Before she was pickleball's GOAT, Anna Leigh Waters was a soccer prodigy scouted by pro clubs

Long before the 45 Triple Crowns, Anna Leigh Waters was being chased by NWSL scouts and college programs for a different sport. In a feature published by The Dink, ALW's former club coach Clem McAuley — a retired professional soccer player himself — says that if she picked the sport back up tomorrow, she wouldn't need long to get back to elite level. ▶ The Dink (newsletter) ↗

"If she stopped playing pickleball tomorrow morning, knowing her commitment and tenacity, within six months, she could be getting trials with the top ladies teams in America. And within two years, she would be on the US National Team."

The stats back up the hype: in her 2020–21 U15 season with AC Delray Rush, Waters put up 46 goals and 31 assists in 38 games — more than double the next-best scorer on her own team. ▶ The Dink (newsletter) ↗

The interest was real, not hypothetical. Her mother and coach, Leigh Waters, told The Dink that a National Women's Soccer League club scouted Anna Leigh in person, and that recruiting materials from a college soccer program arrived courtside at a PPA event.

"She's a very talented player. What would it take to get her up to Orlando to go to trials?" — an Orlando Pride representative, to former coach Clem McAuley

Waters herself hasn't fully closed the door. On a past PicklePod appearance, she said she'd thought about playing college soccer once her pickleball career winds down. Nothing here suggests an actual move is imminent — it's a look at the road not taken, not a transfer story.