Sierra Mountain Times

Robert and Carol Philis (left) play an exciting game of pickle-ball against Manny and Ethel Brager at the upper Twain Harte tennis courts where pickle-ball boundary lines have recently been painted.

Story and Photos by Thomas Atkins

After years and years of playing sports and games throughout my childhood, I thought I had experienced them all. I was familiar with baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, handball, tetherball, racquetball, wiffleball, dodgeball, pinball and numerous other sports and games that revolve around the use of some type of ball…but it wasn’t until recently that I heard of a game called pickle-ball. Most of you are probably asking yourself the same question that I once did, “What the heck is pickle-ball?” Unfortunately, the answer to this interesting question will not be found on ESPN, so I recommend finding the answer the way I did…experiencing the game yourself.

On a sunny summer morning I arrived at the Twain Harte tennis courts to meet up with some local pickle-ball enthusiasts to find out what this game was all about. Robert and Carol Philis and Manny and Ethel Brager were in the middle of a friendly pickle-ball game when I arrived…and my preconceptions of the game were quickly put to rest. The first thing I noticed was that there is no pickle involved in the game in any way, shape or form (but we will get to the naming of the game later). The next thing I noticed was that the boundary lines were much smaller (the size of a badminton court) and they were using different equipment than tennis. 

Swinging wooden paddles (about twice the size of ping-pong paddles) at a perforated wiffle-type ball, it was easy to see why the sport is described as a combination of ping-pong, tennis and badminton. Although the rules are similar to tennis, pickle-ball has three unique attributes that you won’t find in any other racquet sport: the serve position, the double-bounce rule and the no-volley zone. After the couples finished their game to eleven, I joined in to give it a shot. It took awhile to get the feel for unfamiliar ball and paddle, but we were soon rallying, and it was a lot of fun.

“It’s a great game for everyone,” said Robert enthusiastically. “You can play either doubles or singles and you don’t have to be an extraordinary athlete to play the game. It’s much slower and easier to play than tennis.”

For this reason, it has become popular with the older crowd; especially up in Washington where the game was founded over 40 years ago. It was in Washington, while on an RV trip that the Philis’ first heard of the game, but they didn’t play it until they took a trip to Southern California.

“We travel around to RV parks about 2 ½ months out of the year and we happened to be down south at one of the resorts where they had a pickle-ball court, and we said, ‘What is that?’” explained Robert. “So we started to play.”

Unfortunately, throughout most of the state, this obscure sport has managed to slip through the cracks of the courts and receives very little recognition.

“It’s the only place down south that has pickle-ball, and I couldn’t find any places up here to play,” said Robert, who has lived in Sonora for the past couple of years.

However, the underground world of pickle-ball has managed to stay alive as a source of entertainment and exercise, and those who love the game hope to bring it back to the surface. Robert is one of these people and has been on a mission to pull pickle-ball out of the darkness, reseal the cracks and spread the word about the game he loves so much. In fact, thanks to his dedication and enthusiasm for the sport, a few weeks ago the Twain Harte Community Service District painted lines for the pickle-ball dimensions on the upper court of the Twain Harte tennis courts.

“We’re very happy to have a place to play,” said Robert. “I’ve been trying to get a place for us to play in this area for awhile, and now we are hoping to get the word out so we can find more people to play with.”

Over the past several months, Robert has been very busy promoting pickle-ball and has visited and called the senior center, Sonora Sports and Fitness and the local schools.

“He’s been breaking everybody’s arm about this game,” laughed Carol.

But his work is paying off and word is getting around.

“Sonora Fitness said that they’d tape lines on the basketball court and we could play there if I got enough people involved,” said Robert. “It depends on the reaction we get from flyers and articles, but I just want to play.” 

Ethel and Manny Brager (left) and Carol and Robert Philis hope to get more people involved in the relatively unknown game of pickle-ball in the Mother Lode. 

Robert, 74 and Carol, 73 say they are especially looking to recruit older pickle-ball players.

“The dimensions are very, very small, so you’re not running all over the place, and we can actually play this game without getting a heart attack!” said Robert. “We’ve met a lot of people at RV resorts who play the game because they can’t play tennis anymore. Once people discover the difference, they will fall in love with it.”

This is exactly what happened to the Philis’, and it wasn’t long before the couple had a pickle-ball set of their own.

“I wrote the company earlier this year to get some information about the game and I ordered a portable pickle-ball set that I can take anywhere,” said Robert. “I can put it on a tennis court and play…or anywhere else – a cul-de-sac, basketball court, or an indoors.”

The only problem is, the Brager’s are the only other couple they have found to play the game with. 

“Over the last couple of months I have really been trying to get others involved,” said Robert. “I want other adults – senior citizens or not – to get interested in this and maybe we could have some service clubs. It is a good pastime. It’s not strenuous and it’s fun.”

Like most sports, fun was the main reason this game was created, and according to the co-inventors, the original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family. The history of the sport is actually quite interesting and it all began during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island – a short ferry ride from Seattle, Washington.

Pickle-ball got its roots on an asphalt badminton court in U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard’s backyard while vacationing with family friends, the Bell’s and McCallum’s. After misplacing all the shuttlecocks, the fathers, Joel William and Barney, quickly improvised with a wiffle-type ball to give their children something to do. Realizing it was difficult for the kids to hit the 3-inch ball with the lightweight badminton rackets, the father’s made wooden rackets resembling ping-pong paddles. As the game evolved throughout the afternoon, rules were added and the net was lowered. A name for the game was also formed, which actually came from their dog named “Pickles.” Pickles would chase after the stray balls and bring them back – thus Pickle’s ball was later shortened to the namesake of pickle-ball.

It didn’t take long for the three men to write down the first official rules of the game, and it soon began to spread through the Bell’s, Pritchard’s and McCallum’s network of family and friends. In 1967, Congressman Pritchard built the first official pickle-ball court on the site where the game was invented. Other courts were soon built in the Seattle area and the game caught on quickly because it could be played by all ages, required minimal equipment and costs and was easy to learn. By 1972, interest in the game had grown to the point that Pritchard, McCallum and Bell decided to copyright the rules and form the U.S. Pickle-ball Association. In 1984 the U.S.A. Pickle-ball Association became the governing body of the sport and published its first official rulebook. The organization now has 15,000 members across the U.S.

For those interested in adding to these numbers or who would like to try out this fun game, call Robert at 586-0866.