Equipment
Players need to bring their own pickleball paddle, wear gym shoes, and dress to play an active game of pickleball. All SMC pickleball players will be required to sign a waiver of liability form when they first start playing pickleball.
Contacts
Dave Anderson - Chairman (248) 408-8096 Email
Kevin Doucet - Vice Chairman (248) 977-9394 Email
Jim Zyla - Vice Chairman (248) 561-1520 Email
Participants
Dave Anderson, Dan Bonbrisco, David Breeden, Ray Buratto, Bill Burke, Jack Burns, Larry Cavanaugh, Steve Connolly, Fred Conway, Piyush Desai, Pete Fisher, Oz Forrester, Don Haffner, Pankaj Hukku, Jim Hayes, Jeff Heichel, Art Kaye, David Kearney, Tom Knasel, Paul Kovceses, Yann Lebaron, Bob Lesser, Bob Leonard, Jeff Lipton, Tom Longhway, Roger Melton, Ken Meskin, Steve Murray, Brian Murphy, Tom Obear, Dick O’Brien, Rick Paul, Bill Peirce, Swarn Rajpal, Marty Reisig, Cal Rosen, John Rusche, John Schaffer, Eric Schiffer, Bala Setty, Ray Shapiro, Vikas Shah, Sudarshan Singal, Rich Stasys, Chuck Steltenkamp, Jim Suhay, Rafique Tai, John Taube, Chris Thompson, Kirit Tolia, Matthew Vorce, Steve Zimmer, and Jim Zyla.
Origin of Pickleball
Pickleball was created in the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Washington, by three neighbors: Joel Pritchard, Bill Bell, and Barney McCallum. Looking for a game their families could play together, they improvised on an old badminton court using ping‑pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball.
As they played, they discovered the ball bounced well on the hard surface, so they lowered the net and began shaping a new set of rules. Those rules drew heavily from badminton, with simple scoring and a smaller court to keep the game accessible for all ages and skill levels.
The name “pickleball” is most commonly credited to Joel Pritchard’s wife, Joan, who said it reminded her of “pickle boats” in rowing—crews made up of leftover oarsmen—because the game was created from a mix of borrowed ideas and equipment.
From that single backyard court, pickleball spread through the Pacific Northwest, then across the United States. Today, it’s one of the fastest‑growing sports in the country, known for its friendly pace, social atmosphere, and easy learning curve—exactly in the spirit of its family‑focused beginnings.
