Suzanne Stewart
Staff Writer
You might be surprised to learn that pickleball was created in 1965 by Washington state Congressman Joel Pritchard and businessman Bill Bell. The two returned home after a golf game to find their families sitting around, doing nothing.
They found a badminton net, ping pong paddles and a whiffle ball. They set up the net and started volleying the ball back and forth.
Pickleball is a sport for young and old players, with a ridiculous name – the origin of which is a bit muddy. It is said the name came from the Pritchard family dog, who was named Pickle.
Matriarch of the family Joan said the game reminded her of the pickle boat in crew. The crew of the pickle boat consisted of leftover oarsmen from other boats. Since the sport used equipment from several other sports, the name seemed to fit and thus it became pickleball.
From there, the sport has grown to be a national sensation with televised tournaments and people looking for the closest place to play.
Now, the closest place to play in the county is at the Community Wellness Center in Marlinton.
The sport was added to the menu of activities offered at the center after director Lauren Bennett was contacted by former resident Eric Hill, who eagerly offered to give lessons when he was in town. Hill, who lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, has become a big fan and player of the sport and helped Bennett get things started.
“He and his family have been in, and he’s done lessons two weekends,” Bennett said. “That was very helpful, and we did have several folks come to do that. You can follow the rules pretty easily and figure out how to play.”
Pickleball draws similarities to tennis, ping pong and racketball. It can be played by individuals or in pairs.
“They’re all just a little bit different,” Bennett said. “They all have their techniques. I like playing racketball. It’s a lot of the same strategies. You’re going low; you’re trying to hit the corners or get it above their heads so it drops in behind them. Same thing you’re doing in racketball, but in racketball, you’ve got a wall that’s going to stop your ball so you can hit it as hard as you want and you know it’s going to go to that corner.
“When I started playing pickleball, everything was going way out of bounds,” she added, laughing. “So that’s been the hardest thing to transfer for me.”
The wellness center has portable nets that can be set up in the gymnasium or outside. At this time, Bennett said they have set aside Saturday mornings 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., with David Gibb there to help those interested in the sport.
The response has been slow, but Bennett is hoping that once people learn about the sport, it will have a bigger draw. After learning to play and picking up some strategic pointers, Bennett said she understands the interest in the sport.
It’s fun,” she said. “It’s social. I can see why it would be popular, especially among the retired community because it is very social. Racketball, there’s such an echo in the room, you can’t really have much conversation. Tennis – you’re farther away – but with pickleball, we have laughed a lot.”
Bennett said it is also a good sport for retired individuals to pick up because while it does require physical activity, the coverage area for each person is smaller than in tennis.
“If you’re playing doubles, the area you cover is pretty manageable,” she said. “I think that’s how it started as a big sport with retired folks. It’s a little bit easier to get around. You’re not having to hit as hard. You’re not having to run as far.”
While the sport is easy to play indoors, Bennett said she hopes that in the near future, the tennis courts in the county can be repaved and have the lines and boxes for pickleball added to the court.
“All the tennis courts – Hillsboro, Marlinton, Green Bank – all need redone,” she said. “I took pictures of them years ago and started to apply for a grant that I never did get followed through with, with the Tennis Association. I would really like to see one tennis court and one pickleball court or maybe you can do a pickleball court within a tennis court.
“There are not a lot of people that play tennis,” she continued. “If pickleball becomes more popular, potentially, it would be great to get all the courts redone. They all need redone, period, but to do them to where it offers the option for both sports would be the best in my eyes.”
