Thursday, December 29, 2022

Pickler of the Year: Just the Beginning for Anna Leigh Waters

 


The 2022 calendar year not only has been the year of pickleball, but it is also the year of Anna Leigh Waters. The two—pickleball and Anna Leigh Waters—may just about be synonymous at this point anyway. In 2022, the 15-year-old Waters (yes, we still need to identify her age because what she has accomplished at 15 years old is impressive to say the least) has achieved milestones within the sport of pickleball, but also major achievements that transcend pickleball. And, again, at just 15 years old… (Read More)

Tuesday, December 20, 2022

Anna Leigh's Tweet Goes Viral

 



After playing in the PPA bubly Team Championships, Anna Leigh tweeted this on her trip back home: 

For many reasons, rally scoring is not the direction pickleball should go.

The PPA made the tweet go viral in the pickleball community by posting the above photo on their social media platforms FacebookInstagram, Twitter.




Sunday, December 18, 2022

2022 PPA bubly Team Championships

 

Day 2 

1:40:01 Anna Leigh Waters/Donald Young vs Catherine Parenteau/Jack Sock 1:49:13 Anna Leigh Waters/Jay Devilliers vs Catherine Parenteau/Spencer Smith

Day 1

1:53:06 Lucy Kovalova/Sam Querrey vs Anna Leigh Waters/Donald Young 2:09:30 Anna Leigh Waters/Jay Devilliers vs Lucy Kovalova/Riley Newman

1:51:20 Anna Leigh Waters/Donald Young vs John Isner/Jessie Irvine 1:55:30 Anna Leigh Waters/ Jay Devilliers vs Ben Johns/Jessie Irvine Exhibition 2:18:05 Jack Sock/John Isner vs Anna Leigh Waters/Jessie Irvine

Team Young: Donald Young, Jay Devilliers, Tyler Loong, Callan Dawson, Anna Leigh Waters, Callie Smith, and Yana Grechkina.

Saturday, December 17, 2022

2023 MLP Draft Recap: Anna Leigh Waters to New Jersey 5's

 


The top-ranked female and male players in pickleball were the No. 1 and No. 2 overall picks, in the first of two Premier-level drafts for the upcoming season.

By TENNIS.com 

In a ceremony that aired live on Tennis Channel, the 2023 Major League Pickleball Draft sponsored by Margaritaville brought together the game’s best players and a constellation of celebrity owners to Las Vegas on Thursday evening to select teams ahead of a historic season.

Anna Leigh Waters, 15, and Ben Johns, 23, the top-ranked female and male players in pro pickleball, were the No.1 and No. 2 overall draft picks, respectively.

Waters recently clinched a triple crown at the USA Pickleball National Championships in Indian Wells—winning the women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles at the same event—and will be heading to the New Jersey 5s (YouTube Channel)

The Delray Beach native, who made her pro debut at the age of 12, told reporter Hannah Johns it was “an amazing feeling” to be named first.

“Honestly [when I got the call] I was here in Vegas, and it was super loud. I got the phone call and I was like, ‘Wait, what did you say? Like are you sure?’ I was super excited,” Waters said.

“I'm super excited to be a part of the 5s as well. It's just an amazing feeling to be picked number one overall, both men and women.” (Read More)

Thursday, December 15, 2022

Jupiter is planning for pickleball courts: Town council awaits county approval

 


JUPITER ― The town has a spring training stadium, a competition-sized swimming pool, a sparkling beachfront, nearly a dozen parks and even miniature golf — but for a municipality that prides itself on outdoor recreation, there are no public pickleball courts. (Read More)

MLP 2023 Mock Draft – Season 1

 


Round 1

(1) Anna Leigh Waters – The 15-year-old has the biggest gap between her and the #2 female. She is the only female out there who can win a match all by herself at this stage. (NML Blog)

Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Pickleball Magazine Cover

 


She's Golden! 
Anna Leigh Waters wins Triple Crown at the 2022 Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships 


Teenage phenom Anna Leigh Waters may be the most dominant athlete in women's sports today.

