Perhaps it’s only fitting that the United States’ fastest growing sport, pickleball, which was created in the Pacific Northwest by a bored and inventive family one afternoon, is equipped by Selkirk, an equally inventive family-owned business in the Pacific Northwest.
And for pickleball players living in the Treasure Valley who have latched on to the sport, it’s a stroke of good fortune that Meridian now boasts the first dedicated pickleball pro shop.
“This is our home state and we like the Boise area and wanted some place close to our headquarters that was easy to manage,” Selkirk Co-Founder and Co-CEO Mike Barnes said of choosing the location for Selkirk’s first brick-and-mortar store. “We think Boise is a good test bed to learn how possible and potential it is to do more of these across the country. It’s an easy place to do business and has a growing pickleball community.”
While pickleball originated in Bainbridge Island, Washington in 1967, the sport grew slowly, spreading across the Pacific Northwest and then beyond. But pickleball experienced explosive growth over the past four years, skyrocketing from 4.8 million participants in 2021 to 19.8 million in 2025, according to Statista.
But Mike and his older brother Rob were clairvoyant enough to see the rising tidal wave of pickleball back in 2014 after learning the ropes of entrepreneurship with an airsoft drop ship company when they were teenagers.
“Our first business was kind of a school project,” said Mike, whose parents homeschooled him while growing up in the Coeur d’Alene area. “Our dad didn’t see a lot of good job prospects in Coeur d’Alene, and a lot of our friends had family-owned businesses. So, he challenged us to start one.”
While their first business drop shipping airsoft parts and accessories grew, they eyed another opportunity while watching the popularity of pickleball in their community.
“During the time we started our first business, we became avid Pickleball players,” Mike said. “We’d show up to play and there would be 30 to 40 people waiting to play on two courts. Then we saw how people got addicted to it and started to think it might have potential as a business.”
And they were right.
With the help of their father Jim, Mike and Rob founded their fledgling pickleball business in 2014. They sold about a thousand pickleball paddles in 2014. In 2024, they sold over a million.
“Back when we were thinking about starting the company, there weren’t any pro bands in this space,” Mike said. “And we thought we could do a good job with it based on our background as an importer for airsoft equipment. But it took some time to get it right initially because we had some paddles made and the quality was horrible.”
Eventually, they scrapped their attempts to have products made overseas and brought the manufacturing back to their headquarters. It was a move that paid off in helping Selkirk develop premier products for pickleball enthusiasts.
Since its inception as a small paddle manufacturer, Selkirk has mushroomed into one of the burgeoning sport’s most recognized brands, offering everything from a free TV channel with instructional lessons to a new clothing line for women along with equipment brands and a research and development lab run by their younger brother Tom.
But it’s the new pro shop that has pickleball players in the Treasure Valley buzzing.
“Pickleball equipment makes up about fifty percent of tennis pro shop business now,” Mike said. “But a stand alone pickleball pro shop like we have—there are only one or two that do it in a small way, but there’s not another brand pro shop out there that we’re aware of.”
The new Selkirk pro shop has all the equipment and apparel any veteran or new and curious player could want. From paddles to balls to shoes and all the accessories, the pro shop outfits players with ease. The store also includes a pickleball court customers can utilize to try out gear.
“It’s always been a dream to have our own pro shop,” Mike said. “Pickleball has finally matured enough. And this is a test to see where the sport is at. We think the industry is about there, and we’re excited about the growth.”
While Selkirk has enjoyed growth commiserate with the sport, the company isn’t getting comfortable. Instead, Selkirk is sinking significant resources into the development and improvement of its products.
“We want to have the best product,” Mike said. “We also have launched pickleball shoes, which are designed to provide more side-to-side movement. And we’ve developed balls with a focus on not cracking. And we just introduced the first ball in the industry with a one-year no crack warranty.”
With the way the Barnes family is approaching their business, Selkirk is destined to remain at the top of the industry for a long time.
