Archive for "Hobbies"
Pickleball Connection Anniversary
Posted on February 15, 2020 by Ching under Community, Events, Hobbies.
The Wichita Pickleball Connection Facebook group celebrated its first anniversary last month at the West YMCA, the place where the idea for creating a Facebook group was hatched. Our official one year anniversary was on January 19 but we celebrated a week later on the 26th with some cake and free pickleball for members and non-members. It was also a celebration of the new gym floor at the West Y.
The gym floor got damaged because of an issue with the swimming pool over Thanksgiving break. The gym was flooded and it took weeks for the floor to be repaired. West Y regulars were displaced and dispersed throughout the city looking for places to play. Everyone was so happy when the repairs were complete and they finally reopened the gym for pickleball. West Y is like the epicenter of YMCA pickleball because they have the most pickleball play times available of any of the Ys in our area. It’s so great to have it back!
With the new floors came an expanded pickleball schedule. West YMCA now has pickleball every single day of the week. Isn’t that awesome?
As the birthplace of the Wichita Pickleball Connection, West YMCA was the perfect location for our first anniversary celebration. However, we underestimated how many people would come to celebrate with us and, with only four courts, the waits were a little long that day. It’s a good problem to have though and, hopefully, we’ve successfully demonstrated the need for more pickleball courts and more play times throughout at YMCA branches the city.
Ashley Sorensen at West Y was super nice and set up a birthday table for our cake. Brian was little bit confused at first and he didn’t think it was for us. He thought it was for a child’s birthday. LOL.
Anyway, besides the long line to play, the event turned out well overall. Lots of pickleball players came out to celebrate with us. Here are a few of my favorite pics from that day…
Up close pic of the cake.
Brian serving it up.
Beth and Bruce.
Being silly with Pam and Debbie.
Aaron even stopped by bearing goodies from Chicken N Pickle.
It was awesome to see the new floors put to good use. All four courts were going with several waiting to play.
With Matt and Connie.
With Debbie.
Got some solo birthday/anniversary pics with the birthday balloon. Huge thanks to West YMCA and Ashley Sorensen for letting us have our party at the Y.
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Matt and Lucy Day at CNP
Posted on February 8, 2020 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
I think I’m going to have to create a new pickleball category for the blog. I post about pickleball so much that I think it now needs its own category.
Anyway, Matt and Lucy day at Chicken N Pickle was seriously the best ever. These two are pickleball superstars. I can’t believe they live in Wichita. Even so, you don’t just run into them (unless you’re a Wichita Country Club member) so it’s quite special to be able to see them in the flesh. I’m so grateful for Missy covering my Aqua Zumba class that morning so that I could attend.
The day started out with some open play and then Q&A with Matt and Lucy followed by an exhibition match. Matt and Lucy offered some great insights but my favorite part was hearing the story of how they got their pickleball start. In the beginning there was Matt Wright, Chris Heck, and Jack Oxler just messing around with an old tennis ball and then Lucy became their permanent fourth. I’m not going to tell the story because I’m afraid I will butcher it. It’s a neat story involving some amazing people who are now pickleball legends.
Quite a few people showed up for the event despite the crummy weather.
They held an exhibition match with Eric Rasmussen and Patrick Smith after the Q&A. I had heard these names before but I’d never seen or met them until that day. Patrick is probably one of the most handsome pickleball players I’d ever seen. The man is beautiful and so is his German accent.
Here’s a short clip from the exhibition match. Patrick is playing with Lucy while Eric is playing with Matt.
The Q&A was great as were the exhibition matches but my most favorite part of that morning was the opportunity to play with the two superstars, Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova. As soon as the exhibition was over, my friends Karen and Matt and I immediately nabbed Matt Wright for a game. I got to play on Matt Wright’s team and got to paddle-tap with him after a couple of good points, which made the fan-girl in me completely giddy. LOL.
