Origins

The mini-tennis game called Pickle-ball 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.

How did the game of Pickle-ball get it's name?

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 Pickle-ball. Initially, families played Pickle-ball in their backyards on a hard surface, on driveways, and on residential dead-end streets. Since the mid-1970's, Pickle-ball has grown and expanded from a family activity game to a paddle court sport with formalized rules. Now, over 45 years later Pickle-ball is played in thousands of school P.E. programs, parks and recreation centers, correctional facilities, camps, YMCA's and retirement communities. This sport is becoming very popular among active senior adults at community centers.