is also planning to build a $65 million facility in Scottsdale, Arizona. The world-class venue will offer 40 indoor pickleball courts, eight indoor padel courts and many other amenities when it opens in the spring of 2027.
Now, more than ever, indoor pickleball facilities — especially those tailored to America’s youth in hotbed states like Arizona — are important as pickleball tries to find permanent footing in the country’s overall sports landscape.
“There’s no big TV deal, at least not yet. So, one of the ways to make pickleball more watchable is to build a massive pro indoor arena,” Warner said. “That’ll give the on-court product the best chance to be perfect. The other way to get fandom is for people to care about who’s on the court. So, you set it up for high school, college and youth sports. If we want to help pickleball become more fan friendly, we need to target the people who will cheer for their teams and friends and community and alma mater.”
Warner notes that PURE’s approach is not simply to turn this into a business. Rather, the organization is focused on impact at this point. It wants to help schools begin student- and staff-sponsored pickleball clubs, providing these schools with charters, supporting their club days, helping recruit student leaders and then facilitating access to equipment and local courts.
“We want to cultivate high school pickleball club development and competition in a way that gives the sport the best chance to be certified at a state level by the Arizona Interscholastic Association,” he said.
While Arizona has emerged as a national leader in high school pickleball, other states are making progress, as well.
California, with its strong pickleball culture, hosts tournaments that connect students to a national rating system. Utah is establishing a non-profit association that provides a framework for team-based high school pickleball competitions. And Montgomery County, Maryland, is believed to be the first county to officially recognize pickleball as a varsity-level sport across its public high schools.
“Collectively, these states demonstrate the sport’s rapid growth through various paths, including statewide championships and varsity recognition,” Warner said. “This progress highlights pickleball’s appeal as an affordable, inclusive activity capable of engaging a diverse student population. … Because if high school pickleball becomes a recognized sport, then everybody wins.”
In fact, that is precisely Warner’s mindset these days.
“We’re trying to set an example for other groups and other states,” Warner said. “If we have something that’s working, I’m hoping other groups that are serious about making high school pickleball a sport in other states will look at what we’re doing. We’re not going to make anything proprietary. We want it to be a movement. At the end of the day, our call to action is twofold: Let’s make pickleball a high school sport in Arizona. And let’s make Arizona a blueprint for other states to follow.”
Pickleball has come a long way, particularly with teens and young adults, in recent years. Ambassadors of the sport, such as Warner, feel a duty to help that trend continue.
“Pickleball started on the older demographic side,” Warner said, “and now it’s trending younger and younger. However, without real competitive infrastructure, that trend is going to stall. We want to focus on high school as the next frontier to this sport. … For the first time, kids are not learning the game from 70-year-olds. They’re going to play with their friends and creating their own culture.”
So, it’s no surprise that Warner is so pumped about the inaugural high school pickleball championships in Arizona and the future of the sport, both locally and across the nation.
“It worked and it’s going to continue,” Warner said. “It’s only going to get bigger. We’re just getting started.”
Drew Silverman is a freelance contributor to USA Pickleball on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
