Rabun County Pickleball Club Hosts Rabun’s First Pro Exhibition

What in the world is Pickleball? Complete with its quirky name, this eccentric sport has begun to enter American mainstream culture and has become the “new thing.” It looks a little like tennis, sorta like badminton and similar to ping pong. Pickleball itself with its patchwork assortment of equipment and rules borrowed from these other sports is all the rage.

What many might find interesting is how this sport came about in the first place. It was invented in 1965 just outside of Seattle on Bainbridge Island by three dads, Senator Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum who, as dads often do, decided to create some summertime fun for their kids. The first Pickleball court was constructed in 1967 at the home of Pritchard’s friend Bob O’Brian. In ‘72 a corporation was formed to protect the creation of the sport. The first official Pickleball tournament in the world was held at the South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington. Many participants were college tennis players who knew very little about Pickleball. By 1990 Pickleball was being played in all 50 states!

Fast forward 29 years and the 2021 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships welcomed 2,300 registered players. The largest tournament in the world at the time. During the last couple of years media exposure has continued to fuel awareness of the sport including spots on Late Night with Stephen Colbert, Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Today Show, CNBC and BBC News. Publications including The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Allure, USA Today, Sports Illustrated and The Boston Globe raved about the “new”, but not so new, sport.

Places2Play.com offers a map for members to know where the courts are located by state. The sport continues to grow worldwide with many new international clubs forming. Today it is reported that there are 36.5 million Pickleball players nationwide. It is reported that America now has 38,000 places to play the outrageously popular sport. The Rabun Pickleball Club wants Clayton, Georgia added to the map!

The Rabun Pickleball Club is a non-profit organization created from the love of Pickleball. Their mission is to provide outreach to the community through activities that encourage group and individual participation in exercise and wellness activities. They are dedicated to donate and support other local charities through competitions. They are actively facilitating public and private partnerships to build Pickleball facilities for our community.

Fundraising efforts are underway to make that a reality. The club recently held their first event to raise funds for the building of Pickleball facilities for recreation and competition in Clayton. The Laurel of Northeast Georgia was proud to be one of many sponsors for their inaugural fundraiser, the first Pro Exhibition hosted by the Rabun Pickleball Club. The Pro Exhibition Matches were March 5th at the Rabun County Recreation Department. It was well attended and enjoyed by all.

The professional Pickleball players Mark Price, David Spearman and Shea Underwood came to Rabun for the event. These gentlemen have taken the Pickleball world by storm. The event was exciting, action packed and fun! You have the opportunity to join the Rabun Pickleball Club and find out more about what they have planned. Photographer Carson Sprinkle of CLS Films was there to capture the action for us. We are excited for all that the Clayton City Complex will add to our County, with Pickleball being one part of it. The project and the efforts of the Rabun County Pickleball Club are examples of positive change.