FLIP + CHING

Highlights from an Epic Pickleball Tournament

Posted on April 25, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

I had the privilege of helping with the pickleball tournament at the Wichita Country Club benefiting the Wichita Children’s Home (WCH) again this year. WCH has two big fundraising events: “It’s a Big Dill” which was their pickleball tournament and “Fore the Kids” which was the golf tournament. This year they decided to combine both events into one truly epic weekend.

Festivities kicked off with the party at the Wichita Country Club on Friday night, April 12, followed by the pickleball tournament the next morning. The golf tournament was held on Monday at Terradyne Country Club.

My involvement is pretty much limited to pickleball but there are so many people who make the whole thing happen – from asking donors for sponsorships, inviting people to the party, recruiting players for both pickleball and golf, asking for donations for the live and silent auction packages, decorating for the party, helping at the party, setting up and tearing down the pickleball tournament – I am always super impressed at how seamlessly everything comes together.

This is one of my most favorite tournaments because the Wichita Country Club team is phenomenal. I’m used to doing everything – getting volunteers for taping, hanging sponsor banners, setting up nets etc., tearing down, running the event – but with WCH tournament, the country club staff pretty much has everything taken care of so all I really have to do is come up with the tournament format (we’ve been doing round robin into single elimination bracket) and put together the schedule/plan and then follow the schedule on the day. My job is super easy.

Anyway, if you are looking to play in this highly sought-after event next year, mark your calendar for April 12. Kickoff party will be Friday, April 11, and then the pickleball tournament is the next day. Hope to see you then!

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Experimenting with Drugs

Posted on April 23, 2024 by Ching under Health, Life.

Have you ever experimented with drugs? Well, that was me this weekend because I couldn’t figure out what was going on with my right knee.

Here’s what I learned… There are various over-the-counter pain meds you can take but they’re not all the same. Some pain meds are better for certain symptoms and issues.

I’ve never been a pill popper. I hate taking pills with a passion and I didn’t really start taking any pain meds for headaches or cramps until the last couple of years. In fact, when I had my thyroidectomy 12 years ago, I didn’t touch the Lortabs that I was prescribed. I took 2 Tylenol and that was it for my recovery.

Anyway, I’d been mostly taking Advil vs. Tylenol because I learned that Ibuprofen is better for treating inflammation but my knee pain was so bad on Tuesday that I had to get Hideki Fields to cover my Wednesday night class at West Y. Took a break from doing any kind of activity (no Zumba or pickleball) until Saturday morning when I had to cover Alisha Mickelson’s Saturday morning class at North Y and then I had a 3 PM at West Y that same afternoon (for the winner of the silent auction basket from the West YMCA Strong Community Campaign fundraising we did). I kept telling myself, I just need to get through the 3 PM class and then I can rest and maybe feel better tomorrow.

My knee was super sore that night and the next morning it was even worse. I could barely walk on Sunday and I scrambled to get my classes covered because there was no way I was dancing. I couldn’t even stand! We actually had to cancel the Sunday class because there was no one to sub it (everyone was at the Zumba event in Tulsa). So sorry, Andrea Burk! I put a post on FB but she didn’t see it and went only to find out class was canceled.

Here’s the experimentation comes in… My knee is sore and stiff and I can barely bend it so I was like, “Maybe I need Naproxen?” Anyway, my mom and dad who I saw in between my two commitments on Saturday gave me these blue pills (basically generic version of Aleve). They were like, “Yeah, we take these before bed and feel great in the morning.” I took one before bed on Saturday night and woke up and there was no difference – my knee actually felt worse. I’m like, “Maybe I need more?” So I took another around 8 AM and it was no help.

What I learned… Naproxen is good for joint pain caused by Arthritis so I’m guessing I do not have Arthritis because it did not work. However, I couldn’t go back to taking Advil immediately because you cannot mix Ibuprofen and Naproxen. I had to wait at least 12 hours for the Naproxen to be out of my system before I could take Advil. So Sunday night, before bed, I finally took 2 Advil. Woke up in the morning and my knee felt a little bit better. I took 2 Advil again at 8 AM and 12 PM and before bed yesterday. It seems to be helping. But I really need to know what’s wrong with my knee so I called our family physician’s office first thing yesterday morning to schedule an appointment. I wanted to get in on Monday but the first appointment they have available is today at 3:30 PM.

