Why is it Called Pickleball? > COURT SPORTS
BY RACHEL WRIGHT I f you have never been exposed to the sport, hearing the word “pickleball” might cause you to raise an eyebrow and ask, “What in the world is that?” Once you’ve been at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club long enough, you won’t even bat an eye at the word due to its popularity at the Club and it becoming part of many members’ everyday vernacular. But have you ever stopped to think — why IS it called pickleball? Does it have to do with the color of the ball? Is it a play off the phrase “In a Pickle?” Maybe you heard it had something to do with a dog. AS THE STORY GOES
WHAT’S IN A NAME While trying to come up with the name for this backyard game, Joel’s wife, Joan, suggested “Pickle Ball” in reference to pickle boats. Pickle boats were used by leftover, non-starter rowers across multiple universities who would race in pickle boat crew competitions for fun. The game was a hodgepodge of other backyard games, much like the hodgepodge of rowers in the pickle boats, so the group decided that this was a fitting name. Pickle ball would later be changed to pickleball. PICKLES THE DOG Many attribute the name of Pickleball to the Pritchards’ dog — Pickles. But according to an interview with Pickleball Magazine, Frank said that the family got Pickles after the game had already been invented. The rumor that the game was named after Pickles was actually started by Joel himself. After recounting the factual story of the game origins with a reporter, Joel suggested that the reporter write that it was named after the dog. The reporter ended up going with the dog angle because it was more memorable than the original story. Frank and Barney would then recount the fictitious origin to those who asked, thinking it’s just a funny story and wouldn’t stick. As the sport grew, so did the fabricated story of Pickles being the game’s namesake. Frank continues to give his mother credit for naming the game, telling Pickleball Magazine, “It’s her little piece of pickleball’s history…and she’s never been given enough credit for [it].”
It was the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, and 13-year-old Frank Pritchard was bored out of his mind. Frank’s father, Joel, then took it upon himself to come up
with a game for his son. At his disposal he had a paved badminton court in the backyard, a plastic whiffle ball set, and table tennis paddles. He set up the net, grabbed the whiffle ball and paddles, and the rest is history. Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, friends of the Pritchards, then got involved with this backyard project. They established rules and modified the paddles. All that was left was to come up with the name.
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