TEAM WATERS WINS ON & OFF THE PICKLEBALL COURT AT TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

 by Leigh Waters  

We just deplaned the red eye from Salt Lake City, Utah to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after a week of competing in the USA Pickleball Tournament of Champions (called “TOC”). Needless to say, Anna Leigh and I (Leigh Waters) are tired both mentally and physically. But, our time in Brigham City, Utah, was well rewarded.  

If you’ve never been there, Brigham City is a very small town about an hour north of Salt Lake City. It is the home of a large pickleball facility that sits at the base of a beautiful mountain range. The facility has two stadium courts and has added further exterior courts in the last year.  

Anna Leigh and I have fond memories of TOC, as we were the 2019 pro women's doubles champions. It was our first major tournament win and, I believe, really gave us the confidence to then go on to win 2019 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships in Indian Wells, California. TOC is also often known as a tournament of upsets, and here is why: the conditions are not easy. (Read More)

2021 Tournament of Champions

 

 

Anna Leigh and Callie Smith on the Tournament Of Champions medal stand. (Photo: Leigh Waters)

 

Pro Women's Singles Gold Medal Match: Anna Leigh Waters vs Callie Smith  

Pro Women's Singles Gold Medal Match Highlights (7+ mins)

Mixed Doubles 

• 56:58 Kyle Yates/Anna Leigh Waters vs Lauren Stratman/Patrick Smith

• 2:39:49 Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs JW Johnson/Lea Jansen

On Court Interview

Women's Doubles

• 40:43 Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters vs Irina Tereschenko/Christine McGrath
• 3:21 Jessie Irvine/Catherine Parenteau vs Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters
• 3:07:30 Callie Smith/Lea Jansen vs Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters
• 5:04 Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters vs Simone Jardim/Lucy Kovalova

Highlight Point: #Al run sideline to sideline

Pro Women's Singles Gold Medal Match

Anna Leigh Waters vs Callie Smith

Mother-daughter Pickleball duo in Boynton Beach

 

ESPN 106.3/WPTV News Mother-daughter Pickleball duo in Boynton Beach 

ANN EICHELBERGER – THE WOMAN BEHIND THE TEAM WATERS' WOMEN

 by Stacie Townsend

Any professional athlete can attest that a lot of work behind the scenes goes into his or her success on the court or other playing field. The same is true for pickleball athletes, including mother-daughter duo, Leigh and Anna Leigh Waters—also known as Team Waters. Attending practice sessions (both on the court and off the court), coordinating travel plans, working with sponsors and partners, helping organize food preparation, etc. is all required to be able to play on the pickleball court. And, for 14-year-old, Anna Leigh Waters, the list goes even further, as she has to add to that list attend school, study, attend soccer practice, attend soccer matches (to note, Anna Leigh is an avid (and superb) soccer player, in addition to a professional pickleball player), and, of course, be a teenager.

Fortunately, for Anna Leigh (age 14), she has her mother, Leigh, as her on-court partner to help with all of these things. And, fortunately, for the both of them, they have a team of supporters behind them to help make “it” all come together, so that the pair of them can pursue their professional pickleball careers. This team includes Stephen Waters (Anna Leigh’s father and Leigh’s husband), Neil Eichelberger (Leigh’s father), and Ann Eichelberger (Leigh’s mother). This pickleball blog puts a spotlight on Ann, who Anna Leigh calls “Gaga.”

Ann, of course, has always been in the picture, as Leigh’s mother and Anna Leigh’s grandmother. However, her role in the family evolved when Leigh moved with Stephen and Anna Leigh to Florida from North Carolina circa 2016. At the time of the move, Leigh and Stephen called Ann to ask whether Ann, as a former schoolteacher for many years, would move to Florida with them to home school Anna Leigh. Ann claims that “moving generally ranks up there with death” to her, but she didn’t even have to think about the decision to move—she was moving to Florida to homeschool her granddaughter, so that Anna Leigh could get the best education she could, while taking advantage of the many athletic opportunities in front of her (which, at the time, were focused on tennis). (Read More)

Anna Leigh Waters and Quan Hongchan Comparison

 

 

During the #PPA Takeya Showcase at Newport Beach Pro Women's Singles Gold Medal Match, Rob Cassidy compared Anna Leigh Waters, 14, to China's fourteen year old 2020 Olympic Diving Gold medalist Quan Hongchan

PPA Takeya Showcase Newport Beach

 

Highlight Reel (15+ mins) Gold Medal Singles Match

Highlight Reel (8+ mins)

Highlight Reel (5+ mins)

History Is Made

By winning this match, Anna Leigh became the youngest player ever win a Professional Pickleball Singles title. 