Advil seems to be helping but I don’t want to be completely dependent on it. And what if the 2 pills don’t work anymore. I need to figure out what’s wrong with me because I can’t live like this. Mom and dad suggested I find hobbies that don’t require physical activity. I can’t. Dancing is my life. Pickleball is my life. If I can’t dance or play pickleball I will be so depressed and then I’ll be needing other pills.

Anyway, here is a helpful chart to help you determine what to take for your pains and aches. I found it super helpful so I hope it helps you too.

Source: marshfieldclinic.org

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Debbie’s Retirement Celebration at Top Golf

Posted on April 22, 2024 by Ching under Things to Do.

We had a great time celebrating Debbie Osborn’s retirement at Top Golf last week. Here are some pics.

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10 Years as a Rotarian

Posted on April 21, 2024 by Ching under Community, Things to Do.

This year marks my 10th year as a Rotarian. I joined in 2014 when I was looking to be more involved in the community. At the time my office was located at Douglas and Broadway so I was originally looking at the Rotary Club of Wichita which meets on Mondays at Botanica. However, they already had 400 members (and a few from my company) so my joining wasn’t likely to make much of a difference.

Living in Southeast Wichita, I was close to the Andover branch of the Greater Wichita YMCA so I was working there as a group fitness instructor in my off time. I also had a coworker David Austin, who was a member of the Rotary Club of Andover, and he invited me to visit. It was a small club consisting of only twenty or so members. Anyway, I ended up joining the Andover club because I felt like I would make much more of an impact there.

For such a small club, the Andover Rotary does a lot. We’ve contributed to so many things in the Andover community and internationally. We’ve also partnered with other Rotary clubs in the Wichita area on several initiatives. You can find out more about our club’s current and past projects here

Last month we sponsored food packing at Christ Church – East in partnership with the Outreach Program. Club members, along with volunteers from the church, Boy Scouts of America, and National Honors Society, participated in this community service project. The boxes of food packaged were donated to the Andover Community Food Pantry, Butler Community College Food Pantry, and Christ Church’s own ministry with North High School.

Last week Rotary Club of Andover school mini grant recipients for the 2023-2024 school year (five teachers from the Andover school district along with their students) presented their community service projects to the club.

I am so grateful to be part of a club that makes an impact in our community both directly (through our own community service projects) and indirectly by supporting and funding the projects of others. The school mini grant program is particularly meaningful because it encourages our youth to get involved in their community.

If you would like to learn more about our club, and/or support our projects and initiatives, we have a fundraising event next month at Crestview Country Club. It’s our annual team pickleball tournament. Spectator tickets (which cover lunch and drinks) are available for purchase here. We will also be raffling off some awesome prizes at the event. I hope you can make it.

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Not Playing, Running Tournaments Instead

Posted on April 18, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

I’ve been having all sorts of issues (pickleball elbow, yips, monovision issues, etc.) since the start of the year so I am kind of glad that I’m on a self-imposed break from tournaments. I can’t imagine how frustrated I would be if I were competing and had all the problems I’ve been having.

Anyway, I’m not playing as much because of (a) the issues I’ve been having with my arm and (b) I’m not really training for any upcoming tournaments (since I don’t have any this year) but I’m still around pickleball because I’m still organizing tournaments and facilitating events of iPickle Nation and the Pickle Club.

Here are a few pictures from the St. Patty’s Day team pickleball tournament we had at the Pickle Club last month…

We had six teams compete:

Wu-Tang Clan: Julie Pauly, Michelle Belew, Micah Jacques, and Matt Dutton

Kitchen Killers: Jonathan Thorne, David Thorne, Leila Loomis, and Isabela Bifano

Smarties: Amanda Ades, Jared Smart, Lyle Smart, and Kendra Wicks

The Young and the Ruthless: Derek Pruett, Janelle Lindeman, Susie Ternes, and Devon Fuller

Clover Gs: Brandon Tran, Bee Bandasack, Karen Fox, and Reiko Trigo

Better with Vetter: Steve Vetter, Jen Tiano, Monica McGehee, and Fin Tatum

The tournament was MLP-style with pool play consisting of matches against every other team followed by a single-elimination bracket. The winners ended up being: