Pickleball is exploding, and it’s getting messy

 

Washington Post 

With multiple pro tours and new venues everywhere, pickleball’s growth shows no signs of slowing down. 

All eyes were on Anna Leigh Waters #AL 15, and Ben Johns, 23, a mixed doubles team and perhaps the two brightest stars in the rapidly expanding pickleball universe, phenoms changing the way the game is both played and perceived. Competing in the Baird Wealth Management Open, one of the biggest events staged by the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA), Waters and Johns are torchbearers for a young sport with a future as promising as it is unpredictable.

“You’ve got to remember that people couldn’t do anything, but they could go out in their driveway or in their cul-de-sac or the street or the park,” said Leigh Waters, one of the nation’s top doubles players who teams with her daughter Anna Leigh. “And they could do it with their family. It didn’t matter what age they were, what athletic ability they were.”

“I used to hear, like, ‘Ha-ha, that’s just an old-person sport,” the 15-year-old said with a laugh. “But now they see me on TV and stuff. Or they see that I’m playing with celebrities that they know. And I’m like: ‘I told you. Pickleball is a legit thing.’ ” (Read Article)

2022 PPA Peachtree Classic

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Singles

33:19 Anna Leigh Waters vs Callie Smith (Interview) (Gold)

4:49:33 Anna Leigh Waters vs Irina Tereschenko 7:19:59 Anna Leigh Waters vs Anna Bright (Highlight)

Doubles

3:01:55 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Jessie Irvine/Anna Bright (Highlight, Highlight 2) (Interview) (Stats) (Gold)

3:09:04 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Parris Todd/Irina Tereschenko 9:26:54 Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs Lea Jansen/Catherine Parenteau

Mixed Doubles

4:54:41 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau (Interview) (Stats) (Gold)

1:53:52 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Rachel Rettger/Alex Neumann 3:42:01 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Callie Smith/AJ Koller 6:32:20 Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs Jay Devilliers/Jessie Irvine

15 Year Old Anna Leigh Waters Wins 15th Pro Women's Singles Title

 

NOTE: The Links Below Go To The Gold Medal Matches On YouTube

Anna Leigh Waters PRO SINGLES TITLES

15) September 2022: PPA Baird Wealth Management Open, Cincinnati, OH (Lea Jansen)

14) August 2022: PPA Tournament Of Champions, Brigham City, UT (Lea Jansen)
13) May 2022: PPA Atlanta Open Atlanta, GA (Catherine Parenteau)
12) April 2022: PPA Red Rock, St. George, UT (Lea Jansen)
11) March 2022: PPA Austin Open, Austin, TX (Catherine Parenteau)
10) March 2022: PPA Riverland Open, Port St. Lucie, FL (Lea Jansen)

9) February 2022: PPA Ororo Indoor National Championships, Lakeville, MN (Irina Tereschenko)
8) February 2022: PPA Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam Mesa, AZ (Catherine Parenteau)
7) January 2022: PPA Carvana Desert Ridge Open Phoenix, AZ (Catherine Parenteau)
6) December 2021: Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, Indian Well, CA (Jill Braverman)
5) November 2021: PPA Masters, La Quinta, CA (Lea Jansen)
4) October 2021: PPA Texas Open Shootout, Rockwell, TX (Lea Jansen)
3) September 2021: PPA Orlando Cup, Orlando, FL (Lea Jansen)
2) August 2021: Tournaments Of Champions, Brigham City, UT (Callie Smith)
1) August 2021: PPA Takeya Showcase, Newport Beach, CA (Catherine Parenteau) 

2022 PPA Baird Wealth Management Open

 

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Singles

1:07:50 Anna Bright vs Anna Leigh Waters

Doubles

3:56:45 Yana Grechkina/Irina Tereschenko vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters 6:10:14 Anna Bright/Jessie Irvine vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters

Mixed Doubles

1:44:32 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs Salome Devidze/Mariano Yeh 3:32:25 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs Patrick Smith/Irina Tereschenko 5:15:58 Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs AJ Koller/Callie Smith

PPA Tours News: Two And Two For Waters And Johns

ESPN SC Featured: One Nation, Under Pickleball

 

It’s been described as the fastest-growing sport in America. People are playing pickleball everywhere, with courts springing up in towns and cities across the country.

But where did pickleball originate? How did it start, and where? And why are so many people playing it?

Those are some of the questions answered in a new SportsCenter “SC Featured” segment debuting Sunday. Producer Jon Fish and reporter Gene Wojciechowski traveled America to get pickleball perspective.

“So, how do you tell a story of a sport?” Fish said. “Multiple other entities have gotten into what’s going on with pickleball now, but the most important thing to me is how did this happen? What’s the origin story?”

He learned that pickleball was invented in 1965 on Bainbridge Island, Wash., near Seattle. And then he remembered that Jason Jobes, a camera operator he’s friends with and has worked with often, lives on Bainbridge. When he called Jobes, he was amazed to learn that Jobes had played the sport his entire life. He quickly agreed to help Fish with the story.

Fish and Wojciechowski went to Bainbridge Island and to the spot where pickleball was born.

The original pickleball court on Bainbridge Island, Wash., is marked with this plaque. (Jon Fish/ESPN)

“You can’t shoot hoops on the peach basket that Naismith hung up,” he said. “But when you go to Bainbridge Island, you come off this unpaved road in the middle of the woods, and there it is – Court 1.

“And I had that moment like I’m at the origin of the sport. And they haven’t touched it. It looks like it looked when they invented the game in 1965. For me, as a producer, to find something as it was is just mind-blowing. To go to a place that’s the essence of a sport is incredible.”

