SLIPPERY ROCK — The racquet looks like a table tennis paddle.

The playing surface looks like a tennis court, but is much smaller, similar to the size of a badminton court.

The ball has holes in it like a Wiffle Ball.

The game is called pickleball and it's a strange conglomeration of sports.

It also immediately hooked Dennis Hemphill.

Pickleball was invented out of boredom in 1965 by former State Representative Joel Pritchard and his friends Bill Bell and Barney McCallum.

What sprung from that inspiring afternoon has been anything but boring.

“It's a growing sport,” said Hemphill, 61, who has played tennis, table tennis and racquetball for as long as he can remember. “It's a sport you can do all your life.”

Hemphill, a resident of Slippery Rock who works as a custodial work supervisor at Slippery Rock University, discovered the game a little less than three years ago.

Now he plays often during his lunch breaks, has joined the USA Pickleball Association and has competed in several tournaments.

He recently competed with his partner, Katie Ohler, in the 2017 Pickleball Classic at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh and won a gold medal in their division.

The duo was down 6-0 in an early match, but rallied for an 11-7 win to send them on their way to gold.

“There were 400 people at the tournament,” Hemphill said. “There were people from California, Florida, Ontario. It was huge.”

Chris Byrd, 51, a Center Township resident and a secretary in the Slippery Rock University art department, had a similar path to pickleball.

She was an avid racquetball player until she came across pickleball nearly three years ago. Now she's hooked.

“It is such an addicting sport,” Byrd said. “It's a lot of fun. Once you start playing you can't stop.”

Byrd has developed into one of the best female pickleball players in Butler County, bringing home a slew of medals in the growing sport.

She's teammed up with Gino Cicconi of New Castle to win medals in several tournaments.

Cicconi, 55, also works at Slippery Rock University as an information technology technician. He also won a gold medal at the tournament in Pittsburgh in a higher skill bracket.

“We all started at about the same time,” Cicconi said. “It's a fun sport. At 55, it's a sport I can play competitively against younger guys.”

Pickleball is a growing sport all over the country and has seen participation skyrocket in the Slippery Rock area as well as the rest of Butler County, said Terri Flynn, the district ambassador for the USA Pickeball Association.

“The best part is everyone can learn how to play the game,” Flynn said. “I don't want to say it's easy, but if someone tried to pick up tennis, it would take an average player some time to learn how to play. With pickleball, a person can compete pretty well after just one lesson.”

Pickleball was popular with older players when it began, but the demographics have shifted.

Younger players are now becoming more interested in the sport.

Flynn was first exposed to pickleball as the principal at Chartiers Valley High School.

“You wouldn't believe how much the kids there loved it,” said Flynn, 59, who is now retired.

She taught physical education at Seneca Valley from 1982-1994 and also coached girls tennis for the Raiders during a bulk of her time there.

She said pickleball courts and programs are popping up all over the area. Six courts are being constructed in Shenango and several more in Cranberry Township, she said.

The number of local tournaments are also increasing.

“Slippery Rock has two or three every year,” Flynn said.

The big event in Pittsburgh last month was sponsored by the Parkinson Foundation of Western Pennsylvania.

The foundation recognizes pickleball as a therapeutic sport for Parkinson's disease sufferers.

Just another reason, Flynn said, to embrace one of the fastest-growing sports in the area.

“The biggest problem we have now is finding enough facilities for the demand,” Flynn said. “I guess that's a good problem to have. It's amazing how many people are starting to play. It's incredible.”