On October 16 in pickleball history, one notable milestone is linked to the origins and growth of the sport around the late 1960s, a critical period when pickleball began to evolve from a family pastime into an organized sport. While no single specific historic event is widely documented for this exact date, the fall season—mid-October included—matches the timeframe when Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum were actively refining the rules and formalizing the game, which they had invented just a few years earlier in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
This period in pickleball’s early history was vital because by late 1967 and into 1968, the first dedicated pickleball courts were being established, including the very first permanent outdoor court built at the home of Pritchard’s friend Bob O’Brian. The trio had shifted from their initial makeshift playing style—using ping pong paddles and a wiffle ball—to more specialized gear, and they began standardizing the game rules. This phase laid the groundwork for pickleball’s transition from a backyard family game to a sport with growing local popularity, setting the stage for its first tournament in 1976 and the formation of governing bodies oversees the sport’s growth.
Interestingly, the naming of the game "pickleball" itself happened around this era, with stories debunking the idea that it came from the family dog “Pickles” (who was actually born after the sport was named), instead likely referencing the term "pickle boat" from rowing—meaning a boat made up of leftover crew members—symbolizing the mixed nature of the sport's origins. This blend of badminton, tennis, and table tennis elements was becoming clearer around the fall seasons following the invention year.
The late 1960s, including the month of October, represent a turning point for pickleball, where enthusiasts like Pritchard, Bell, and McCallum shaped the game’s identity and rules that still govern play today. This period was the cradle of pickleball’s future boom spanning the United States and eventually the world.
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