Pickleball

Paddles, people and pickles

Pickleball emerges as local sport (no, sadly, there is no relation to real pickles)

Tanner Guillot guilltan000@hsestudents.org

Sports require people; competition is inherently communal, not just paddles and a plastic ball. ey found that the ball actually bounced remarkably well on because multiple people will be playing, but also because of fans and spectators. Sports compose a signi cant amount of local culture, and ease of play o en helps a sport develop its fanbase; such an example of a near-universal sport is pickleball. “It’s appeal and why it’s really engaging, is that it’s a group sport that you can go out with really any of your friends and you don’t need to be really, really good or anything to have a fun time,” said Drew Gavit, history teacher. “It’s a sport you can play with all sorts of ages. You can play with someone who’s 18, someone who’s in their 30’s, or someone who’s in their 60’s.” Like all sports, pickleball has a history behind it. According to USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body, the sport started on one slow Saturday in 1965; three people: Congressman Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum, found themselves and their families bored and located an old badminton court. Lacking proper equipment, they settled for playing with ping pong the asphalt surface and thus pickleball had begun. ey would go on to formulate proper rules, heavily based on those of badminton and start establishing proper courts designated to pickleball. ere is also a reason behind the sport’s name. It was coined by Joan Pritchard, in reference to “pickle boats,” or crews on ships that are haphazardly thrown together, mirroring the creation of the sport. As the sport grew across the US, it would eventually nd itself in Fishers as well. Fishers, being a populous city, matches pickleball’s pick-upand-play nature remarkably well. Pickleball is one of the games taught in physical education classes, and many local parks host courts speci c to it. Notably, Roy G. Holland Memorial Park added its courts in fall 2022. “I would say it’s very prominent [in Fishers],” said Gavit. “I was at college for four years, I was not in Fishers. I just came back this past summer, and I noticed it exploded. Over at Cyntheanne Park, they’ve put in I think eight courts and every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, it’s packed with people.” e sport is not played by every single resident of the city, of course. For some, it is very rare to actually hear of it outside of P.E. However, many agree that the sport is set to grow as the number of courts increase and the sport remains easily accessible. “I know that having more pickleball courts would de nitely increase my likelihood of playing,” said senior Adrea Pendlum. “I don’t think pickleball is a super popular sport in Fishers right now, but with the addition of pickleball courts I could de nitely see the potential for it to become more popular.” Overall, while pickleball remains somewhat niche to some, many others play it frequently and regularly see populated courts. With a vast potential audience and many places to play, anyone can give the sport a try and see if it is for them. “It’s really fun, I just think a lot of people view it as a game for older people who want to stay active, and while that may be true, it’s fun for anyone really, no matter how old you are,” said junior Luke Gabbard. “With the addition of courts at Holland Park, I think it’ll really start to gain some popularity.”

Graphic created by Tanner Guillot.