After that game ended, the three of us moved to Lucy’s court. This time Karen got to play with Lucy while my friend Matt and I played together. Lucy was super nice but it didn’t make me any less nervous playing against her. Anyway, it was so fun.
So glad someone got a pic of us playing with Lucy!
I totally fangirled it, and got a pic with Lucy. I’m so unabashedly dorky!!
My friend Karen and I with Lucy.
With Teri and Beth. We were the first ones to get there!
The weather was actually not the best that day but I am so glad I went. It’s not everyday that you get to play rec ball with the pros. It was the best day ever!
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A Different Kind of NYE
Posted on February 8, 2020 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
Last year we hosted a NYE party at our house. This year we decided to keep it pretty low key. We neither hosted nor accepted party invitations. Although, as the NYE drew closer, the prospect of sitting at home watching Brian play video games all night started to seem less and less appealing. Thankfully, I managed to finagle a last minute invite to Betty’s NYE pickleball party at the Andover Community Center.
Let’s see… Sit on the couch all night while Brian plays video games or go to Betty’s party at ACC and play some pickleball. It was a no-brainer.
Michael, Bill, and Karen all went and got to play some games together. I also made some new friends that night. Brian even came out after he finished his livestream. It was a blast! Pickleball parties are the best.
Here are some pics…
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The Best of 2019
Posted on January 19, 2020 by Ching under Hobbies, Life, Travel.
This past year has been memorable in different ways than previous years. We started the year by celebrating New Year’s Eve at our house. And, true to our superstition, we spent a lot of time with the Dills last year because we rang in the new year together. We actually traveled with the Dills a couple of times last year.
Our #VacayWithJayJay crew traveled to Costa Rica for Jay’s 40th birthday and then we had another trip (this time to Mexico) later in the year with the Dills and the Huntees. The Costa Rica trip was in April and the Mexico (Cancun, Riviera Maya) trip was in November. Brian and I try not to take too many trips in the same year but, as work as been a little cray-cray lately, the breaks were actually helpful in keeping me balanced. Plus, even though we went a little overboard on trips (we also spent a weekend in Austin, Texas following one of my work conferences and, of course, my annual pilgrimage to Orlando, Florida for #ZINCON), I considered the Mexico trip as my birthday present this year. I had fun continuing my second 21st birthday celebration with the Dills and Huntees in Mexico. I enjoyed it so much I think, instead of just having a birthday month, I’m going to have a birthday “quarter” every year. LOL.
Just kidding. I know my birthday does not trump Jesus’ birthday in December, which Jay was nice enough to remind me.
Speaking of birthdays, I really milked it this year. In addition to all of the birthday dinners Brian and I typically have the entire month of October, my friend Matt organized a birthday-slash-Halloween pickleball party at West YMCA. Never in my entire life had I ever thought that I would have a birthday party at the YMCA. Mainly the Y does kids’ birthday parties but I guess adults who are young at heart can have them there too. It might be the most underrated thing at the Y. Granted, you cannot have any alcoholic beverages at the YMCA (duh?) but grown up birthday parties at the Y can be a lot of fun. Specially if you are part of our ever-expanding Wichita pickleball community.
Pickleball really exploded in Wichita last year. I think Chicken N Pickle had a lot to do with it. I didn’t know this at the time but even before CNP, pickleball already had a huge following in Wichita in the senior circles. CNP made it more mainstream and accessible to everyone. And then we got new outdoor courts at Seneca Park and we brought everyone together — new players and veteran pickleball junkies — on Facebook.
The Wichita Pickleball Connection started last year with just a handful of people and today (exactly a year later) were at about 850 members strong. It’s insane! Yes, today is actually the first anniversary of our little Facebook group.
In terms of pickleball, the biggest event to ever happen in Wichita is the Franklin Pickleball Masters. Sure, there were tournaments that happened throughout the year but the Franklin event brought the nation’s top players to Wichita (a few of them live here, actually — at the time, I just new of Matt Wright and Lucy Kovalova but we have some up and coming players like Jocelyn Devilliers and Patrick Smith who live here also) and we got to see pros play the game in real life. It was amazing!
