Pickleball is quickly becoming one of the most popular sports in America and Hudson.
Pickleball first became popular post-covid and is intriguing to many due to its low impact and fun atmosphere. Pickleball is perfect for all members of the family and is very easy to learn and pick up.
Due to the surge of pickleball, Barlow Farm Park built five tennis and 12 pickleball courts. They opened on October 20, 2022. They feature windscreens for when it is windy out to help keep play going no matter the weather. This is very exciting for the community because of how nice the courts are and since our community didn’t have a place for aspiring pickleball players to go to. At this time, the court is open play and open to the community to all enjoy whenever from dusk to dawn. One of the best features of the courts is the cost, which is nothing; it is completely free!
The story behind how the game was created is one of the most interesting aspects of the game. In 1965, a congressman from Washington State, Joel Pritchard, came back to his home in Bainbridge Island, Washington, with his friend Bill Bell, a successful businessman, to find his family struggling to find something to do. Pritchard attempted to try and find a full set of Badminton gear, but couldn’t find all of the rackets. They ended up using ping pong paddles and a plastic ball. Eventually, they lowered the badminton net, and the game of pickleball was born while relying heavily on the game of Badminton. They remained true to the game’s original purpose which was to create a game for the whole family to enjoy.
In 1967, the first ever permanent pickleball court was created in the backyard of Bob O’Brian, one of Joel Pritchard’s friends. In 1975, “National Observer” published an article about “America’s Newest Racquet Sport.” This is when the sport really took off, and many wanted to get their hands on this new “it” game.
In the summer of 1976, one of the first recorded pickleball tournaments took place. The players were David Lester and Steve Paranto. Lester took first place in the Men’s Singles.
When the sport first took off, the rules weren’t clear, and many didn’t even know how to play the game correctly. Many ended up using wooden paddles and bigger-sized plastic balls than they were supposed to when practicing. For more information and structure to be used during gameplay, in 1978, a book called “The Other Racquet Sports” was created to describe many key aspects of the game to players.
As gameplay got more and more popular, many wanted to try and get the most out of the game. Arlen Paranto created the first-ever composite paddle while using commercial airline technology to create the perfect aerodynamic paddle. He created around 1,000 of these before selling his idea and company to Frank Candelario.
Fast forward 15 years later and a corporation for the sport was created and known as the USA Pickleball Association (USAPA). Mark Friedenberg was given the title of President of the association. Steve Wong created an official website for the association which really set the ball rolling for the sport and popularity grew instantly.
Fast forward again to now in 2023, when the USA Pickleball memberships have skyrocketed to around 70,000. Player count for people aged 6 years of age and older reached 8.9 million. It is truly incredible how a spur-of-the-moment game concept can reach the whole country and be played professionally.
On behalf of many, thank you Joel Pritchard and family for the country-wide phenomenon of pickleball.
