The History of Pickleball

Read on to learn how an impromptu game of badminton in the 60s led to the highly addictive game of pickleball.

Oh, pickleball. How we love you. Pickleball is one of the fastest-growing sports in America, and it's easy to understand why. After all, who doesn't want to learn about a sport with such a fun name? We've compiled everything we know about how this exciting, addictive sport came to be. And yes, we'll tell you how pickleball got its name.

Finished Playing Golf, Now What?

Interestingly enough, pickleball was created in 1965 on a nice summer day in Bainbridge Island, Washington by two golf enthusiasts– Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell.

After these two men finished playing a few holes of golf, they went back to Joel’s home to meet up with their families. When the men arrived, they discovered everyone at home was bored out of their minds. Being the sports enthusiasts they were, the two men started thinking of family bonding activities that everyone could participate in. Joel had a badminton court at his house, so he and Bill began looking for enough equipment for the entire family to use while playing. When they discovered there weren’t enough badminton racquets for everyone, they reverted to the good ol’ everything but the kitchen sink technique: play on the badminton court with ping pong paddles and a plastic ball. Improv at its finest.

The men and their families enjoyed the game so much that the next weekend, they recruited another friend, Barney McCallum, to play round two. These three then devised “rules” for their newfound passtime, and they continued to play and solidify their ideas for the sport.

Ok, Now It's Official

Two years later, the first permanent pickleball court was built in Joel’s neighbor’s backyard. Talk about love and dedication! The foundation of this sport was based on spending time with family and bringing people together, and building the first “official court” in a backyard was an apt symbol of the game's scrappy origins.

Years later, the first-ever pickleball tournament was held in Tukwila, Washington. David Lester was crowned champion, and Steve Paranto finished as runner-up. Interestingly enough, the majority of the people competing in the tournament were tennis players. They had prepared for the tournament by playing with large wooden paddles and softball-sized wiffle balls.

In 1972, the Pickleball Inc. Corporation was born. The organization made pickleball an official sport and created a market for actual pickleball equipment.

What about the paddles? How were they made?

Great question. The father of Steve Paranto (yep, the guy who placed second at the first pickleball tournament) was a Boeing Industrial Engineer, and he created the first paddles with fiberglass and honeycomb nomex panels that are also used in the flooring and structural systems in commercial airplanes. He made about 1,000 of these paddles until he sold his company to Frank Candelario, the former pickleball executive director and president.

The Most Important Question…

Ok, ok. We decided to save the best question for last: How did pickleball get its name? While there is not one definite answer, there are two theories about how the name came to be. The first theory is that the Pritchard’s family dog was named Pickles, and he would often chase and run with the ball when the family was playing the game. (Great foundation of the sport AND it’s named after a cute dog? Say no more and sign me up!) The second theory is from Joan Pritchard, Joel’s wife. As a former rower, she teased that the game was like a “pickle ball," which referred to a rowing boat filled with leftover, non-starters.

While there was debate about the naming origins, it was discovered that the precious dog, Pickles, was born three years after the two golfers played the sport on that warm summer day in Bainbridge Island.

That’s Why Pickleball is a Big Dill

There you have it! The history of our beloved sport. Whether you believe it was named after a family dog or a rowing term, pickleball is meant to bring people together to make memories. Don’t take our word for it, go and try it out for yourself. But beware--you might never want to leave the court.