Brophy/Xavier Takes Team Title as 145 Students From 25 Clubs Compete in Mesa
The future of pickleball in Arizona took a major step forward Dec. 6 & 7, 2025, when 145 athletes from 25 high schools converged on Mesa’s Dink & Dine Pickle Park for the inaugural Arizona High School Pickleball Championships. Presented by HonorHealth and powered by PURE Pickleball & Padel, the USA Pickleball-certified and Sporfie-livestreamed event included five championship divisions and crowned Brophy/Xavier the overall high school state champion, highlighting the rapid growth of organized youth participation in pickleball.
Brophy/Xavier secured the top team score of 26 points after two full days of fierce competition, with Tempe’s Corona del Sol High School taking second, with 24 points, and Mesa’s Mountain View High School claiming third, with 19 points. Horizon Honors in Phoenix, Payson High School and Mesa’s Red Mountain High School rounded out the top six participating schools, racking up 14, 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“It was a privilege to coach these kids, many of whom hadn’t started playing the game until this year,” said Xavier/Brophy Coach Paul Shoen, whose team scored Joola equipment and a one-year club sponsorship along with the state title. “Most of them had a tennis or other competitive sport background, so they were all able to dig deep. Epic battles and nail-biters all weekend. By bringing pickleball to the high schools, PURE is pushing the Arizona talent even further. Everyone is now on notice, and next year the level of competition will be wild. I told my players that we will now be drilling all year long.”
Top finishers across other championship divisions included:
Girls Doubles
- Gold – Makenna McLachlin & Ava Shoen – Xavier College Prep
- Silver – Vicki Westover & Lindsey Lees, Red Mountain
- Bronze – Gabby Dupnik & Maya Solomon, Horizon Honors
Boys Doubles
- Gold – Santiago Morales & Hogan O’Malley – Corona del Sol
- Silver – Chace Marlor – PURE Academy & Bryce Marler – Mountain View
- Bronze – Colin St. Hilaire & Dhruva Vignesh – Brophy
Mixed Doubles
- Gold – Erin Clark & Hogan O’Malley – Corona del Sol
- Silver – Ava Shoen – Xavier College Prep & Colin St. Hilaire – Brophy
- Bronze – Mollie White & Maddox Tompkinson – Red Mountain
Girls Singles
- Gold – Maya Solomon, Horizon Honors
- Silver – Ava Shoen – Xavier College Prep
- Bronze – Erin Clark – Corona del Sol
Boys Singles
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- Gold – Brody Rosselli – Payson
- Silver – Roman Anderson – Mountain View
- Bronze –
- Bentley Halvorsen – Mountain View
Stephanie Newton, Director of PURE Pickleball & Padel, remarked, “This weekend surpassed everything we had hoped for—the level of competition was remarkable.”
The students demonstrated impressive intensity, skill, and good sportsmanship. She shared her enthusiasm
for tracking the development of these athletes as PURE advances its plans to grow Arizona High School Pickleball, including launching regional leagues next spring and establishing additional high school pickleball clubs in 2026.
Sporfie, a popular live-streaming platform and one of the event’s major sponsors alongside USA Pickleball, streamed live coverage from the Championship Court and six additional courts throughout the weekend, giving family members, friends and supporters statewide a chance to follow all the action in real time. Streamed matches are available to rewatch at no cost, and event coverage and replays are viewable at sporfie.com/azhspb.
Additional event sponsors who made the inaugural Arizona High School Pickleball Championships possible included Caliber Co., Joola Pickleball, RacketPro, Pickleheads, Pita Jungle, Protein House, Raising Cane’s, Tosi Snacks, Flick Weight, Franklin Pickleball, Crush Pickleball, and Andrei Daescu.
After seeing the success and enthusiasm surrounding the state championships firsthand, USA Pickleball also finalized its decision to launch a new high school division as part of its “Golden Ticket Events” series in 2026. PURE Pickleball & Padel also made a groundbreaking announcement of its own over the weekend, unveiling plans for PURE Academy, a youth and adult training program that will launch its first location at Dink & Dine Pickle Park in January. The announcement followed the Girls Doubles Medal Ceremony, with the PURE team surprising Director Stephanie Newton with a reveal of the “PickleBus,” a custom Volkswagen ID. Buzz that will function as a mobile unit, bringing coaching, equipment and supplies to students and high schools statewide.
Many student athletes who participated in the Arizona High School Pickleball Championships expressed excitement over the sport’s explosive popularity and growth.
“Playing in the first-ever high school pickleball state championship is something my team and I are truly
honored to be part of. Competing on this stage and seeing the sport grow has been incredible, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for high school pickleball in Arizona. I also want to thank our head coach, Mr. Ray, for everything he’s done for our team, along with Mr. Warner, Mr. Berk and Mrs. Newton from PURE, for their efforts to establish Arizona High School Pickleball and for organizing the state championships tournament.”
The success of the inaugural Arizona High School Pickleball Championships provided further evidence of pickleball participation rising sharply among young players, driven in part by PURE Pickleball & Padel’s efforts to build and shape the next generation of competitors across the state.
For more about PURE Pickleball or to learn more about starting a new high school pickleball club, email info@purepickleball.com or subscribe for updates at purepickleball.com.