Ektelon, Inc. was an American manufacturer of equipment for

racquetball Racquetball is a racquet sport and a team sport played with a hollow rubber ball on an indoor or outdoor court. Joseph Sobek invented the modern sport of racquetball in 1950, adding a stringed racquet to paddleball in order to increase vel ...

. Originally based in

Bordentown, New Jersey Bordentown is a City (New Jersey), city in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 3,993, an increase of 69 (+1.8%) from the 2010 United ...

, Ektelon was founded by Franklin W. "Bud" Held in 1964 as the first company to manufacture racquetball

racquets Rackets or racquets is an indoor list of racket sports, racket sport played in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. It is infrequently called "hard rackets" to distinguish it from the related sport of squash (sport), squash (also cal ...

and stringing machines, not long after the development of the sport of

by Joe Sobek. Working from Held’s garage in San Diego, California, the company initially set out to build aluminum

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

racquets and a racquet stringing machine. With the development of metal tennis racquets, the old techniques of stringing wooden racquets no longer worked, and Held saw the need for a new machine. Held is credited for one of the first patented designs for a racquet stringing machine. He named the company Ektelon based on a combination of two Greek words: "ektein", meaning to stretch out, and "telon", representing the concept of perfection. In 1970, Ektelon produced the first experimental racquetball racquet for Bud Muehleisen, a top racquetball player and early legend of the sport. The company moved into a larger facility in San Diego to begin manufacturing racquetball racquets on a larger scale. Over the years, Ektelon has introduced a number of new racquetball technologies, including the first racquetball racquet made of high-strength aluminum (1971), the first handlaid composite racquet (1978), the first oversized aluminum racquets (1984), and continues to develop new technologies in racquet design such as the elimination of string holes (O³). In 1988, Prince Sports purchased Ektelon and the brand remained prominent among racquetball equipment manufacturers for several decades thereafter. As a subsidiary of Prince Sports, Ektelon changed ownership and management multiple times before disappearing among the holdings of Authentic Brands Group in 2012. As late as 2015, the Ektelon brand name wa
referenced as an ABG property
but all manufacturing had ceased, with existing inventory disposed and player programs discontinued by the following year. A Restrung Magazine annual re-cap in 2016 detailed
The Quiet Death of Ektelon
' with added insights, and the company website later went dark. In 2022, the Ektelon brand came out with a set of

Pickleball Pickleball is a racket or paddle sport in which two or four players use a smooth-faced paddle to hit a perforated, hollow plastic ball over a net until one side is unable to return the ball or commits a rule infraction. Pickleball is played i ...

paddle

although few details are available on the role of the Ektelon in manufacturing and development of these paddles.

Ektelon involvement in racquetball tournaments

Ektelon sponsors numerous tournaments and tours nationally and internationally, including: * US Racquetball Association * National Intercollegiate Championships * National Doubles Championships * National Singles Championships *

Racquetball World Championships The World Racquetball Championships is the top international racquetball competition organized by the International Racquetball Federation (IRF). History The first event was held in 1981 as part of the 1981 World Games. The second World Championsh ...

* World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR) Championships * International Racquetball Tour * International Racquetball Federation * Classic Professional Racquetball Tour * Racquet for the Cure * Women's Professional Racquetball Organization

Professional Ektelon Players (International Racquetball Tour - IRT)

Previous World Top 100 IRT Professionals * Jose Rojas * Jansen Allen * Charlie Pratt * Adam Manilla * Andy Hawthorne * Farshid Guilak * Dylan Reid * Ryan Maher * Marco Bertarelli Team Ektelon Players * Nick Montalbano * Ricky Diaz * Richard Aal * Anthony Wong * Bill Gorge * Michael Baker * Yee Cheng * Steve Cook * Daniel De La Rosa * Alex Ackerman * Ruben Gonzalez Ladies Professional Racquetball Tour (LPRT) Players * Rhonda Rajsich * Veronica Sotomayor * Michelle Key * Jessica Parrilla Outdoor Pros (WOR) Players * Craig Clubber Lane * Scott Davis * Bill Gorge * Andy Hawthorne * Gary Martin * Son Nguyen * Mike Orr * Jose Rojas * Rick Sandello * Robert Sostre * Jesus Ustarroz * Dillon Silver * Greg Solis * Veronica Sotomayor * Tracy Hawthorne * Kris Kaskawal * Michelle Key * Aubrey O'Brien Junior Elite Players * James D'Ambrogia * Justus Benson * Lily Berry * Sam Bredenbeck * Daniel Rojas * Dane Elkins * Sebastian Fernandez * Sabrina Viscuso * Ben Jenkel * Jonathan Lanford * Victoria Leon * Sawyer Lloyd * Heather Mahoney * Adam Manilla * Erika Manilla * Devon Pimentelli * Sam Reid * Chase Robison * Ricky Diaz * Julian Singh

References

External links

Ektelon site

World Outdoor Racquetball (WOR)

Ektelon Racquetball Shop
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810184509/http://ektelon.info/ , date=2011-08-10
ReStrung Magazine 2016 Top-Ten List
*US Racquetball Museum
History of Ektelon Racquet Frames
Sporting goods manufacturers of the United States Companies based in Burlington County, New Jersey Manufacturing companies established in 1964 Racquetball 1964 establishments in New Jersey