The tournament venues may change. The competition may look different and pose diverse challenges. But the end results have mostly been the same for the past few years. Ben Johns capturing gold amongst the men, while standing atop the medal stand for the women is the familiar face of 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters. (Pickleball Magazine Dec/Nov. 2022)


Monday, December 12, 2022

Podcast: Kitchen Konversations With Connor Pardoe PPA CEO

 



15:15 Ben and Anna Leigh Dominance

Jason Aspes: So, let's talk about the Domination by Ben and Anna Leigh this year. Anna Leigh had seven Triple Crowns.
Ben had four I believe.
They won 12 mixed championships out of 18 tour stops and they only participated in 13.
Connor Pardoe: Catherine and Riley got them once. Other than that, they were perfect.

Jason: I mean domination, right? They pretty much dominated the sport.
Is that good for the PPA?
Is that something that worries you at all or is that good because we're building superheroes?

Connor: I think both answers to those questions are right... (Watch Clip)

Thursday, December 8, 2022

Pickleball is a hit with kids, but interest in team sports drops

 


Washington Post KidsPost By Fred Bowen

ASPEN INSTITUTE’S NEW ‘STATE OF PLAY 2022’ REPORT SHOWS POSITIVES BUT ALSO DISAPPOINTING TRENDS IN YOUTH SPORTS.

The Aspen Institute recently issued its annual report on kids’ sports called “State of Play 2022.” The Aspen Institute is an organization that studies lots of important issues, including kids’ sports.

The report is full of interesting facts and trends that have occurred in the games kids play. So let’s take a look.

Here are the five favorite competitive sports among kids ages 6 to 12:

1. Basketball
2. Baseball
3. Soccer
4. Tennis
5. Football, if you combine tackle and flag.
(Bike riding is still kids’ favorite activity.)

Another racket game that grew like wild is pickleball. The sport with the funny name is popular with grandparents, but kids like to play, too. Pickleball grew an amazing 83 percent from 2019 to 2021, attracting almost a half-million regular players among people ages 6 to 17.

One reason for pickleball’s popularity among young people is that a big star in professional pickleball is a teenager: 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters. (Read More)

Wednesday, December 7, 2022

2022 World Pickleball Rankings - Anna Leigh #1 In The World

 



Singles

  1. Anna Leigh Waters 157502
  2. Salome Devidze 100253
  3. Lea Jansen 83684
  4. Anna Bright 82755
  5. Catherine Parenteau 81336
  6. Jorja Johnson 74257
  7. Parris Todd 70428
  8. Irina Tereschenko 47819
  9. Megan Fudge DeHeart 350010
  10. Mary Brascia 3300
Doubles

  1. Anna Leigh Waters 14000
  2. Andrea Koop 13150
  3. Leigh Waters 11280
  4. Catherine Parenteau 11075
  5. Anna Bright 10625
  6. Lucy Kovalova 9975
  7. Callie Smith 9675
  8. Simone Jardim 9402
  9. Lea Jansen 8612
  10. Jessie Irvine 8450
Mixed Doubles

  1. Anna Leigh Waters 14250
  2. Catherine Parenteau 10057
  3. Simone Jardim 8146
  4. Vivienne David 7365
  5. Jessie Irvine 6856
  6. Andrea Koop 6432
  7. Jorja Johnson 6135
  8. Lucy Kovalova 6081
  9. Lee Whitwell 4418
  10. Anna Bright 4144


World Pickleball Rankings are endorsed by USA Pickleball, the PPA/APP and the US Open Pickleball Championships as their official rankings. 2022 Tournaments

Anna Leigh Waters Pro Singles Titles, Triple Crowns

Sunday, December 4, 2022

2022 PPA Hertz National Championship

 


Singles

5:17:42 Anna Leigh Waters vs Salome Devidze (Interview) (Gold)
8:28 Anna Leigh Waters vs Mari Humberg Commentary: Anna Bright/Dave Fleming (Live Stream Begins) 5:27:34 Anna Leigh Waters vs Lea Jansen

Doubles

1:31:47 Anna Leigh Waters/Catherine Parenteau vs Lea Jansen/Jackie Kawamoto (Interview) (Gold)
2:58:49 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters vs Meghan Dizon/Allyce Jones 3:01:15 Highlight Of The Tournament: Allyce Jones does a back somersault at the end of the point 6:59:36 Catherine Parenteau/Anna Leigh Waters vs Anna Bright/Jessie Irvine

Mixed Doubles

3:07:55 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Catherine Parenteau/Riley Newman (Interview) (Gold)
46:30 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Hoaz/Parks 2:36:20 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Yana Grechikina/Ben Newell 6:17:50 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Jessie Irvine/Jay Devilliers