Grassroots Efforts Bring Pickleball to Fairhaven
Fairhaven. It was Fall of 2019 when a group of Fairhavenites got together at the home of Joyce and Ken Pottel to investigate the creation of a local pickleball court.
A state plan was already in the works to build courts at Fort Phoenix, but efforts to construct were met with obstacles. So the group came up with Plan B. Looking at the tennis courts at Cushman Park as a possible site, members donated monies to pay for new blue pickleball lines while leaving the original tennis lines. Bungee cords to lower the tennis nets and dozens of yellow pickleballs were purchased.
Little did they know how popular the game would become locally. The ambitious group formed the Fairhaven Pickleball Association and soon had over 50 members. An interactive website was created enabling members to sign up for playing times. Over the summer Ken Pottel held training clinics for beginners. This past winter, diehard members shoveled snow off the courts to play their favorite sport.
The game originated in 1965 by Joel Pritchard and Bill Bell in the state of Washington after a golf outing. To amuse their family, they used a wiffleball and ping pong paddles on an old badminton court. The wiffleball bounced well on their asphalt court but they realized the net needed to be lowered to 36”.
The name pickleball was named after the Pritchard’s dog, Pickle, who would chase the ball. Just as the pair had created a new game, due to the ingenuity of a group of Fairhavenites, an old tennis court turned into a venue for many to enjoy pickleball.
This Spring drop by to join in the fun!
Debra Almeida, Fairhaven
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