Pickleball’ s BIG BANG
Sixty years after three friends improvised a new game on Bainbridge Island, Washington, pickleball’ s birthplace has become a bucket-list destination.
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by DAN FELLNER
On a glorious sun-drenched 70-degree summer day in the Pacific Northwest, our small group walks contemplatively along a secluded tree-lined dirt path, as if we’ re approaching a venerated religious shrine.
As we quietly pass a“ No trespassing” sign at the base of a Pacific madrone evergreen, a clearing emerges, revealing one of the most celebrated slabs of asphalt since The Beatles were photographed crossing Abbey Road.
“ So, this is Mecca,” says our host Clay Roberts, only partly tongue in cheek, pointing to the site where visitors have been known to joyfully kiss the pavement.
We had reached the hallowed ground of“ Court 1,” where pickleball— America’ s fastest-growing sport— was invented and first played more than 60 years ago on this scenic and affluent island.
Bainbridge Island is in the Puget Sound, about a halfhour ferry ride from downtown Seattle. It’ s not a large island, only about 5 miles wide and 10 miles long with a population of about 25,000. The number of people can swell to 35,000 in the summer when tourists“ invade,” many of them day-trippers from Seattle.
Some of the visitors are on pickleball pilgrimages to see the birthplace of their favorite sport, play at the public courts dedicated to the game’ s inventors, and buy pickleball-related souvenirs in the gift shops.
“ It’ s a bucket-list [ item ] for people to come to Bainbridge,” says Roberts.“ We have people show up from all over the world just to say they’ ve played here.” Roberts, affectionally known on the island as“ Mr.
Pickleball,” introduced us to Scott Stover, who was
waiting to greet us and tell the story of how pickleball got its start on his 100-year-old home’ s driveway in 1965.
Friends Joel Pritchard( a former Washington congressman who owned the home at the time), Bill Bell and Barney McCallum spent summers on the island. When their children complained of boredom, Pritchard proposed inventing a new game using materials they had readily available, including a badminton net, table tennis paddles, and a wiffle ball. A badminton court was repurposed and the three men developed rules to govern the new game.
Pritchard’ s wife, Joan, named the game based on a rowing term. A“ pickle boat” carries a hastily assembled crew of leftover rowers, just as pickleball was created with leftover pieces from other sports.
The sport has slowly evolved from a friendly game enjoyed in private backyards on Bainbridge to what is now a global phenomenon, played by an estimated 24 million Americans and as many as 50 million people worldwide in 80 countries.
The pickleball industry is valued at around $ 3 billion and is supported by a booming ecosystem of equipment manufacturing, court construction and professional leagues. There’ s even a 24 / 7 television network called PickleballTV.
Stover, 75, bought the house from the Pritchard family in 1984( his wife, Carol, was Pritchard’ s second cousin). Little did he know that his home would later become a bucket-list destination for pickleball fanatics.
“ It’ s always been a surprise to us how it does touch certain people,” he says.“ Pickleball is such an important part of lots of people’ s lives.”
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