If you’ve spent any time on a pickleball court, you’ve seen a Selkirk paddle. The brand has become synonymous with high-performance pickleball equipment, boasting over 100 professional athletes on their roster and a fanatically loyal customer base. But the story of how Selkirk Sport got here is one of the most compelling in all of sports equipment history — a genuine family entrepreneurial saga rooted in passion, sacrifice, and relentless innovation.
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The Barnes Family: Where It All Started
The seeds of Selkirk Sport were planted long before pickleball. Brothers Rob and Mike Barnes, who would go on to co-found Selkirk, began their entrepreneurial journey as teenagers. Rob was 15 and Mike was 17 when they started a small business in their father Jim Barnes’ basement — initially to make a bit of extra money as homeschooled students whose father encouraged practical business education.
At the time, their older business involved importing airsoft goods. Entrepreneurship was baked into the Barnes DNA, and Jim — who would later become Selkirk’s production manager — was their earliest mentor.
The family’s introduction to pickleball came at the Salvation Army Kroc Center in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, where Jim, Rob, Mike, and younger brother Tom all started playing together. Back then, pickleball players had exactly two equipment options: a plywood paddle or a basic composite paddle. The sport had enormous potential, but the equipment hadn’t caught up.
Founding Selkirk Sport: 2014
In 2014, the Barnes family founded Selkirk Sport, named after the Selkirk Mountains that overlook their hometown of Coeur d’Alene. The company was headquartered there and has remained rooted in Idaho ever since.
Their founding vision was bold for the time: bring genuine, high-performance innovation to pickleball equipment in an industry that was still dominated by mom-and-pop brands selling basic wooden paddles. When they started introducing materials like fiberglass and graphite, they got significant industry pushback. Established players didn’t like that Selkirk was “taking it seriously.”
But the Barnes brothers didn’t back down. They made a conscious decision to build a brand around performance first — to treat pickleball like the legitimate, competitive sport they believed it would become.
For the first six years, Mike and Rob averaged salaries roughly equivalent to minimum wage. Building the company was a true labor of love.
The No-Compromise Philosophy
From the beginning, Selkirk’s internal mantra was “no compromise.” This meant never degrading product quality to cut costs — a practice known as planned obsolescence — even when competitors and industry voices pressured them to do so. Mike Barnes has said in interviews that they are “pickleball players that happen to run a pickleball business,” and that means they want equipment they’d genuinely want to use themselves.
Selkirk was the first pickleball manufacturer to offer a lifetime warranty on its products — a bold promise that signaled their confidence in their own craftsmanship and created powerful brand loyalty.
Innovation Milestones
Selkirk has pioneered numerous advances in pickleball paddle technology:
Fiberglass and graphite paddle faces when the market was still largely wood
The 16mm paddle core, now a widely adopted standard across the industry
Low-profile edgeguards designed to be lightweight without sacrificing durability
Project Boomstik, featuring new patent-pending paddle technology
Selkirk Labs — an industry-first innovation hub that invites players to beta-test new paddle designs and provide real feedback, creating a closed-loop product development cycle
In 2025, Selkirk opened a million-dollar R&D lab at their Coeur d’Alene headquarters, complete with robotic arms, banks of 3D printers for rapid prototyping, a CT scanner for analyzing paddle core degradation, and a ball cannon capable of simulating intensive gameplay at up to 120 miles per hour.
Explosive Growth
Selkirk grew 1,900% in revenue between 2019 and 2025 — a staggering figure that tracks almost exactly with pickleball’s mainstream explosion. From a 10,000-square-foot facility near the Coeur d’Alene Airport, the company expanded to over 150,000 square feet across five Idaho buildings, including a Boise pro shop. Their team grew from roughly 10 employees to over 200.
In January 2026, Selkirk announced a $30 million investment from Bluestone Equity Partners at a $200 million valuation — their first-ever external investment. The funding is earmarked for product innovation, retail expansion, and international growth.
The Selkirk Ecosystem Today
Today, Selkirk operates multiple brands and platforms under its umbrella:
Selkirk Sport — the premium flagship brand
SLK by Selkirk — high-quality equipment at accessible price points, including an exclusive partnership with Costco
AvaLee — pickleball’s first paddle and apparel line designed by women for women, co-created by the Barnes sisters-in-law
Selkirk Labs — the player-involvement R&D program
Selkirk Pickleball TV — the sport’s first free streaming TV app
Their professional roster includes over 100 athletes, and their Advocate program has enrolled over 2,300 players across 49 states promoting pickleball growth in local communities.
Why Selkirk Matters for Your Game
Selkirk paddles are used by players from beginner to professional level, and their commitment to innovation means the equipment genuinely keeps pace with how fast the sport is evolving. Whether you’re picking up your first paddle or stepping up your tournament game, Selkirk’s lineup has options worth exploring.
For Austin players interested in testing paddles or finding equipment that fits their game, Pickleland is your local resource for pickleball knowledge and community. And if you want to see how your game measures up competitively, check out our DUPR scrambles and league play.
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