Gold Medal Match: Catherine Parenteau vs Anna Leigh Waters, 14   

News Article: Pro Pickleball Tour Serves Winners in Newport Beach

Video: Singles

Highlight Point - "Best Point Of The Match" Dave Weinbach

53:12 Anna Leigh Waters vs Irina Tereshenko

Video: Doubles

1:25:27 Lucy Kovalova/Simone Jardim vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters

6:35:23 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Jill Braverman/Susannah Barr (Bronze Medal Match)

Video: Mixed Doubles

25:16 Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin vs Casey Chan/Ben McMakin

4:04:55 Catherine Parenteau/Riley Newman vs Anna Leigh Waters/Tyson McGuffin

Blog Post

Championship Rematch in Round One 

The first round for defending PPA Champion, Lea Jansen, was against Anna-Leigh Waters, the Silver Medalist in the Orange County Cup. These two would likely meet in the final in there was a back draw.

With this PPA format this opening match will be a huge decider on who will end up with Gold. Technically this is considered a quarterfinal match but still feels early in the day to see these two play. This time around, it was all Waters. She was all over the court showing full control of her ground strokes. 

On a side to side point, she ran down a ball and ripped a backhand winner reminiscent of Rafa Nadal. Her stuff was too good throughout the match and won it in two games 11-3, 11-4. 

 On the other side of the draw, Callie Smith defeated Lauren Stratman in round one. She withdrew in the semi-final which allowed Catherine Parenteau to qualify for the Gold Medal Match after a single win over Annica Cooper. 

Parenteau will meet either Irina Tereschenko or Waters on Championship Sunday. The way things are looking right now, I don’t see anyone stopping Waters from playing on Sunday. (The Dink: PPA Takeya Showcase Singles Day) 

Pickle Relish - Under lockdown, Americans of all ages have been spicing things up with a fun new pastime

Torrance Memorial News

Lara Marmelstein had been a highly ranked (5.0) tennis player for more than 30 years when a buddy introduced her to a new racquet sport with a silly name: pickleball. The 54-year-old nurse from San Juan Capistrano was instantly hooked.

“I love, love, love, love pickleball!” Marmelstein gushes. “I love it so much that I gave up tennis. I look forward to playing pickleball until I’m 100.”

She means that literally. With its compact court and low-force volleys, pickleball is senior-friendly and uniquely well-suited for intergenerational play.

“There’s less emphasis on running than in tennis. You can sort of hop over to one side or the other. That’s why older people and children can play,” says Marmelstein, who took up pickleball in 2015.

She had no trouble selling her 85-year-old mother, Mary Lou McCauley, and sister Kelley Mayeda on the sport. The fever quickly spread to Mayeda’s adult sons, Mac and Jacob, and Marmelstein’s own adult children, Mitchel and McKenna. Another sister, Marlo Blandford, and brother-in-law Johnny have since embraced the family pastime.

Marmelstein, who worked at Torrance Memorial for a decade before moving to Orange County in 2000, returns to the South Bay every week. By long-standing tradition, she and her siblings, their spouses and offspring gather on Thursdays at mom’s house in Redondo Beach for “family night.” Then bright and early Friday morning, these self-described “pickleheads” take to the courts at Manhattan Heights Park or Hermosa Beach.

“It’s such a neat thing that I can play with my 85-year-old mom and my 30-year-old nephew. I could never do that in tennis,” says Marmelstein, who plays pickleball five times a week. Her skill-level rating is 4.5 on a scale of 6. Pro level starts at 5.5. 

Tournament age brackets go from preteens to seniors. One of the world’s top pro players is 14-year-old Anna Leigh Waters of Delray Beach, Florida. (Read More)