AROUND THE POST
Serving Up Style with
a Slice of History
BY JENNIFER LUCORE & ALEX HAMNER
W
hat to wear when playing pickleball? There’s
really no dress code. Because the sport has
such a wide age range of participants, you see
all kinds of clothing on the court. From relaxed (I’ve had
this shirt forever) to sporty casual to, of course, name
brand tennis and pickleball attire.
Barney McCallum, one of the founders of pickleball,
was once quoted in The National Observer
saying, “Women should wear tennis shoes,
orange body suit, puffy polka-dot hat and
dark glasses. Men should wear tennis shoes
and cut-offs.”
You can tell that this sport, its founders and
players like to have fun “served” with a sense of
humor.
The first “International Tournament” was held in 1967 at
the original court on Bainbridge Island, Washington. This
was actually a social gathering of the founders’ families
and friends. “International” because one of the three
founders, Bill Bell, was living in Australia at the time, and
some other players also lived outside of the U.S.
Over the years, there were friendly, social neighborhood
tournaments throughout the Washington area that didn’t
get documented. The first “official” tournament for this
relatively unknown sport took place in spring 1976 at
Southcenter Athletic Club in Tukwila, WA.
Steve Paranto, a young player then and a tough
competing senior today, says, “Back then, the matches
were 3 out of 5 games to 11, not 2 out of 3 as we play
today. Matches were long because the surface
was carpet. The Cosom ball was used, and the
rallies were very good because the carpet
slows the game. There were about 60 to 70
players.”
It’s always fun to share a few tidbits
of pickleball history for you—from funny
pickleball attire to the first tournaments. •
Jennifer Lucore and Alex Hamner started playing
pickleball in 2010, and have competed in tournaments
across the USA (and internationally). Between them,
they have 25 National Titles, including winning gold
in the Women’s Open Doubles at Nationals for four
consecutive years (2011 – 2014). For more pickleball
fun see Jennifer’s blog at www.allpickleball.com.
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