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Growing sport of pickleball brings thousands to Mesa

Anna Leigh Waters, 15, of Delray Beach, Florida was one professional player who traveled across the country to take part in the Arizona Grand Slam.

MESA, Ariz — Bell Bank Park in Mesa welcomed the Arizona Grand Slam Professional Pickleball Association event this week.

About 200 professional players and more than 1,200 amateurs took part over the five days of competition.

According to USA Pickleball, the game was invented in the 1960s in Washington and named for the pickle boat at a rowing competition in which the backup rowers ride as they watch the race.

The game has become more popular in recent years. 

Once a recreational activity for retirees, the average age of participants has come down significantly in the past five years as the game has become more popular.

Anna Leigh Waters, 15, of Delray Beach, Florida was one professional player who traveled across the country to take part in the Arizona Grand Slam.

“I evacuated Florida during Hurricane Irma and went to stay with my grandfather in Pennsylvania,” Waters said Sunday. “I played pickleball one time, and I was hooked. I can play it whenever I want, and I can play with my friends and family.”

Waters said she had already been playing professionally for three years as of Sunday, and she came away with two gold medals over the five-day competition.

“I play doubles with my mother, who is in her mid to late 40s, so that shows you that anyone at any age can play,” Waters said.

The game resembles a larger version or table tennis or a smaller version of full-court tennis. It is played with a hard, plastic ball that resembles a whiffle ball, and plastic paddles that mostly recall the wooden ones used to play paddle ball on the beach.

“At the professional level, most players have super fast hands and super quick reflexes,” Waters said. “But the great thing about Pickleball is you can develop your game in a way that you can avoid certain shots if you don’t want to hit them.”

Waters recommends for everyone to at least give Pickleball a try, even if the name may be offputting.

“I know people who kind of disregard it when they hear the name,” Waters said. “But what I tell almost everybody is if you just play Pickleball just one time, you immediately get hooked. That’s what happened to me.”

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