HISTORY OF PICKLEBALL

 

The History of Pickleball, the sport with the funny name - is both interesting and interesting . Fascinating due to its humble beginnings and interesting due to the phenomenon that it's become. According to those in the know, it has been reported as having rooted its origins in Bainbridge Island, WA (near Seattle) by a man named Joel Pritchard and two of his friends.

 

How and why pickleball?

 

The game as we know it was invented is simply because Joel Pritchard and his good friends and neighbours Bill Bell and Barney McCallum couldn’t find ‘the badminton gear' to play badminton. There was no sitting down planning a replacement game, no focus, research or playing group to check the waters or marketability of the sport , no logo design, nothing. It was just because they couldn't find the gear to play a game that has been around for quite 2000 years which that they had played for many of their living years, badminton.
 
The ‘how bit’ within the History of Pickleball may be a slightly longer story but not for much longer . As a result of wanting to play a game of Badminton and presumably to get a bit of exercise but not finding the gear to be able to play with; improvisation and some creativity took over.

 
At first it had been played with ping pong paddles, a perforated plastic ball and a net placed at 60 inches high. Soon internet was lowered to the now standard of 36 inches at the edges (and 34 inches within the centre) – then came court dimensions and therefore the making up of the rules.

 
And while the rules have invariably changed and adapted to the sport, the original purpose of what we now know as pickleball was to invent a game that all the family could play and have a lot of fun playing. - 'Fun' as it has turned out seems to be the default setting!

 
There are noted milestones of the game’s development over the years with some of the popular ones being the introduction of the first composite paddle in 1984. This was a technological improvement over the first ping pong paddle obviously and large advancement in design and use of fabric from that of the much-used wooden paddle up until that time. Quite a stunning milestone in terms of pickleball growth was made within the 1990’s where pickleball was then ready to be played in 50 states of the USA. 

It was then in 2005 when the USAPA – the administration of pickleball named its first president – Mark Friedenberg. The USAPA also became a Non-Profit Corporation in July 1 of that same year. It wasn’t until 2008 that another significant milestone within the History of Pickleball was made when the principles Committee headed by Dennis Duey, published the USA Pickleball Association Official Tournament Rulebook – Revision: May 1, 2008. 

History of Pickleball - a little story of tales!

 
Barney McCallum, one of the games founders would have us believe that the game was officially named after the Pritchard’s dog Pickles. Apparently, Pickles would chase the ball and escape with it during games. 

McCallum reports that it had been within the fun of the sport when this event happened (suggestive that Pickles had escape with the ball again) and therefore the naming question popped up. 

Reflective within the ‘moment’, words were said to the effect of: " You’re having fun at a celebration (and presumably the sport was a neighborhood of the party) so what the hell, let’s just call it pickleball".
 
And so, it's – the sport of Pickleball is justly named and is now within the History of Pickleball! Believe as a dog lover, the not so endearing alternative story in the naming of the game where the apparent truth would have us believe that it was not named after the dog because the Pritchard’s didn’t get the dog until years after the game started. The dog was in-fact (reportedly) named after the game. Not the other way around.

 
And who wants to believe that Pickleball’s name was (or could have been) derived from the Pritchard family’s maritime pursuits instead of its canine pets. It is said that, the name may have come from Joel Pritchard’s mom Joan, who was a competitive rower on the island of Bainbridge. She sometimes referred to the ‘pickle boat,’ the slowest vessel in a race. The truth could be that nobody really knows how it came to be named – but the dog story sounds good.

 
The History of Pickleball has seen some significant changes and has developed into what's now Pickleball today and is remarkably being played everywhere the planet . It still has introductory humble beginnings through community groups, PE classes, YMCA, retirement communities, overseas expat clubs and schools and in-fact anywhere there's interest. 

The official statistics now report that more than 2,000,000 people are playing Pickleball in the US alone, and the game is growing exponentially around the world. Chart courtesy USAPA.