Oldest competitive pickleball player (female)

The oldest competitive pickleball player is Joyce Jones (USA, b. 4 April 1930), who was aged 96 years 196 days on the final day of the 2026 Huntsman World Senior Games in St George, Utah, USA, on 17 October 2026.

At the 2026 Huntsman World Senior Games, Jones won two golds and a silver across several age categories (gold in the singles 95+, gold in the women's doubles 90+ and silver in the mixed doubles 85+; though she and her partner in the women's doubles elected to swap their golds for a bronze 80+ medal, so they went home with one of each medal! Jones also received a commemorative gold watch to mark the fact that she had been taking part in this tournament for 20 years.

Jones has been playing pickleball since the sport was first conceived in the 1960s; in 1965, she and her husband, Don, were taught by one of the game's original creators, US Congressman Joel Pritchard. He and his friend Bill Bell devised the new racket sport playing with table-tennis bats and a perforated plastic ball on a badminton court at Pritchard’s summer home on Bainbridge Island in Washington, USA.

The first documented pickleball tournament took place at the South Center Athletic Club in Tukwila, Washington, USA, in the spring of 1976.