DAN FELLNER( FAR COURT) HITTING A FEW BALLS WITH CLAY ROBERTS ON BAINBRIDGE ISLAND ' S ICONIC COURT, WHERE PICKLEBALL WAS INVENTED IN 1965. PHOTO BY KRISTIN RINGDAHL.
Calling himself“ an anti-tourism guy,” Stover prefers to keep the location of his home private and only occasionally allows visitors to see Court 1— usually for charity events. Understandably, he doesn’ t want unannounced tourists traipsing across his property.
With Stover’ s permission, Roberts was kind enough to arrange a visit to the house. Our small group included a mix of locals and visitors from England.
I even got to hit a few balls with Roberts on Court 1. We played with wooden paddles, similar to what the game’ s pioneers used. The asphalt surface was as bumpy as a bicycle speeding down a cobblestone road.
“ As you can see, the court has lots of flaws, whether tree roots or whatever,” says Stover.“ It’ s not really meant for play anymore. It’ s a historical site.”
There’ s a plaque next to the court proclaiming it“ the original pickleball court.” The marker was mounted on a large boulder in 2019 by the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum.
Stover started playing pickleball at the age of 16 with McCallum. In the mid-1970s, he won three world championships in doubles, although he acknowledges that the sport was still in its infancy and most of his fellow competitors were from the Pacific Northwest.
“ We were world champions, but the pickleball world was a small place back then,” he recalls with a smile.“ It was a very slow growth.”
Stover brought out a rare boxed set of pickleball gear that was sold by Pickle-ball Inc., a company founded
by the sport’ s inventors in 1972. These early starter kits included four wooden paddles, balls, a net and an official rulebook. There’ s a photo on the cover of the box showing Stover— then in his mid-20s— smashing a ball.
While Court 1 is not open to the public, there is an outdoor complex celebrating the game’ s inventors where visitors can play for free. The Founders Courts in Battle Point Park opened in 2021 with six courts and has since been expanded to 12. Roberts and fellow pickleball player Bill Walker spearheaded the effort to raise money to build the courts.
“ My business during COVID-19 dropped off and I’ m not good at sitting around, so this was a perfect project
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JULY 2026 | MAGAZINE 51