PE gets a much needed update

The latest from Hidden Sports

Written by David

Remember the days of school PE? Freezing cold cross-country laps, ancient gym mats that smelt like history, and maybe if you were lucky, a bit of five-a-side indoors when it rained. Now, imagine swapping all of that for a game of pickleball or a parkour session. No, seriously.

In November 2024, the UK government quietly made what might be one of the boldest moves in school sports in decades: revamping PE by introducing new, more inclusive activities like pickleball, parkour, and even skateboarding. Gone are the days of the one-size-fits-all curriculum. This new direction is about fun, flexibility, and actually keeping kids engaged.

For those not quite up to speed: pickleball is like the lovechild of tennis and ping-pong. It’s played on a smaller court, with paddles instead of rackets, and it’s deceptively addictive. It’s also booming across the U.S. and rapidly growing in the UK. Parkour, meanwhile, is the art of moving through space by running, jumping, and climbing - with flair. You’ve probably seen it on YouTube or in films, but now it might just be coming to a school gym near you.

This isn’t just a quirky experiment, either. It’s part of a bigger push to keep kids active and encourage a lifelong love of movement, something traditional PE lessons often failed to achieve. For every future athlete who thrived on football drills, there were plenty of kids quietly dreading the beep test or spending a lesson “forgetting their kit.”

The beauty of sports like pickleball and parkour is that they’re accessible. You don’t need to be fast, tall, or super strong to enjoy them. You don’t even need to be “sporty.” And for schools, it’s a win too: they’re relatively easy to set up and don’t require loads of expensive gear. A few paddles, a net, and a decent indoor space, and you're off.

But what’s maybe most exciting about this is what it signals: a shift in how we think about sport. It’s not all about competition anymore - it’s about inclusion, enjoyment, creativity, and movement in all its forms. And that could mean a generation of young people growing up not just more active, but more connected to sport in whatever way works for them.

It also makes you wonder: could this be the start of something even bigger? Could schools become the launchpad for lesser-known sports in the UK? Could a kid falling in love with pickleball in Year 8 end up playing in a national tournament one day? It’s early days, but don’t bet against it.

As far as we’re concerned, anything that makes PE more exciting, more welcoming, and, let’s face it, more fun, gets a big tick from us. And if that means swapping a muddy rugby field for a game of doubles with a paddle in hand, we’re all in.

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Know a school already trying something different in PE? Or seen a creative use of pickleball or parkour in your area? Drop us a line, we’d love to hear about it.