ASPEN, CO - Following Thursday’s Pickle ‘N Pucks Pro-Am presented by Verizon, broadcaster Dave Fleming asked World No. 1 Anna Leigh Waters about the prospect of playing pickleball in the Olympics someday.

The 17-year-old American couldn’t help but smile.

“I grew up watching the Olympics. It would be amazing to represent my country and play pickleball. I don’t know when it’ll get to the Olympics, but I think I’m young enough that even if it’s in like 10 to 15 years, I’d still be able to play. Maybe I’ll even retire and then come back for the Olympics, but hopefully we get it sooner than that,” said Anna Leigh. “It would be unbelievable to play in the Olympics and win a medal. That would be pretty cool as well.”

Even if pickleball hasn’t been approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) just yet and won’t have a place in the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles at this point, it was still exceptionally moving to see pickleball enthusiast Scottie Scheffler tear up during the medal ceremony and U.S. national anthem after taking gold in men’s golf on Aug. 4 in Paris.

No doubt Anna Leigh would love to emulate that same moment herself at some point down the road, preferably with family members in tow since they play an integral part in her remarkable success.

Bottom line, there's a lot of love in the Waters clan.

“Just having my dad, my mom, and sometimes my grandparents even travel with me to take the load off, it makes you feel comfortable after you get off the pickleball court at a tournament. You can relax. I’m very grateful to have my family travel with me and go through that whole thing with me,” praised Anna Leigh. “Also, I love the sport, so I think that helps. I think I’ve done a really good job in my career of not overplaying and really taking care of my body. I’m trying to last for a long time because the sport is so young. I want to be able to play for a long time, hopefully until I'm like 80 or 90 years old. I’m just having fun and enjoying it with my family.”

Anna Leigh's mother, Leigh, is a pickleball rockstar in her own right, of course.

And the pair has forged an outstanding relationship based wholeheartedly on mutual respect and admiration.

“I think the fact that Anna Leigh and I were actually teammates before I was like officially her coach really was a big deal for how well our relationship works now as mother-daughter and also coach-student,” explained Leigh. “Although, sometimes I’m still the student and she’s still the coach, but I think she respects what I have to say and knows that I know what I’m talking about. Even though I’m her coach, I still feel like I’m her teammate.”

With a role model like that, it's no wonder Anna Leigh relishes opporunities to give back to pickleball whenever she can.

Case in point was her teaching clinics with youngsters over the last few days before heading to Overland Park, KS to compete in the Selkirk Kansas City Open presented by Stratusphere Gin.

"When I first started playing pickleball, I never thought I’d be doing any of this. I was just a kid playing at the park, so it’s cool to see kids coming up to me saying what an inspiration I’ve been to them. Hopefully, I'm a good role model for all the kids out there," concluded Anna Leigh. "It’s great for the game that little kids are playing. It’s also a great way for little kids to reset, even if you’re not trying to be a great pickleball player, just to kind of get out of social media, school, whatever’s going through your mind, and just go out there and play something."

Spoken like a true champion.