Most sport name origins are simple to deduce: Baseball utilizes bases and a ball, basketball uses a basket and a ball.
The origin of Pickleball’s name is decidedly more obscure, but fortunately, that hasn’t hampered its popularity in Westerville.
While Pickleball certainly uses a ball, there are no pickles involved in the unique game. “Pickle” just happened to be the name of a cocker spaniel owned by one of the game’s creators.
With a net lowered to 34 inches at the center, a perforated baseball – you might identify it as a Wiffle ball – and wooden paddles, Pickleball seems to be a sort of meeting point of ping-pong, tennis and racquetball.
The sport has become a favorite at summer camps and sporting complexes, but it harvested its own niche within the senior citizen community.
“It’s really a sport for all. Any level of athlete can play it,” says Eric Dicke, recreation program manager for the Westerville Community Center. “But for seniors, it’s easier on the joints. It’s a smaller court than tennis, so it’s not as much continuous moving, (and) there are no big overhand swings. It’s easier for people to play it.”
Only a few years ago, the community center staff had no idea what Pickleball was. Now there is a full-fledged league, as well as recreational “drop-in” games heavily attended three times a week on six courts.
Within the past year alone, the Boston Globe, Associated Press, Orlando Sentinel, Dallas Morning News, Wall Street Journal and Yahoo! News have all written about the game’s increase in popularity. According to the International Federation of Pickleball’s website, www.ipickleball.org, the sport sees massive popularity in Canada, India and Singapore, as well as the U.S.
“It’s always been popular in the South, but the Westerville Community Center is the first to try it here in central Ohio,” Dicke says. “We started with six players; now, we are up to about 80.”
The game’s popularity has increased due almost entirely to word of mouth.
“Friends will tell their friends and the cycle will continue,” Dicke says. “Also, we post it on the USA Pickleball Association website (www.usapa.org) and we get players stopping through. People will go 40 miles out of their way just to play Pickleball for a day.”
The center lets beginners play the first couple of times for free – afterward, the cost goes up to $3 per drop-in – and will even provide newbies with equipment. Westerville residents pay $25 per season for league play; non-residents pay $30.
“Drop-In” games for ages 50 and up are offered three times a week – 7-10 p.m. Mondays, 8:30-10:30 a.m. Tuesdays and 1-3 p.m. Thursdays – at the center, 325 N. Cleveland Ave.
David Allen is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
