Sarah Ansboury Has Been Helping Build Pickleball Since Before the Boom

A lot has changed in pickleball since Sarah Ansboury started playing in 2014. For more than a decade, she’s been part of the sport as it has grown into what it is today.

Today, you’ll find Sarah courtside rather than competing professionally, providing commentary for the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball alongside Dave Fleming. She’s also a coach, educator, longtime GAMMA-sponsored athlete, and co-founder of Global Pickleball Academy.

Her path to pickleball actually started with tennis. Sarah was a high-level tennis player, teaching professional, and collegiate tennis coach before discovering pickleball in 2014. She began competing nationally in 2015 and quickly became one of the early standouts of the professional game.

Then came the inaugural U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in 2016.

Sarah walked away with five medals, including pro gold in women’s doubles and mixed doubles. It was a completely different era of pickleball—long before packed professional stadiums, franchise teams, major television coverage, and the constant stream of new brands entering the sport.

Sarah was already there.

From Pickleball Player to Coach and Educator

What makes Sarah’s story so compelling isn’t what she accomplished on the court. It’s what she chose to do with that experience.

As pickleball grew, Sarah turned her attention toward education—not only helping players improve, but also teaching people how to coach the game effectively.

That became a major pillar of her work with the Professional Pickleball Registry (PPR), where she helped develop coach education, trained coaches and coach developers around the world, and ultimately served as vice president.

Her work with PPR gave Sarah a front-row seat to another side of pickleball’s growth: what happens after someone decides they want to become a coach?

Getting someone certified is one thing. Helping that coach continue to learn, adapt to different types of players, build a career, and become a better educator is something entirely different. That challenge would eventually shape her next chapter.

A Different Seat at the Professional Pickleball Game

Sarah may no longer be competing professionally, but she hasn’t left the pro scene.

She brings the experience of someone who competed during pickleball’s formative years into her work as a commentator for the PPA Tour and Major League Pickleball. That background gives her a perspective few people in the booth can replicate. She understands what is happening technically on the court, but she also knows the personalities, strategy, coaching, and history that viewers may not see.

Sarah also continues her longstanding relationship with GAMMA Sports, representing Team GAMMA. Her career has allowed her to experience pickleball from virtually every angle: player, coach, educator, executive, and commentator.

And she isn’t finished yet.

Building What Comes Next with Global Pickleball Academy

Sarah is now a co-founder of Global Pickleball Academy (GPA), an international coach-education and player-development organization built around a simple idea: certification shouldn’t be the end of a coach’s education—it should be the beginning.

GPA is focused on giving coaches a clear path from initial accreditation through continuing education, specialization, mentorship, and eventually opportunities to train other coaches.

The vision extends well beyond the United States. As pickleball expands internationally, countries need more than courts and equipment. They need qualified coaches, educators, and development systems capable of supporting growing communities of players.

Sarah is also a Strategic Advisor with Empower Pickleball, supporting our education, community, events, and global development initiatives.

And There’s More Coming…

Five medals at the inaugural U.S. Open will always be a cornerstone of Sarah Ansboury’s story. But a decade later, the medals aren’t even the most interesting part anymore.

She has gone from competing during the sport’s early days to developing coaches worldwide, leading education at PPR, calling today’s pro game from the booth, and co-founding an organization designed to shape how pickleball is taught globally.

If it feels like Sarah is entering another major chapter of her career, stay tuned.

There are some significant announcements ahead that we can’t share just yet, but Sarah’s role in pickleball is about to get even bigger.

She was there before the boom. And she’s certainly not done helping build what comes next.