New in Ashkelon: the not-so-new sport that is taking America by storm

In 1965, a few families on Washington’s Bainbridge Island created a game to keep their kids from being bored. The game used table tennis paddles, a wiffle ball and a badminton net. A while later, a name was found for the game and “pickleball” was born. According to Joan Pritchard, wife of one if the inventors: “The name of the game became pickleball after I said it reminded me of the pickle boat in crew where oarsmen were chosen from the leftovers of other boats.”

Over the years, the game developed and gained in popularity, but it was COVID-19 that gave the game a big boost. The ability to play a game and keep far enough from other players made it attractive to people looking to get some exercise and stay safe. After the height of the pandemic, popularity of pickleball soared. So much so, that the Sports & Fitness Industry Association (SFIA) in its 2022 Sports Report listed pickleball as the fastest growing sport in the USA since 2019.

Julea Gasner, a resident of Ashkelon, together with a group of friends, approached the Israeli Tennis Education Center in Ashkelon to ask the center if it would be willing to introduce pickleball to the city. They met with Tomer Suissa, the manager of the center, who explained that the center was already working on introducing pickleball to Ashkelon. The center prepared both indoor and outdoor courts and purchased the rackets and balls. They held an inauguration of the new courts during Chanukah. Starting in January, the center will be running classes to teach people how to play and have courts and equipment for rent.

Beth Newmark, one of the organizers of the group, commented: “We are all excited to start this group activity which is so popular in North America.  It is a great form of exercise, social activity and fun!!  Maybe it will grow in popularity and Israel will have a team in the next Maccabiah Games!”

Julea explained: “We are a group of women looking to have fun and get a little exercise. It’s pretty informal. We are not a team. If there are women who play or would like to play, they could contact me and we’re happy to include them in our group. At this point the group is just for women. We are planning to play on Wednesday mornings at 10 A.M.”

Contact us to connect with this women’s pickleball group.

Pickleball is played by people of all ages with one fifth of all pickleball players are over the age of 65.

Contact information for the Israeli Tennis Education Center in Ashkelon