to work on,” says Roberts, 77, who has lived on the island for 40 years.“ I thought we were building courts, but as it turned out, we were building community.”
The complex includes an ornamental iron gate crafted by a local artist as well as displays detailing the history of the sport. My wife and I played for two hours at the Founders Courts and found the locals warm and welcoming. It reminded us of one of the things we cherish most about pickleball— the game’ s camaraderie and inclusiveness.
“ I think it’ s what’ s missing in America today,” says Roberts, who has seen people with very different political perspectives playing together, and by the end they’ re high-fiving and celebrating with one another.
Roberts was instrumental in getting his friend, and fellow Bainbridge Island resident, former Washington Governor Jay Inslee to sign a law declaring pickleball the official state sport in 2022. Fittingly, Inslee signed the proclamation at a ceremony held on Court 1.
“ We did not have a state sport, and it provided more visibility for the game,” says Roberts of his informal lobbying of the governor.“ I would have been disappointed if some other state would have beat us to the punch.”
Downtown Bainbridge Island, officially known as Winslow, spans about 10 blocks and is a short walk from the ferry terminal.
We popped into the Island Life gift shop on Winslow Way and were amazed to see a large section of the store devoted to pickleball souvenirs, including paddles, balls, fridge magnets, hats, shirts and even pickleball playing cards.
Owner Alex Sanso, a former Disney merchandise artist who designed many of the shop’ s pickleball products, came up with a clever catchphrase emblazoned on some of the souvenirs:“ Born here, played everywhere.” Sanso told me that pickleball-related merchandise constitutes about 50 percent of the shop’ s sales.“ People’ s minds are blown when they realize this is the birthplace of pickleball,” she says.
Around the corner, the Bainbridge Historical Museum— housed in a restored oneroom schoolhouse dating
One of the first handmade paddles
SCOTT STOVER DISPLAYS A RARE BOXED SET OF PICKLEBALL GEAR THAT WAS SOLD BY PICKLE-BALL INC., A COMPANY FOUNDED BY THE SPORT’ S INVENTORS. PHOTO BY DAN FELLNER.
back to 1908— features a prominent display about the island’ s pickleball history.
I especially enjoyed seeing two of the sport’ s first paddles, which McCallum crafted from plywood in his father’ s woodshop. Conversely, today’ s high-tech paddles are made from materials like carbon fiber, graphite and fiberglass, and can cost up to $ 400.
Reaching Court 1 on Bainbridge Island from Phoenix, Arizona, was far more arduous than rallying from a 10-0 pickleball deficit. To get there, I needed to take a plane from Phoenix to Seattle, light rail from the Sea-Tac airport to Colman Dock, a ferry across the Puget Sound, and a bus on Bainbridge Island to Battle Point Park, where Roberts picked us up for the 10-minute drive to Stover’ s house.
But the journey was well worth it. I had set foot on the revered birthplace of the sport that millions of people find so enriching. Finally, I had attained pickleball nirvana. Now if I could only master the third-shot drop. •
Dan Fellner is a faculty associate at Arizona State University and travel journalist based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Contact him at dan. fellner @ asu. edu or visit his website at danfellner. com.
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