Ellie Jamison and Grace Collins met at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in 2022. Early into their time at school, they fell in love with the sport of pickleball as a way to exercise and make new friends.

They quickly found a gap in the market for a unique, fresh pickleball brand serving a new generation of players. The world of pickleball was a sea of sameness with uninspiring graphics, cheap materials and encroaching brands of other sports like tennis.

What’s more, aesthetic and sleek pickleball paddles made with high-quality materials did not exist. Performance paddles were masculine and featured heavy graphic design elements, while aesthetic paddles were bright with loud patterns and made with subpar materials.

Ellie and Grace wanted to look and feel like pickleball athletes — competitors who are as social as they are active. From this need, PLAY HENRY was born. The name is both an ode to their families (“Henry” is a family name for both Ellie and Grace) as well as to the community of “Henrys” they have created, who prioritize leisure and play as an escape from the daily demands of life.

Their first product, the monochrome “Hank Pro” pickleball paddle sold out within the first month of operations. Today, they continue to focus on their mission of creating products that seamlessly transition from on and off the court, or as they like to say “from court to cocktail”.