Pickleball Coach AI wins Rep. Kat Cammack’s 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Third District
Rep. Kat Cammack has named Saharsh Pothu of Eastside High School as the winner of the 2025 Congressional App Challenge in Florida’s Third District. Their app Pickleball Coach AI works with a wearable wrist device to help Pickleball players improve their play, technique, and stay injury-free.
When asked what inspired the creation of Pickleball Coach AI, Saharsh Pothu said, “One day over the summer, as my dad was getting into Pickleball, he invited me to play with him and some of his friends. As a tennis player, I already had experience with the mechanics of the sport; however, my dad and his friends were still learning. Due to a lack of coaching, every player was playing differently, and there was no improvement from any of the players. Pickleball is, currently, the world’s fastest-growing sport. According to an article published by the National Institute of Health, there has been a roughly 2,100% increase in pickleball injuries over the past decade. One day, one of my dad’s friends was injured while playing due to having bad form when attacking the ball. This injury forced him to discontinue his development. As a result, I decided to use my coding and AI knowledge to design a device and app that could help players all across the world improve their gameplay.”
The 2025 Congressional App Challenge marked another record-setting year for the program. A total of 394 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted App Challenges in their congressional districts, the highest level of participation in the program’s history. More than 13,800 students from across the country participated, submitting over 4,600 original apps focused on real-world challenges ranging from health and accessibility to education, sustainability, and civic engagement.
The Congressional App Challenge is an official initiative of the U.S. House of Representatives that encourages middle school and high school students to learn to code, explore computer science, and build practical technology solutions for their communities. Each participating Member of Congress selects a winning app from their district, and winning teams are invited to showcase their projects to Members of Congress, staff, and industry leaders at the annual #HouseOfCode celebration on Capitol Hill.
The Challenge is proudly bipartisan and reflects a shared commitment to expanding access to STEM education and preparing the next generation of American innovators for the future workforce. The program is a public-private partnership made possible through funding from the Broadcom Foundation, AWS, Infosys Foundation USA, theCoderSchool, Apple, and others.
The 2026 Congressional App Challenge will launch in May, and eligible students can pre-register for the competition now.