That weekend was HUGE! I ended up hosting Regina Franco (one of the pros playing in the tournament) and her friend Belinda Dettman completely by accident and sheer luck. They even came to the pre-tournament cookout that Matt hosted at Seneca Park. Regina and Belinda were great house guests and Regina became my first ever professional pickleball player friend.
I really enjoyed watching Regina and her women’s doubles partner Sarah Ansboury play at the big tournament. Of course, we cheered for our hometown favorites, Matt and Lucy, but it was fun cheering for Regina and Sarah in the women’s division too.
Lots of things happened with pickleball last year. The event was added to the Wichita Corporate Challenge. At the time, it wasn’t that big at work yet so I got to play in it (being an early adopter) by default with my friend Chris Wilson. We were the only two people who volunteered for the pickleball event. I suspect that will change this year with pickleball being so popular and highly addictive.
I also played in the Bob Jackson Friendship Tournament, my first “Light Up Edgemoor” event. There’s a big group that’s organized behind raising money to get lights installed at Edgemoor Park where we already have six outdoor pickleball courts thanks to the efforts of Becky Middleton and others. We are trying to raise money for lights for the pickleball courts so that we can play later in the evening in the summer time when the weather is nice.
Besides pickleball the year was also filled with fun parties. We didn’t attend as many as we did in previous years (as I don’t think I’m on that list anymore at work) but at least we had the opportunity to attend some of our faves:
In addition, we had the opportunity to attend some events we’d never been to before like the Blues & Brews Festival in Andover, the Gatsby Gala (for United Way Young Leaders), and the Crawl for Cancer, which we actually had a dozens of others who participated in the event with us. We had a mega-team of almost 50 people. Anyway, I know the Cancer Crawl has been going on for years because I have coworkers who do it every year but I think the other two events are one offs.
Uncle Roy also had a fun birthday ping pong tournament that was a ton of fun. He had one a couple of years ago during the holidays but everyone was busy with travels and other life events that there wasn’t one last year. It’s always a blast but my ping pong skills haven’t really improved much so I didn’t advance in the bracket. I’m not so worried about my ping pong game these days, though.
Another fun thing that happened is my friends from Kansas City came down to Wichita for a weekend and actually took my Zumba class. Brian and I had fun hosting them. They even got to meet grandma when we all had brunch together at Carrabba’s on Sunday. That’s one of the most memorable weekends of the year.
The one thing that sets this year apart from other years is the number of new friends I made, all thanks to pickleball. I usually make a few new friends each year just through my Zumba classes and at the various events we attend, but this year was unlike any other. I made hundreds of new friends through our Facebook group.
Anyway, I always have fun looking back at the wonderful memories from the year. Recalling all of the great things that happened, interesting places we visited, fun parties we had the opportunity to attend, delicious food we got to eat, new friendships, etc. makes me realize how truly blessed I am and for that I am beyond grateful. This exercise really gets me excited for the current year. I can’t wait to document all of this year’s memorable moments and experiences and then to look back on them with you at the end of 2020. Here’s to a wonderful year ahead!
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Pickleball-Filled Holiday Break
Posted on December 31, 2019 by Ching under Hobbies.
I feel like a girl juggling two boyfriends. My spare time is currently split between pickleball and Zumba. I’ve had a pretty good balance the last few months but, from time to time, one will have more of my attention than the other.
Over the summer when I first developed tennis elbow and had to stop playing pickleball (pickleball and I were basically “on the outs” so to speak), I ended up picking up additional Zumba classes. Zumba became “my shoulder to cry on” of sorts. Zumba is like the boyfriend who loves you unconditionally. The dependable one that you can always count on. You break up with him many times and then when things don’t work out with the other guy, he takes you back with open arms like nothing ever happened.
Pickleball is like the new guy you just met. The mysterious, elusive one that you want to learn more about. The one that you look forward to spending time with and will rearrange your schedule for. Even when he breaks your heart (like when you had to take a break because of tennis elbow), you still can’t wait to see him again.
So after I came back from my tennis elbow hiatus, I started playing once a week and then twice a week — but not on consecutive days. Then I started playing more frequently. Then over Thanksgiving break, I put my tennis elbow through its paces by playing consecutive days. Somehow my tennis elbow hasn’t bothered me too bad. I just always wear my arm brace when playing and I seem to do fine so now I’m back to playing pickleball as much as my schedule allows which is really tricky.
I joined a women’s doubles pickleball league at Chicken N Pickle last fall (when my Wednesday night Aqua Zumba class ended at South YMCA) and had such a blast so I wanted to keep going. After the fall league ended, I did the holiday women’s doubles league with my friend Kimberly. We played as Jingle Ballers. The team name was her idea and she even made us awesome team shirts.
Anyway, I just couldn’t get enough of pickleball so I decide give up my Sunday morning 10:30 AM Aqua Zumba class at South YMCA so I could start playing the Sunday morning open play at Chicken N Pickle. A bunch of my pickleball friends were going and I felt like I was missing out.
I guess you could say in this juggling of Zumba and pickleball that I’ve been doing, ever since my tennis elbow started to get more manageable, Zumba has taken a back seat. I still enjoy it but not as much as I enjoy pickleball. I am obsessed with pickleball right now. In my free time, when I’m not playing pickleball, I’m watching pickleball videos, and when I’m not playing or watching videos, I’m thinking about when I can play next and how I can get better at it.
I was so excited when Becca wanted to celebrate her birthday at Chicken N Pickle. She and Jay and Tina and Justin all signed up for the Flannel Pickleball Tournament. I hadn’t originally signed up for the tournament but, as luck would have it, someone on Wichita Pickleball Connection was looking for a partner because their partner fell through. Not only did I get to celebrate with Becca on her birthday, I also got to play pickleball. Other friends and family came to hang out. Whether you played in the tournament or not, everyone seemed to have a blast.
I met Jeanie’s girls from El Dorado that night.
The next day was Thanksgiving Day. I had originally signed up to play in the Top Turkey Tournament at West YMCA but the gym flooded because of a problem with their swimming pool so the tournament was canceled. I ended up going to the special Thanksgiving pickleball event at the Andover YMCA instead. It was actually the best of both worlds because I got to do Zumba with Charis and Amanda and pickleball on the same day. We had a great turnout. The best part was I got to see my friend Betty (pictured below).
The next big pickleball event was the Ugly Sweater Tournament at Chicken N Pickle. It was supposed to be mixed but Aaron made an exception so Kimberly and I could play together.
Kimberly and I decided to wear our holiday league uniforms one last time for the tournament because, frankly, I didn’t want to play in a sweater. I figured it would be too hot and I wanted to be comfortable.
Kimberly and I had such a blast.
This next pickleball picture was taken at Seneca Park. You would think that our days of playing outside were over but those afflicted with pickleball addiction will do anything to play. Debbie got us together and we posed for a group holiday photo.
Each year I usually take vacation over the holidays just to get a break. In years past, I filled my time off with various Zumba classes. Last year, it was a little bit of Zumba and a little bit of pickleball. This year, with the exception of the classes I was teaching, I pretty much just played pickleball. Thus is the extent of my pickleball addition. I would say it’s sad but not really because I’m enjoying every minute of it.
I’m not sure what 2020 holds. I’m hoping I get to play more pickleball. It’s so hard with my current Zumba schedule. I’m so torn. I’ve thought about giving up some more Zumba classes to make more time for pickleball but I love Zumba too. I guess I’ll just continue to ride this love triangle I have with pickleball and Zumba and see where it goes. Until next time. GNG.
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