Viewers also will hear from 15-year-old Anna Leigh Waters, the No. 1 ranked female pickleball player; Tom Dundon, owner of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, who also owns the PPA – Pro Pickleball Association; and Steve Kuhn, owner of Major League Pickleball.

“We found out that pickleball has a cool backstory of why it was invented,” Fish said. “And the game means a lot to the people that invented it and the people who play it now.”

And that includes Fish.

“My wife bought me pickleball paddles and balls for my birthday,” he said.

“One Nation Under Pickleball” will premier in the 8 a.m. ET edition of SportsCenter on Sunday, Aug. 21, will re-air in other editions on Sunday and in the ensuing days. (Source)

 

TeamWaters One Nation, Under Pickleball Clip

Individuals Featured In The Story

1. Steve Kuhn, Founder, Major League Pickleball
2. James Blake, Former #4, World-Ranked Tennis Player
3. Jay Inslee, Governor Of Washington
4. Frank Prictchard, Pickleball Founder's Son
5. Joel Bell, Pickleball Founder's Son
6. David McCallum, Pickleball Founder's Son
7. Tom Dundon, Carolina Hurricanes/PPA Tour Owner
8. Anna Leigh Waters, Pro Pickleball Player
9. Leigh Waters, Pro Pickleball Player

Teen Anna Leigh Waters Wins 3rd Pickleball Pro Triple Crown At Tournament Of Champions

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Teen Anna Leigh Waters Wins 3rd Pickleball Pro Triple Crown At Tournament Of Champions

Pickleball Phenom Featured On ESPN Sports Center

BRIGHAM CITY, UT  (August 23, 2022 ) – Saturday, the #1 Ranked Professional Pickleball Women’s Singles Player in the World Anna Leigh Waters, 15, won her 3rd  Triple Crown and 14th Singles title at the Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) Tournament Of Champions in Brigham City, Utah.

 

NOTE: A Triple Crown in Pickleball is when a player wins in all brackets of a tournament: Singles, Mixed Doubles and Doubles. Anna Leigh and her mother Leigh Waters (TeamWaters) have been the Pro Pickleball National Women’s Doubles Champions since 2019.

 

2022 Triple Crowns

March: PPA Riverland Open

5:20:33 Women’s Singles: Anna Leigh Waters vs. Lea Jansen (11-2,11-8,11-0) (Interview)

17:33 Mixed Doubles: Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs. Jessie Irvine/Jay Devillers (11-2,11-4,11-3) (Interview)

3:15:14 Women’s Doubles: Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters vs. Jessie Irvine/ Catherine Parenteau  (12-10,11-6,11-8) (Interview) Commentary: Lea Jansen

 

April: PPA Red Rock Open

 

10:57 Lucy Kovolova/Callie Jo Smith vs Anna Leigh Waters/Leigh Waters

4:06:38 Lea Jansen vs Anna Leigh Waters #AL

4:46:59  Ben Johns/Anna Leigh Waters vs Riley Newman/Catherine Parenteau

 

August: PPA Tournament Of Champions

 

2:04:05 (1) Anna Leigh Waters vs. (3) Lea Jansen (Interview) (Highlight, Highlight2+)

0:01 (2) Anna Leigh Waters/Ben Johns vs. (5) Callie Smith/AJ Koller

4:44 (1) Lucy Kovalova/Callie Smith vs. (2) Leigh Waters/Anna Leigh Waters Commentary: Lea Jansen/Dave Fleming (Interview) (Highlight+, Highlight2, Highlight3) 

 

 

Anna Leigh Waters PRO SINGLES TITLES

NOTE: To access matches, goto the 2022 Schedule or the 2021 Schedule 

 

14) August 2022: PPA Tournament Of Champions, Brigham City, UT 

13) May 2022: PPA Atlanta Open Atlanta, GA

12) April 2022: PPA Red Rock St. George, UT

11) March 2022: PPA Austin Open Austin, TX 

10) March 2022: PPA Riverland Open Port St. Lucie, FL

9) February 2022: PPA Ororo Indoor National Championships Lakeville, MN 

8) February 2022: PPA Foot Solutions Arizona Grand Slam Mesa, AZ 

7) January 2022: PPA Carvana Desert Ridge Open Phoenix, AZ

6) December 2021: Margaritaville USA Pickleball National Championships, Indian Well, CA

5) November 2021: PPA Masters, La Quinta, CA

4) October 2021: PPA Texas Open Shootout, Rockwell, TX

3) September 2021: PPA Orlando Cup, Orlando, FL

2) August 2021: Tournaments Of Champions, Brigham City, UT

1) August 2021: PPA The Takeya Showcase, Newport Beach, CA

 

 

On Sunday, TeamWaters were featured on ESPN’s SportsCenter “SC Featured” One Nation, Under Pickleball. (TeamWaters 54 second clip) 

The TeamWaters Pickleball Story Began in 2017

“The mother/daughter duo picked up the sport back in 2017 when they evacuated their home in Florida due to Hurricane Irma and stayed with Leigh’s parents for a couple of weeks. Leigh’s dad introduced them to the sport and from there they were hooked. “I think we played like morning, noon and night for two weeks straight while we were up there and the rest is history,” said Leigh.”

The inspiring family journey can be followed on Facebook,  Leigh's Instagram and Anna Leigh’s Instagram. 

TeamWaters Digital Press Kit (Interviews, Tournament Videos, Highlights, Photos, Schedules)

 

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