River Falls Pickleball Association
RFPBA History
Numbers in the RFPBA have grown from a mere handful in 2013 to 176 currently (July 2024). Early play started on both Wells Park and Glen Park tennis courts. Indoor play starting in 2013 on two courts in the old Academy building, now the Montessori School. Now, during the winter months members can play up to four times a week indoors on four courts in the Greenwood Elementary School gym.
The Glen Park courts were built through grants and pledges of $25,000 and were dedicated in June of 2015. The City of River Falls paid $13,000 to resurface the courts in the spring of 2022. Ten additional pickleball courts are available at the Meyer Middle School just east of 9th Street.
People who would like more information on RFPBA can do so by contacting any officer or the Recreation Coordinator. There is a membership form that you can fill in and mail to the treasurer. The cost to join is $25 whether you live in or out of the River Falls School District (RFSD). There is an annual renewal fee of $15 if you live within the RFSD, and $25 if you live outside the RFSD (the extra $10 is to help pay for the indoor facilities that we use in the winter months at the Greenwood Elementary School). This annual fee is due at the end of June each year.
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Starting December 1st, 2023 any new member living out the River Falls School District
can still join, but can't sign-up for a session of indoor play until the day of that session. All existing members outside the RFSD will be grandfathered in with no restrictions. This provision was added to insure that the RFSD tax payers have first choice on signing in to play.
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This website will keep you informed on PB clinics, tournaments, rule changes and tips on how to improve your game. Plus, a little humor through songs, cartoons, jokes, etc.
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So come join the fun, the game offers aerobic exercise without much risk of injury. Playing pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. that will improve your fitness and expand your social life. PLEASE check out all the links at the top menu bar.
C' ya on the courts!
Brief History of Pickleball
Back in 1965, after playing golf one Saturday during the summer, Joel Pritchard, a congressman from Washington State and Bill Bell, successful businessman, returned to Pritchard’s home on Bainbridge Island, WA to find their families sitting around with nothing to do. The property had an old badminton court so Pritchard and Bell looked for some badminton equipment and could not find a full set of rackets. They improvised and started playing with ping-pong paddles and a perforated plastic ball.
At first they placed the net at badminton height of 60 inches and volleyed the ball over the net. As the weekend progressed, the players found that the ball bounced well on the asphalt surface and soon the net was lowered to 36 inches. The following weekend, Barney McCallum was introduced to the game at Pritchard’s home. After more than three years these men had created rules, we use today. They kept in mind the original purpose, which was to provide a game that the whole family could play together. Today the game they created is the fastest growing sport in the United States with over 5 million participants.
So how did pickleball get its name? The most popular story about the name was supported by Barney McCallum who says that they had a cockapoo named Pickles. Pickles would run into the games in progress and scamper off with the ball.
A secondary story is it's named after pickleboat. A “pickleboat” means the last boat to cross the finish line filled with the rowers who were not picked to row in the other boats. The second version makes sense in this context because pickleball is the leftovers of a number of other sports.
Below are the dimensions and terms of a modern pickleball court.
