Washington State
House of Representatives
Office of Program Research
BILL
ANALYSIS
State Government & Tribal Relations Committee
SB 5615
Brief Description: Designating pickleball as the official state sport.
Sponsors: Senators Lovick, Hunt, Hasegawa, Honeyford, Lovelett, Nobles, Pedersen, Randall, Rolfes and Wellman.
Brief Summary of Bill
  • Designates pickleball as the official state sport.
Hearing Date: 2/17/22
Staff: Jason Zolle (786-7124).
Background:

The sport of pickleball was created in 1965 on Bainbridge Island by Joel McFee Pritchard, who went on to be elected lieutenant governor and member of Congress for Washington, along with two of his friends, Bill Bell and Barney McCallum.  Combining elements of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong, pickleball is played with a paddle and a plastic ball similar to a wiffle ball.  The national governing body for pickleball, USA Pickleball, has approximately 40,000 registered members and estimates that over four million people play pickleball at nearly 8,500 locations nationally.  The International Federation of Pickleball has 67 member countries.
Summary of Bill:

Pickleball is designated as the official state sport.
Appropriation: None.
Fiscal Note: Not requested.
Effective Date: The bill takes effect 90 days after adjournment of the session in which the bill is passed.