When Was Pickleball Invented?

Quick Answer: Pickleball was invented in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum improvised the game that summer at Pritchard’s family place, using ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball on an old badminton court. The first permanent court followed in 1967 and the first rulebook in 1984.

The date question has a clean answer: summer 1965. Both USA Pickleball’s official history and HistoryLink, the encyclopedia of Washington state history, place the first game in that summer, at Joel Pritchard’s summer place on Bainbridge Island. What happened over the next six decades is a slow build followed by a sudden explosion, and the dates line up neatly. The people behind the first date get their own profiles in the guide to who invented pickleball, and the whole story runs through the history of pickleball.

What Happened in the Summer of 1965?

In the summer of 1965, Pritchard and Bell improvised the first game for Pritchard’s bored kids, and McCallum was introduced to it at Pritchard’s home the following weekend, per USA Pickleball. The badminton net started at regulation badminton height and came down over time to 36 inches once the founders realized the plastic ball bounced well on the hard surface. Joan Pritchard named the game that same summer, after the pickle boat in rowing.

That founding summer produced the features that still define the sport. The non-volley zone and the two-bounce rule the founders worked out survive nearly unchanged under the 2026 rulebook.

What Does the Full Pickleball Timeline Look Like?

The key dates, each verified against USA Pickleball’s official history unless noted:

• 1965: First game played and named at Pritchard’s Bainbridge Island place.
• 1967: First permanent pickleball court built at Joel and Joan Pritchard’s home in the Magnolia Bluff area of Seattle.
• 1968: Articles of incorporation for Pickle Ball Inc. filed on February 13, per HistoryLink. USA Pickleball’s own timeline dates the corporation to 1972.
• 1976: First known pickleball tournament in the world, spring 1976, South Center Athletic Club, Tukwila, Washington.
• 1984: United States Amateur Pickleball Association organized; first rulebook published in March.
• 1990: Pickleball being played in all 50 states.
• 2005: New USA Pickleball Association corporation established.
• 2022: Washington names pickleball its official state sport on March 28.
• 2025: SFIA counts 24.3 million US players, up from 4.2 million in 2020.

When Was the First Permanent Pickleball Court Built?

The first permanent pickleball court was built in 1967, two years after the invention. USA Pickleball’s history specifies that it went in at Joel and Joan Pritchard’s home in Magnolia Bluff, Seattle, and that it was the first court built specifically for pickleball rather than a converted badminton court or a temporary layout.

The original 1965 court on Bainbridge Island survives too, preserved by the property’s later owners, a story told in the guide to where pickleball originated.

When Did Pickleball Become a Real Organization?

The business came first, then the governing body. HistoryLink documents that Pritchard and friends filed articles of incorporation for Pickle Ball Inc. on February 13, 1968, to develop and promote the game. USA Pickleball’s timeline lists the corporation under 1972 instead, a four-year discrepancy worth flagging, though the 1968 filing date comes from the incorporation record HistoryLink cites.

The governing body arrived in 1984, when the United States Amateur Pickleball Association was organized and published the first rulebook in March 1984, with Sid Williams as first executive director and president. Rules have been revised continuously since, which is why rule citations carry an edition, such as the two-bounce rule as written under the 2026 rulebook. In 2005, a new corporation, the USA Pickleball Association, was established with Mark Friedenberg as first president, the direct ancestor of today’s national governing body.

When Did Pickleball Reach All 50 States?

By 1990, according to USA Pickleball’s history. The game spent its first decade traveling on the founders’ networks, from Bainbridge Island to legislators in Olympia per HistoryLink, then through athletic clubs and snowbird communities. The first known tournament, in spring 1976 at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington, marked the shift from backyard pastime to competitive sport. Fourteen years later it had a foothold in every state.

When Did the Pickleball Boom Start?

The boom is a 2020s phenomenon. SFIA counted 4.2 million US players in 2020 and 24.3 million in 2025, and USA Pickleball notes SFIA named pickleball the fastest-growing sport in America in 2023 for the third straight year. Professional play scaled in the same window: the PPA Tour launched in 2018, the APP Tour in 2019 as the first tour sanctioned by USA Pickleball, and Major League Pickleball played its first season in 2021.

Washington put a legislative stamp on the history on March 28, 2022, when Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5615 making pickleball the official state sport, per HistoryLink.

FAQ

When was pickleball invented?

Pickleball was invented in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, at Joel Pritchard’s family summer place. USA Pickleball’s official history and HistoryLink both confirm the date.

What year did pickleball get its name?

1965, the same summer it was invented. Joan Pritchard named it after the pickle boat in rowing, the boat crewed by leftover oarsmen, according to USA Pickleball’s official account.

Is pickleball older than 1965?

The game itself dates to 1965, though its parts are older. The founders borrowed the court concept from badminton, the paddles from table tennis, and the net play from tennis, assembling existing pieces into a new sport.

When was the first pickleball court built?

The first permanent pickleball court was built in 1967 at Joel and Joan Pritchard’s home in Magnolia Bluff, Seattle, per USA Pickleball. The 1965 original on Bainbridge Island was a repurposed badminton court.

When was the first pickleball tournament?

Spring 1976, at South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington. USA Pickleball describes it as the first known pickleball tournament in the world.

When was USAPA founded?

The United States Amateur Pickleball Association was organized in 1984 and published the first rulebook in March 1984. A successor corporation, the USA Pickleball Association, was established in 2005 and evolved into today’s USA Pickleball.

How old is pickleball now?

As of 2026, pickleball is 61 years old, counting from the summer of 1965. It spent roughly 55 of those years as a niche sport before the SFIA-documented boom carried it from 4.2 million US players in 2020 to 24.3 million in 2025.

Have the rules changed since 1965?

The core has held while details evolve annually. The lowered net, the non-volley zone, and the two-bounce rule all date to the founding era and remain in force under the 2026 rulebook, which is why rule references on this site always name the edition.

When did pickleball become Washington’s state sport?

March 28, 2022, when Governor Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5615. The bill passed the Senate 46 to 1 and the House 83 to 15, per HistoryLink.

Every date on this timeline started with people improvising on whatever court they had, and that has not changed. Local groups run the modern version of those 1965 afternoons every week, and the pickleball clubs directory sorts them by city.

Written by the Pickler Junction Team.