Snowboard cross star Faye Gulini began riding when she was eight years old, and by the time she turned 17, she made the U.S. Olympic team.  

The four-time Olympian recently sat courtside at a pickleball tournament alongside family and friends and watched 18-year-old Anna Leigh Waters showcase her remarkable skills on the court.

It was a fascinating experience for Gulini, who relished the opportunity to see a youngster dominate her opponents just like she did after storming on the scene a decade and a half ago.

“I think youthfulness in any sport is super valuable, and when you’re young and you’re at the beginning of your professional career, it’s almost the easiest time because you have no expectations. Sure Anna Leigh has been a pro for a long time, but it’s still the idea that when you’re young, you don’t have the fear of failure. You’re really just out there, having a good time, doing what you’re good at, and taking full advantage of your youth and athleticism. That only gets tougher as you get older,” explained Gulini. “When you’re young, a lot of the conditioning comes naturally versus when you’re older. The training and conditioning is much tougher and it’s more about discipline. But all that hard work matters a lot more towards the tail end of your career.”

That being said, as a fellow pro athlete, Gulini loved watching all the pro pickleball matches. 

“It’s so fun to be a spectator at pro sports because, as an athlete, you know all the energy, the effort, the sacrifice that goes into the athletes being here,” she emphasized. “But I do like to sit back stress free and enjoy their hard work as opposed to stressing about my own, so it’s pretty refreshing.”

Gulini has been playing pickleball for about two years.

Unlike some other pro athletes, though, Gulini confided that she actually doesn’t get too competitive with a paddle in hand and prefers a relaxed game instead.

“I’ve never had good hand-eye coordination, and obviously in snowboarding you don’t need anything like that, so pickleball was pretty tricky for me to learn. I’m not competitive with pickleball like I am with snowboarding because I’m not that good at pickleball,” she said. “If I was better, I probably would be, but if I was competitive about it, then I’d be upset every day. It’s better for me to just have fun, not take it too seriously, and enjoy time with friends and family.” 

For Gulini and her husband, pickleball is a fun family activity as her kids grow up.  

“My husband loves to play and all my friends play pickleball. It’s a social activity for us, and it’s also so family friendly. The tournaments are so family-friendly, and when we go and play with our friends at a park, they’ll bring their kids so all the kids can go play on the playground and we all can make a fun day out of it,” she concluded. “It’s a great sport for everybody.”

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