Pickleball was created by three US Congressmen: Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum. The congressmen created the game in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, right outside of Seattle. During the 1970's the game's popularity increased immensely. Families went from playing pickleball in their backyard to playing on courts.

Over the past 40 years pickleball has grown in popularity. Today, its played by a wide variety of people ranging from children in their school's physical education program, to seniors staying active at their retirement center.