ORANGE PARK – As Ahmad El-Zarif’s pickleball career skyrocketed, he faced a difficult decision. Does he forgo soccer and continue to pursue his dream to give lessons and play pickleball professionally or does he finish school?

Because of Clay Virtual Academy, the answer was yes to all three questions.

“There was a point where I started to like pickleball more than soccer, so I decided to quit soccer and kind of fully commit to pickleball,” the 17-year-old from Fleming Island said. “I needed to give myself as much time as I needed to train and grind at pickleball to get to where I want to get, which is the Top 10 pro, a Top 5 pro, whatever.”

By fitting his high school classes around his schedule, El-Zarif was able to complete his schoolwork ahead of schedule while not affecting his practice or playing schedule.

“Having a whole day open gave me time to give two to four hours’ worth of lessons in the morning and then one to two sessions, which is usually two to four hours of play, just for myself to keep my level going.”

El-Zarif's prowess became apparent when his family moved from Washington state to Eagle Harbor in 2022 and his mother, Victoria El-Zarif, joined the pickleball group on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“I started playing with them, probably one to two times a week or just a few times a month, not much,” he said. “But I slowly felt that I was getting better. I just thought it was fun to play, and then I started playing the higher-level groups at Eagle Harbor and slowly made my way up. That brought a lot more interest once my level started to increase. I started getting lessons, and once I felt myself getting to a comfortable level, which is around a 4 (level) to 5 level, I really thought I could take it to the next level.”

While he focuses primarily on Florida, El-Zarif travels throughout the Southeast to compete in professional tournaments. He is ranked 30^th among juniors nationally by the Dynamic Universal Pickleball Rating system.

Classes at Clay Virtual Academy gave him the flexibility to achieve on the court and in the classroom.

“Because you’re going from public school to virtual school or whatever you're doing, I mean, that doesn't mean you don't have to stay focused and make sure you're getting your work done,” El-Zarif said. “The great thing I liked about virtual school, I kind of got to coordinate my schedule between pickleball and virtual school. I didn’t have an eight-hour school day that's kind of cutting in between my pickleball.

“With the virtual school, it's great because lessons and assignments didn’t really take as long. I feel like I'm a quick learner.”

And an even quicker student of the game.