Pickleball: Not a Glum Sport

Pssst. Hey you. Do you wanna play some pickleball? 

I’m sure you’ve heard that pickleball is all the rage. Talk to anyone who plays the sport regularly and they’ll ultimately say, “You know, it’s the fastest growing sport in the country!” 

But if you’re like most people you’ll ask yourself – what is pickleball? 

Pickle-what?

Pickleball is a hybrid of tennis, paddleball, and table tennis. It’s played indoors and outdoors on a hard surface with hard paddles and a perforated plastic ball. What makes the game amazing is that it’s accessible to all ages and abilities.

Pickleball was first served up in the mid 1960s at a home in Washington State.

“Joel Pritchard, congressman from Washington State and Bill Bell, successful businessman, returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, WA (near Seattle) to find their families sitting around with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets. They improvised and started playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball” (USAPickleball.org)

By the late 1960s Prichard and friend Bob O’Brian constructed the first ever pickleball court and by the mid 1970s the first ever tournament was played in Tukwila, Washington.

In the early ‘80s there were regular tournaments held in Washington with the game’s first rule book published in 1984.

The game continued to grow and by the early 2000s it was introduced to the Arizona Senior games. In 2008 “ABC’s Good Morning America aired [a] live, in-studio segment on pickleball that included a brief demonstration. This was the first mass media exposure for the sport” (USAPickleball.org)

From 2008 to now the sport has grown exponentially through strategic partnerships, volunteer groups, national championship tournaments, and television exposure. 

But What Makes Pickleball So Appealing? 

Pickleball is fast, fun,and  friendly – but most intriguing is it’s accessible to many people. There is a low barrier to entry, both financially and physically, in that most people can quickly learn the sport. Everyday across the country people are playing in mixed groups on public recreation courts. Women and men, young and old, experts and novices. It’s an amazing conduit fostering strong eclectic communities.

And there is the essential connection to the sober world. Oftentimes you’ll hear that addiction does not discriminate. Sobriety is the same!  “We are people who normally would not mix. But there exists among us a fellowship, a friendliness, and an understanding which is indescribably wonderful” (The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous). People from all walks of life, from all over the world come to meeting rooms, Zooms, and IG Lives to help keep themselves and others sober. 

As the sober community grows via the sober curious, Sober October, Dry January movements, and 1000 Hour challenges so does the wellness community. Pickleball lends itself to these two worlds seamlessly – it’s a sport that invites wellness of mind and body. It teaches sportsmanship and competition. 

Last month Brainwashed Coffee Co teamed up with a pickleball club in Port Chester, NY, Port Chester Pickleball, to raise money and awareness for a particular recovery community. On Veterans Day, Brainwashed and PCPB hosted an open play pickleball event where we raised over $600 for veterans in recovery. The money was donated to Veterans Recovery Resources, a nonprofit out of Mobile, Alabama. Their mission is, “to accelerate Veteran, First Responder and Family Member mental wellbeing by removing barriers to care and providing a unique recovery program for Veterans, First Responders, and Families suffering from substance abuse, post-traumatic stress, and other mental health issues.” (Vetsrecover.org)

Sobriety isn’t just about stopping – it’s about starting a new way of life! It’s about making and fostering friendships and connections. People say the opposite of addiction is connection! For many, sobriety is a bridge back to life! It can lead to mindfulness and wellness, to passions that were once left behind, to new interests and communities. Pickleball fits perfectly into the recovery space, for many people in the sober world, changing a drinking problem to a dinking problem.

Historical information from https://usapickleball.org/what-is-pickleball/history-of-the-game/