Hey Apple, Where’s Our Pickleball Emoji ⁉️😤
Join the movement to bring pickleball its rightful emoji. Created by TeachMe.To.

Who is impacted?

Nearly 20 million Americans played pickleball in 2024, and 36.5 million tried it at least once—14 % of the entire U.S. adult population.

From weekend rec‑league fans to professional instructors, from Gen Z group‑chats to grandparents coordinating doubles, every pickleballer relies on digital communication to share highlights, schedule matches, and celebrate wins.

Today we're forced to mash together 🥒 + 🏓 or settle for a tennis‑ball stand‑in—an awkward workaround that erases the sport’s identity and leaves a fast‑growing, inter‑generational community without a simple way to represent itself online.

What is at stake?

Emojis do more than decorate messages—they signal legitimacy, shape culture, and give movements a recognizable flag. Apple already grants that recognition to niche activities like lacrosse, curling, and even competitive yo‑yoing, yet pickleball—larger than all three combined—remains invisible. If nothing changes, brands that fuel local economies, charities that host fund‑raisers, and schools that use pickleball for inclusive PE will continue to fight an uphill battle for awareness. Granting a paddle‑and‑perforated‑ball emoji instantly validates the sport, streamlines social storytelling for millions, and ensures that the language of iOS reflects the culture we actually live in.

Why is now the time to act?

Pickleball has been America’s fastest‑growing sport four years running, and 2025 is on pace to be its biggest season yet as new clubs, pro tours, and broadcast deals come online. Meanwhile, iOS 18.4 just added paint splatters and “baggy‑eyes” faces—proof Apple can ship fresh icons quickly when it chooses. Our community has already submitted a clean, high‑contrast design to Unicode that meets accessibility guidelines and scales flawlessly on bright or dark themes. Apple can champion that proposal today and roll the emoji into the next update with minimal effort. Every day of delay forces millions to keep improvising; approving the emoji now gives the world’s fastest‑growing sport the digital home it has earned.

We urge Apple to approve our submission for the pickleball emoji—because a movement of millions shouldn’t have to speak in substitutes.

At TeachMe.To Pickleball, we love pickleball, and we love emojis. So, we even went ahead and hired a professional designer to create the official pickleball emoji for Apple! You can learn more about the design process here.