The bipartisan vote tally in Olympia in the final minutes of this year’s legislative session that all but clears the way for pickleball to become the state’s official sport. According to the USA Pickleball Association, the sport was created on Bainbridge Island in the summer of 1965 by then state Rep. Joel Pritchard, who would later go on to serve as Washington’s lieutenant governor and represent the state in Congress. The bill now awaits the governor’s signature.
