"When it first popped into my head as an idea, it was almost kind of a joke," Alex Sanso told the Bainbridge Island Review about Pickleball Life, the shop she opened in downtown Winslow with a Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting on Oct. 29. The game was invented on this island in 1965. Until three weeks ago, the island had no store dedicated to it.
The opening came just as the weather turned. Bainbridge pickleball doesn't stop in winter. It runs on a fixed weekday-morning schedule at Battle Point Park every month of the year, and the new storefront is a place in town that points people to it.
A Store Two Doors From Where the Idea Started
Pickleball Life is at 440 Winslow Way East, where Rockin' Ruby's Records had a temporary home until early August. Sanso already ran Island Life Artisan Gifts, which she opened in 2021 because she had trouble finding Bainbridge souvenirs. Her pickleball merchandise sold well enough there that visitors from Seattle started calling it "the pickleball store." When the space two doors down opened up, she took it right after Labor Day.
Sanso designs everything she sells. She used to be a designer for Disney Theme Parks, and she describes the look she wants as retro, "warm, nostalgic and vintage but also fresh at the same time." She is thinking about releasing a limited-edition paddle every year.
For people who already play, the bigger news is her plan to work with Bainbridge Island Pickleball, the community group that runs organized play at the public courts. Sanso wants the shop to be a place where players meet coaches or groups before heading out to play. In practice, that turns a Winslow Way storefront into a starting point for a game played eight-plus miles of island road away, at Battle Point.
"We are here to bring people into the pickleball community, and it's become such a thing that people are so obsessed with because it's so accessible." Alex Sanso, as quoted by the Bainbridge Island Review
The Schedule That Doesn't Change in November
Bainbridge Island Pickleball, or BIP, says it runs Organized Play "throughout the year," Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to noon, except holidays. The one seasonal change is on Fridays. From May 1 through Sept. 30, Friday play starts an hour early, at 8 a.m.
The Bainbridge Island Metro Park & Recreation District's court calendar books BIP Organized Play every weekday morning in November, with nothing scheduled on Saturdays or Sundays. Monday through Thursday sessions run 9 a.m. to noon on Courts 1 through 12, and the Friday sessions on the calendar start at 8 a.m. The calendar carries those weekday sessions into December. On a Friday, check the calendar before you go.
The setting is the Founders Courts at Battle Point Park, 11299 Arrow Point Dr NE. BIP lists them as six dedicated courts and six shared courts, in a park open dawn to dusk all year. The courts are dedicated to Joel Pritchard, Barney McCallum and Bill Bell, the game's founders, and were opened to the public on the principle that they are free to play.
Neither the courts nor the morning sessions cost anything. BIP membership is $35 a year and is not required for Organized Play. For a winter morning, the most useful link on BIP's Where We Play page is the Founders Courts webcam, which shows current court conditions before you drive across the island.
How the Line Moves When Twelve Courts Fill
The morning sessions use a rotation system, and people who show up without knowing it end up standing around. BIP posts the rules:
- Upper courts 1 through 6 use a whiteboard. Once you have four players, put your names on the board. Groups come off after their game and the next foursome on the board goes on.
- The six lower courts use a paddle rack. When every court is full, waiting players put their paddles in the rack, and after their game they put their paddles back in the rack.
- On the whiteboard courts, you have to come off the court before you write your names up again.
- Empty group courts can be added to the individual rotation if someone announces it, and they go back to groups as soon as a group puts a paddle in the group rack.
The rules are different outside the Organized Play window. BIP's FAQ says groups that show up at other times don't have to work a single player or a pair into their games, although the club encourages them to. Metro Parks treats any court not booked for programs or rentals as first-come, first-served for casual play. Court reservations are requested online, and private instructors need a district permit before they teach lessons or clinics.
For a newer player, that is a practical reason to start on a weekday morning. The rotation is designed to bring newcomers into games. An afternoon visit depends on whoever is already on the court.
For Players Who Can't Make Weekday Mornings
The morning sessions only work if you're free on weekdays. The rest of the island's winter game happens in two gyms and on unbooked outdoor courts, and each option has its own rules:
- Tuesday nights at the Commodore Options School gym. BIP lists this under its Bainbridge High School Lower Gym heading, at 9330 High School Rd NE. During the rainy season the gym is open Tuesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. for $7 per person, cash or check. BIP notes that dates and times can change with interest and facility availability.
- Reserved courts at the Bainbridge Island Recreation Center. BIRC is at 11700 Meadowmeer Circle NE. BIP's page describes three shared indoor pickleball courts there, with five planned, and separate times for BIRC members and non-members. You have to reserve a spot in advance, using the BIRC gym calendar. Metro Parks says the BIRC tennis court is lined for pickleball and used for classes and leagues, and the gymnasium is lined for recreational pickleball.
- Battle Point outside Organized Play. The park stays open dawn to dusk, and any court not programmed or rented is open for casual play.
Metro Parks says its pickleball classes, leagues and drop-in times change from season to season, so check its sports page before you plan a winter routine around a particular class.
Put together, a winter week has free outdoor play five mornings, one indoor evening at a set price, and reserved indoor courts in between. Pickleball Life sits in Winslow between the ferry and these venues, which is the gap Sanso says she wants the shop to fill.
What the Courts Are Still Raising Money For
The Founders Courts are still being built out. In August 2025, BIP announced it had signed an agreement to convert the lower courts at Battle Point to dedicated pickleball courts. The plan adds a two-inch asphalt cap, resurfacing, interior fencing with a gate to each court, and an eight-foot center aisle that the club said would create more community space. BIP also said rising costs and the added features meant it needed to raise more money. The Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation's Founders Courts phase 2 campaign is collecting donations for resurfacing, fencing, entrances and picnic-table pads, and shows $64,607.33 raised toward an $80,000 goal.
The courts' summer event also supports island history. The 7th Annual Founders Tournament opened Aug. 5, 2026 at Battle Point and raised money for the Bainbridge History Museum, as The Island Wanderer reported. The tournament's listing shows 384 players. The Bainbridge History Museum records the beginning. In the summer of 1965, the Pritchard, Bell and McCallum families were spending the season at Pleasant Beach on the island's south end, and the children were bored. Pritchard suggested making up a game with a badminton net and court, ping pong paddles and a Whiffle ball.
Sixty-one years later, the club built on that history runs free play five mornings a week on courts named for those three founders. Sanso said heritage is part of the appeal. "Once people find out that they are indeed where it all began, the history and legacy of the sport really matters to them," she told the Review. The next Organized Play session after this post publishes is on the Metro Parks calendar for Friday morning at 8, at the Founders Courts.
At Mark Middleton Real Estate, we follow how island routines like the weekday-morning rotation at Battle Point shape daily life here. If you want to talk through how the Founders Courts or another part of island life fits a move you're considering, request a private consultation.
