Anna Leigh won a Bronze Medal in Pro Women's Singles against Catherine Parenteau, #2 in the World. (Watch Match 2/3) (Drew Fellios Shout Out)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NAPLES, FL (April 15, 2021) -- The 2019 Women’s Doubles Professional Pickleball National Champions, Leigh Waters and her fourteen-year old daughter Anna Leigh are excited to play together at the Minto US OPEN Pickleball Championships April 17-23.
In 2018, the mother/daughter duo won the US Open Women’s Doubles Age 19+ Bronze Medal.
At the US Open in 2019, Anna Leigh won a Gold Medal playing with Fort Meyers based Kyle Yates in the Mixed Doubles Age 19+ bracket. It was her last tournament playing as an amatuer. She was 12 years old and won 4 Gold Medals. (Video - 2019 US Open Kids Day Exhibition Begins At 4:20 Kyle/Anna Leigh vs Simone Jardim/Irina Tereschenko)
This year Kyle, who has won six US Open pro doubles titles (with 4 different partners), and Anna Leigh are playing in the very competitive Mixed Doubles Pro bracket.
Last year in April, when the US Open was canceled due to COVID, TeamWaters conducted a 1hr 30+ minute live stream Q&A session on their Facebook page. They only played in one 2020 tournament.
In March, Leigh and Anna Leigh launched the video series “Tuesday Talks Car Conversations with Anna Leigh” available on YouTube and Instagram. In their April 6th episode, they discussed the 2021 US Open.
Photo: Pickleball Fire Magazine Cover
In the Pickleball Fire Magazine March/April 2021 issue, TeamWaters are featured and Leigh published her first instructional article, “Attacking Dinks”.
In the fall of 2017, Anna Leigh and Leigh evacuated to Leigh’s father's home in Pennsylvania due to Hurricane Irma. While there, he introduced them to pickleball.
“Anna Leigh started playing pickleball the same day I did in Pennsylvania,” Leigh explains. “I can’t tell you what an absolute privilege it is to get to play with her. She amazes me every time I step on the court with her. She is smart, encouraging, and her skills just keep getting better. Having her by my side on the court is so comforting and I have total confidence in her. We have that mother/daughter intuition that helps us play as a true team on the court. Winning a Major title together is something that we set out to do.”
Digital Press Kit (Interviews, Tournament Videos, Highlights, Photos, Schedules)
Lynn Cherry, Pickleball Podcast: “Actually, the media kit was really helpful. It really made it very fast to prep and the timestamps on the (interview) videos were great because I could get to exactly what I wanted to see or hear. I think that is really key!”
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Discussion Topics
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Professional Pickleball National Champions Mother/Daughter Duo Perfect Role Models For Multi-generational Sport
DELRAY BEACH, FL (April 1, 2021) -- In 2020, after playing in one tournament due to COVID-19, the 2019 Women’s Doubles Professional Pickleball National Champions, Leigh Waters and her fourteen-year old daughter Anna Leigh have returned to touring the country coast-to-coast playing on the AAP and PPA professional tour circuits. (TeamWaters 2021 Tournament Schedule)
Last month at the APP Delray Open, TeamWaters played the world's #1 woman, Simone Jardim and the #2 ranked woman Catherine Parenteau in the Women’s Doubles Gold Medal Match that will air on CBS News Network April 3rd at 8pm (EST).
During the Delray Beach Open Pro Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal Match, the commentators discussed the dynamics of the mother/daughter duo:
Ari Shanok: What a feeling it has to be for Leigh Waters to be able to participate at this level with her daughter.
Morgan Evans: Yeah. It is a real kind of fairy tail story. Fantastic for the family.
Ari Shanok: You look at Anna Leigh's ground strokes. You taught tennis before pickleball, Morgan, they just look like classic tennis strokes.
Morgan: Oh, yeah. Fantastic level of aggression.
Pickleball players worldwide watch the Waters family compete at the highest level of the sport through live stream matches published on YouTube and Facebook. Mothers/Fathers/Grandparents and kids are inspired by the evolving mother and daughter journey.
Karen Mitchell, Director - PickleballEngland states:
“When pickleball was invented in 1965, it was played by families together. Today, the Waters are an inspirational example of inter-generational play that inspires other families to play together. I recently shared a post about a grandfather and grandson playing in a tournament together in Indiana, the grandfather said “it doesn’t get any better than this”. Says it all doesn’t it?”
Leigh and Anna Leigh enjoy their off court time together. They launched a video series called “Tuesday Talks Car Conversations with Anna Leigh (AL)” available on YouTube and Instagram.
Photo: Pickleball Fire Magazine Cover
In the Pickleball Fire Magazine March/April 2021 issue, TeamWaters is featured and Leigh published her first instructional article, “Attacking Dinks”.
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Digital Press Kit (Interviews, Tournament Videos, Highlights, Photos, Schedules)
Lynn Cherry, Pickleball Podcast: “Actually, the media kit was really helpful. It really made it very fast to prep and the timestamps on the (interview) videos were great because I could get to exactly what I wanted to see or hear. I think that is really key!”
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“It is pretty cool, especially to have it in our hometown where it all started for us,” Leigh said. “It’s a $60,000 tournament and a lot of people came because we are hosting it and we are really excited about the opportunity. I love playing with Anna Leigh. The day she wants to move on (from playing with her) is the day I become her coach.”
“The Pro-Celebrity event was so much fun,” she said. “It benefited the first responders and obviously we are so thankful for them and the past year has been extra special. We just mixed around and we were running from court to court mixing in and everybody was having a blast. I think we raised a lot of money for them.”
Leigh Waters said it was nice to return to some sense of normalcy with the tournament. They opted to take the year off last year when COVID-19 hit.
Anna Leigh, who takes online classes and is a ninth-grader (a year ahead), said it is incredible to be a professional pickleball player at her age.
“I get to travel around the world playing pickleball,” she said. “I get to do it with my mom too and I am making experiences that I wouldn’t have had if I didn’t play pickleball.
“There are a lot more people coming in who are really good,” Anna Leigh said. “The sport is evolving as more people are coming in. The game is getting faster and some of the points are really incredible.”
