Oldest competitive pickleball player (female)

The oldest competitive pickleball player is Joyce Jones (USA, b. 4 April 1930), who was aged 95 years 197 days on the final day of the 2025 Huntsman World Senior Games in St George, Utah, USA, on 18 October 2025.

At the 2025 Huntsman World Senior Games, Jones achieved what is known as a "triple crown" in her age category, taking golds in the singles, doubles (with Sylvia Mergl) and mixed doubles (with Ron Lucas) pickleball contests. She also won two golds in the 90+ category in the 100 m and 50 m track and field races.

Jones has been playing pickleball since the sport was 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.