FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26: Leigh Waters curtsied to her daughter Anna Leigh on her 14th birthday
Professional Pickleball National Champions Mother/Daughter Duo Are Back! Gold Medal, Podcast, Happy Birthday #AL (Nat Headline)
PUNTA GORDA, FL (January 31, 2021) -- In 2020, after playing in a handful of exhibitions due to COVID-19, the 2019 Women’s Doubles Professional National Champions, Leigh Waters and her thirteen-year old daughter Anna Leigh played in The Association of Pickleball Professionals (APP) Tour first tournament of 2021 the AAP Punta Gorda Pickleball Open in Punta Gorda, FL.
The mother/daughter duo, known for their intense ”ripit” style of play, won a Gold Medal in the Pro Women’s Doubles bracket. (Watch 2 min Highlight Reel)
Decked out in matching custom outfits from their new sports clothing sponsor, Faye+Florie, #TeamWaters appeared to have just stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine.
The National Champs showed new aspects of their game which they developed during quarantine. "I am so glad we came back. I have been missing it. The tournaments are so much different from practicing pickleball." explained Anna Leigh after winning the Gold Medal.
"I never expected to be in the Gold Medal Match," states Leigh. "I had nothing to lose. So, I was going to go for it."
This week TeamWaters will return to Punta Gorda for the $100,000 World Pickleball Championship. ProPickleball will livestream WPC matches on their Facebook page. NOTE: Due to COVID concerns, TeamWaters did not attend this event.
Photo: 2019 WPC Anna Leigh Waters with her grandfather Neil Eichelberger, who taught TeamWaters how to play pickleball during Hurricane Irma (Sept. 2017)