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Getting Started
Getting Started
The History of Pickleball: How It All Started
From a bored family on Bainbridge Island to one of the fastest-growing sports in the world.
Pickleball’s story starts with a group of families trying to fix a boring summer afternoon — not a plan to invent a global sport.
1
1965: an improvised game on Bainbridge Island
Washington congressman Joel Pritchard, businessman Bill Bell, and their friend Barney McCallum returned from golfing to find their families bored. They set up a badminton net but couldn’t find a full set of proper equipment, so they lowered the net and improvised with a wiffle ball and paddles.
2
Rules built for every age and ability
The three men wrote rules designed so the whole family, from kids to grandparents, could play together — a philosophy that still shapes the sport’s appeal today.
3
1967: the first permanent court
Pritchard’s neighbour Bob O’Brien built the first dedicated pickleball court, moving the game off makeshift backyard setups for good.
4
1972: formal organisation begins
Pritchard, McCallum, and Bell formed a corporation to protect and grow the sport, laying the groundwork for the associations and tours that exist today.
5
Where the name actually came from
A popular story credits a family dog named Pickles, but USA Pickleball’s own research found the dog was born in 1968 — after the game already had its name, not before.
Curious how the sport reached Southeast Asia? Read The Rise of Pickleball in Southeast Asia.