Pickleball+Story

**History of Pickleball** Pickleball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island - a short ferry ride from Seattle, WA. The original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family, according to co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum.  Pickles was the family dog that would chase after the errant balls and then hide in the bushes, thus Pickle's ball which was later shortened to the namesake of Pickleball. Initially, families played Pickleball in their backyards on a hard surface, on driveways, and on residential dead-end streets. Since the mid-1970's, Pickleball has grown and expanded from a family activity game to a paddle court sport with formalized rules. Now, over 20 years later, Pickleball is played in thousands of school P.E. programs, parks and recreation centers, correctional facilities, camps, YMCAs and retirement communities. This sport is becoming very popular among active senior adults at community centers and is growing in popularity on high school and college campuses.