On September 13, a significant moment in pickleball history was the early establishment of the sport’s identity and growth period in the late 1960s and early 1970s following its invention in 1965. While no single event is precisely pegged to this date, September 13 falls during the formative years when pickleball began transitioning from a backyard game to a recognized sport with formal rules and a growing community.
Pickleball was invented in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum. Looking for an activity to entertain their families, these three neighbors combined elements of badminton, tennis, and ping pong, using an old badminton court, ping-pong paddles, and a perforated plastic ball called a Wiffle ball. They lowered the net height from badminton’s 60 inches to 36 inches, creating the distinctive pickleball net height. Within just days, Pritchard’s wife Joan named the game "pickleball," likening it to a "pickle boat," which in rowing is a crew team made up of leftover athletes from other teams. A common alternate story, though disproven by evidence, is that the game was named after the family dog, Pickles, who was actually born after the sport’s name had already been coined.
The years following pickleball’s invention were crucial. By 1967, the first permanent pickleball court was constructed in the backyard of Joel Pritchard’s friend Bob O’Brian, marking the sport’s commitment to a home and community presence beyond backyard improvisation. The early 1970s saw the formation of a corporation in 1972 to develop and protect pickleball as a sport, including trademarking the name and codifying the rules. Just a few years later in 1976, the first official pickleball tournament was held in Tukwila, Washington, bringing the game into competitive play and helping it gain more widespread recognition.
Pickleball’s growth has been remarkable from its small beginnings around this time. The sport’s appeal stems from its accessibility for all ages and skill levels, its low cost for equipment, and its unique blend of strategy and fun. Over the next decades, governing bodies like USA Pickleball were founded, courts spread across the United States, and pickleball evolved into a nationally and internationally played sport. By the 2020s, pickleball became the fastest growing sport in the United States, with millions of players and professional tours drawing sports icons as investors.
So while September 13 does not mark a single major headline event in pickleball history, it sits right in the early era that shaped pickleball’s foundations and helped set it on a trajectory to become a beloved sport worldwide. Listeners might picture those early days on Bainbridge Island, where a simple idea sparked a movement that today fills thousands of courts and brings people together with paddle in hand.
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