Norfolk Curling Club Offers a Chance to Learn or Spectate

By David Beers

In 1965, Congressman Joel Pritchard and a friend went outside to play badminton on the badminton court in his Bainbridge, Wash. Backyard. They could not find the badminton equipment and improvised with ping pong rackets and a wiffle ball, and pickleball was born. They enjoyed their new sport and improved it by lowering the net to that of a tennis net, making the rackets a bit larger and rubberizing the wiffle ball to make it bouncier. They wrote up official rules, formed a non-profit association and had the first tournament in 1976. Now Pritchard is far more famous for being the inventor of the fastest growing sport in America than he is for being a congressman.

Pickleball was first played with an ordinary ping-pong racket and a whiffle ball.

Pickleball can be played doubles or singles and it requires less running than tennis, making it doable for almost anyone. It is also considered less stressful on the knees than tennis. This makes it quite popular in retirement communities. While the game rules are similar to tennis, there are some differences that will disorient a tennis player at first. Think mashup between ping pong and tennis rules on a shrunken tennis court. The team that reaches a score of 11 first wins the game, with games lasting about 15 minutes.

But why not call it ultimate ping pong, shrunken tennis or bouncy badminton? Why pickleball? Back in 1976, Pritchard’s dog, Pickle, kept running off with the ball in his mouth. The players started calling the ball, Pickle’s ball, and it stuck. Pickleball is now widely played in the U.S., Canada, India, New Zealand and Europe; with both a U.S. Pickleball Association and an international pickleball association. In the U.S. alone, there are over 4,000 pickleball leagues (YMCAs, retirement communities, schools, tennis clubs, and curling clubs), with the latest addition to that list being right here in Norfolk.

In 1990, Terry Olson joined the Norfolk Curling Club and became one of the more active curlers and promoters of curling in Norfolk. In 2010, a former curling member planted a seed by telling Olson about a sport that would be perfect for the club to do on the ice sheets in the off season – pickleball. Soon after that, Olson’s sister told him that she was playing pickleball at the various RV parks where she had been staying. Olson saw an opportunity to extend the comradery of curling to all year. After discussion with the curling club board, Olson was given the green light this year to give pickleball a try on the ice sheets in the off season (May thru September). Of course, the ice sheets do not have any ice and are a perfect concrete base for this racquet sport. Because the court size of pickleball is much smaller than tennis, two pickleball courts fit perfectly on two curling sheets.

On Tuesday and Friday evenings, curling club members play Pickleball from 7 to 8:30 p.m., followed by the enjoyment of refreshments with their teammates. There is a $5 fee to play that covers the cost of the league. Residents who are interested in playing pickleball but are not curling club members can pay a $100 social membership fee that will allow the use of the club for unlimited pickleball until October.  Spectators are also welcome to come to the club anytime, to watch the action..

Curling games start and end by shaking everyone’s hand and saying, “Good curling”. Pickleball continues this tradition and everyone says, “Good pickling”. Pickleball player and curler Becky Purdy summed it up by saying, “I was never a fan of playing tennis, but always enjoyed ping pong and badminton. I feel really good playing this and having fun with friends.”

Photos by Bruce Frisch.

This is the first in a series of articles about club activities in Norfolk.