Pickleball inspires, connects and is easy to learn – exactly these strengths make the trend sport an ideal introduction to racquet sports. In Vorarlberg, systematic efforts have been underway since autumn 2025 to establish pickleball in school sports. The project by PFA member club Pickleball Vorarlberg is titled “From Grassroots to the Olympickle Dream” and shows impressively how schools, community formats and club sports can be connected in a sustainable way.

After a pilot phase starting in October 2025, the official implementation began in January 2026 as part of Vorarlberg >> bewegt. Since then, more than 160 PE lessons with over 1,300 students have already been carried out. In the preparatory pilot phase, an additional 32 lessons with 233 students at five schools were completed.

This means that within just a few months, more than 1,500 children and young people have already been reached directly. Further lessons are being prepared across the region – and the project continues to grow.

 

Pickleball has already been played at primary schools, middle schools, secondary academic schools, teacher training schools and as part of teacher training programmes. Vorarlberg is deliberately serving as a pilot region for a model that can also set an example for other federal states.

Why pickleball is ideal for school sports

Pickleball is easy to access, fun from the very first rally and works extremely well in class settings. In everyday school life, it becomes clear how quickly children and young people get into the game – regardless of previous sporting experience, age or performance level.

The educational focus of the project is on:

Integration · Inclusion · Gender Equality

Pickleball is particularly well suited to heterogeneous groups, can be played in school gyms and does not require complex infrastructure. At the same time, the sport is especially appealing to girls and allows mixed groups to experience success quickly.

For teachers, pickleball is also highly attractive: the rules are simple, game formats are easy to explain and the first lessons can be implemented with little effort.

Teaching material and teacher tutorial as entry-level support

To ensure that schools can not only get to know pickleball but also continue it independently, special teaching modules were developed and tested as part of the project.

These include robust school paddles, colour-coded school balls, mobile net solutions, QR-based game ideas, compact lesson formats and a teacher tutorial for direct use in PE lessons. Participation certificates provide additional motivation and make the students’ entry into the project visible.

This creates a simple, practical structure that allows pickleball to become firmly established in everyday school life.

“The enthusiasm is immediately noticeable”

Project leader Oliver Baltzer sees the school project as an important step for the development of pickleball in Austria:

“Our goal is to make pickleball visible and accessible where enthusiasm for sport begins: at school. The experiences from Vorarlberg show that pickleball reaches children and young people very quickly, enables teachers to implement it easily and at the same time builds a bridge towards club sports. This interaction is exactly what makes the project so valuable for the further development of pickleball in Austria.”
Oliver Baltzer, President of Pickleball Vorarlberg and Project Leader of “From Grassroots to the Olympickle Dream”

From school to club

A central part of the project is the transition from the first contact in PE lessons to regular playing opportunities. This is exactly where the School-to-Club model comes in.

In parallel with the school project, the Pickleball Social Club at Messehalle Dornbirn takes place every week. This open playing format is aimed at adults, parents, teachers, senior players as well as beginners. It creates a direct connection between schools, families, the community and club sports.

With the Ländle Cup, an additional regional playing format is being developed, offering students a sporting perspective after their first experiences in school lessons. In this way, pickleball is not just tried once, but can be developed step by step – from school tournaments to club play.

Train the Teacher: The key to sustainable development

To allow pickleball to grow in the long term, the project is based on a modular Train the Teacher approach. Teachers are empowered to use pickleball independently in their lessons.

This is a decisive factor for scaling the project: the more teachers can confidently introduce pickleball, the more schools can be reached. Individual project sessions can thus develop into a sustainable structure for Austrian school sports.

Vorarlberg as a model for Austria

The project in Vorarlberg shows how pickleball can be brought into schools, clubs and regional communities with simple resources, a clear structure and plenty of enthusiasm. The experiences from the “Ländle” are intended to serve as a model for other regions as well.

We are looking for schools that would like to try pickleball in PE lessons, clubs interested in developing youth structures, regions interested in becoming pilot locations, and partners for teacher training in the field of racquet sports.

Get involved

Would you like to bring pickleball to your school, your club or your region? Then get in touch with the project team and become part of “From Grassroots to the Olympickle Dream”.

Contact:
Oliver Baltzer
President of Pickleball Vorarlberg
Project Coordination “From Grassroots to the Olympickle Dream”
School-to-Club Transfer Pickleball Austria

Email: oliver@pickleball-vorarlberg.at
Phone: +49 176 24171394