Anna Leigh Waters has once again propelled pickleball into the global spotlight, this time by being named to TIME magazine’s inaugural TIME100 Sports list. The recognition, which celebrates the 100 most influential figures shaping the sporting landscape, places the world’s No. 1 women’s player alongside icons such as LeBron James, Lionel Messi and Caitlin Clark. For Waters, it is not merely a personal accolade but a marker of pickleball’s accelerating traction in mainstream culture.
Waters’ inclusion in the Innovators category underscores her role in reshaping perceptions of the sport. She shares the section with figures like Michele Kang, a billionaire investor in women’s sports, and Khalida Popal, the Afghan footballer turned refugee advocate. That Waters is mentioned in the same breath as such transformative leaders speaks volumes about how pickleball is now being viewed: not as a niche pastime, but as a sport with genuine cultural and commercial weight.
Anna Leigh Waters’ Remarkable Rise
Waters’ rise has been punctuated by moments that bridge pickleball with wider audiences. Last summer she threw out the first pitch at a Chicago Cubs game, a symbolic gesture that placed her before thousands of baseball fans. She followed that with appearances on ESPN’s SportsCenter and The Pat McAfee Show, the latter broadcast live from Super Bowl Radio Row. Earlier this year she made headlines by becoming the first pickleball athlete to sign an equipment deal with Nike, a partnership that signalled corporate America’s recognition of pickleball’s potential reach.
These milestones are not isolated. They form part of a broader narrative in which pickleball is steadily embedding itself into the sporting mainstream. Waters’ popularity has been instrumental in this shift. Her dominance on court, wielding her signature Franklin C45 Aurelius paddle, has been matched by her ability to connect with fans off it. She has become the most popular guest on Pickleballers, a podcast that has helped cultivate a new generation of enthusiasts. Each appearance, each endorsement, each media crossover adds another layer to pickleball’s legitimacy.
The TIME100 Sports list, set to appear in the magazine’s 22 June issue, is a powerful validation. It places Waters within a constellation of global sporting figures and media personalities, including Pat McAfee and Bill Simmons — the latter a noted sceptic of pickleball. That contrast is telling: pickleball is now unavoidable, even for its detractors. Waters’ presence on the list ensures the sport is part of the conversation at the highest level.
For pickleball, this moment is about more than one player’s success. It is about a sport that has grown from community courts to professional tours, from grassroots clubs to national broadcasts. Waters embodies that trajectory. Her recognition by TIME is proof of her expanding influence, but it is equally a reflection of pickleball’s surging popularity and its claim to a place in the global sporting order.
At just 19, Anna Leigh Waters has become both ambassador and trailblazer. Her ascent illustrates how pickleball is no longer confined to recreational play; it is a sport with stars, stories and staying power. TIME’s acknowledgement cements that reality, and in doing so, it signals that pickleball’s breakthrough moment has truly arrived.
