The days of powder puff football being the closest thing many Kentucky girls had to the gridiron are coming to an end.
The Kentucky High School Athletic Association took a major step toward expanding opportunities for female athletes Wednesday, approving girls flag football and pickleball as sanctioned state championship sports beginning with the 2027-28 school year.
During its final Board of Control meeting of the academic year, the KHSAA voted 15-2 in favor of adding girls flag football. With the move, Kentucky becomes the 23rd state nationwide to sanction the rapidly growing sport at the high school level.
Participation in girls flag football has surged across the country in recent years. According to NFHS data, nearly 69,000 athletes participated during the 2024-25 school year as more states continue adopting it as an official varsity sport.
The Board of Control also approved pickleball, which will debut during the same 2027-28 school year. The sport’s season and state tournament will take place in the fall, complementing Kentucky’s traditional spring tennis season. Girls flag football will be contested during the spring sports calendar.
Momentum around girls flag football has continued to build well beyond the high school ranks. Several small colleges in Kentucky have already added women’s flag football programs, while multiple Division I schools across the country are expected to launch teams before the end of the decade. The sport is also set to make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, and the NFL has announced plans to introduce a professional league for both men and women that same year.
Pickleball has experienced a similar rise in popularity. The paddle sport, played on a smaller court with a perforated plastic ball…has exploded nationwide since 2020. Data from the Sports & Fitness Industry Association showed pickleball was America’s fastest-growing sport for a fourth straight year in 2024, with participation increasing more than 300% over the previous three years.
Kentucky will now become one of the first states in the nation to offer pickleball at the varsity high school level.
One issue still to be determined is whether the two competitions will be officially classified as sports or sport-activities under KHSAA rules. The distinction is significant because sport-activities are exempt from KHSAA Bylaw 6, which governs student-athlete transfers between schools.
Currently, archery, bass fishing, bowling, competitive cheer, dance and esports are classified by the KHSAA as sport-activities.