The history of Pickleball, according
the USA Pickleball Association
Mary Herron gets low for a volley during the Senior Games
tournament finals. Pickleball has helped the Cabarrus
County resident both physically and mentally, she said.
Cabarrus County’s Senior Games began offering
the sport around 2010–2011, according to Susan
Donaldson, project/events manager for Cabarrus
County Active Living and Parks.
“A few people came out in the early years of it being
offered in Cabarrus Senior Games, but the sport
really began to take off locally once Cabarrus County
began to host the N.C. Senior Games State Finals
tournament in 2015,” Donaldson said.
Since the first year of N.C. Senior Games sanctioning,
the number of participants in the tournament has more
than doubled.
The popularity is evident when you talk to Bohlayer
and other players. Many will tell you the sport
changed their lives.
Cabarrus resident Mary Herron, 66, has participated
in a number of senior-centric sports in recent years,
and Pickleball ranks high for the boost it provides
mentally and physically, she said.
“I’m in better shape now than I was 10 years ago,”
Herron said. “Pickleball really does help with your
balance and reflexes. I’ve always been athletic, but this
game has helped me more than just about anything.”
Herron was one of hundreds of players who convened
at Carolina Courts in downtown Concord for the
Senior Games State Finals last fall.
(continued on page 4)
1965: After playing golf one Saturday
during the summer, Joel Pritchard,
congressman from Washington State
and Bill Bell, successful business-
man, returned to Pritchard’s home
on Bainbridge Island, Washington
(near Seattle) to find their families
sitting around with nothing to do.
The property had an old bad-
minton court so Pritchard and Bell
looked for some badminton equipment
and could not find a full set of rackets.
They improvised and started playing
with ping-pong paddles and a perfo-
rated plastic ball. At first they placed
the net at badminton height of 60
inches and volleyed the ball over the net. As
the weekend progressed, the players found that the
ball bounced well on the asphalt surface and soon the
net was lowered to 36 inches. The following week-
end, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at
Pritchard’s home. Soon, the three men created rules,
relying heavily on badminton. They kept in mind the
original purpose, which was to provide a game that
the whole family could play together.
What’s up with the name?
Accounts of how the name originated differ.
1. According to Joel Pritchard’s wife, Joan, she
started calling the game Pickleball because “the
combination of different sports reminded me of
the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were
chosen from the leftovers of other boats.”
2. According to Barney McCallum, the game was
officially named after the Pritchards’ dog Pick-
les, who would chase the ball and run off with
it. According to McCallum, “The Pritchards
had a dog named Pickles, and you’re having
fun at a party, right? So anyways, what the hell,
let’s just call it Pickleball.”
Others claim both accounts may actually be true. In
the early years, no official name was assigned to the
game. However, a year or two after the game was
invented, the Pritchards purchased a cocker spaniel
and named it Pickles. As the game progressed, an
official name was needed and “Pickleball” was it.
Source: usapa.org
www.cabarruscounty.us/seniors
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