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Chicken N Pickle Festivities This Week

Posted on July 11, 2020 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.

Michael Harris, head pickleball guy at Chicken N Pickle, turned 27 on Wednesday so I brought chocolate cake in his honor. It was delicious!

His wife Naomi came to hang out so we finally got to meet her.

I just happened to be there on Wednesday for mixed doubles with Kyle, Ryan, and Ryan’s wife Renae. I didn’t know that it was Michael’s birthday until that same day but thankfully Costco always comes through.

Then this morning, my friend Karen and I played in the Doubles and Bubbles tournament at Chicken N Pickle. She had signed us up for it a few weeks ago.

We decided to wear our matching Sofibella skorts with white tanks. Karen made us these patches to make our team uniforms look more legit. She is so creative!

I didn’t really know what to expect because it had been a while since I played in one of these events but I had so much fun! Karen and I actually won the tournament today. We won some Chicken N Pickle swag (it was a green tank that I already had two of but you can’t really have too many – now I can wear as a sort of uniform, which is only fitting because I’m there so much practically live at Chicken N Pickle) and Karen got to take home the big bracket poster.

Next week it’s the guys’ turn! Until next time. GNG.

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Ching is Now a USAPA Ambassador

Posted on July 8, 2020 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.

I did a thing last month. My friend Jeanie encouraged me to apply to become a USAPA ambassador for our area. They must have been in dire need because it happened very quickly. Less than a week after I submitted my application, I was approved. My friend and co-ambasssador for Wichita Gregg Smith actually found out about my becoming a USAPA ambassador before I did.

The move made perfect sense because I’d already been playing pickleball for over a year and I was completely hooked. I even got Brian to gift me with a lifetime membership to USAPA for Christmas last year. I am fully committed to supporting the organization that represents and promotes the sport. I was already sharing my love for pickleball with everyone, welcome or not. I was already an evangelist even before being anointed with an ambassadorship.

The only surprise really was why I took so long to apply. It’s a great fit from the start and, I suppose the USAPA organization saw it too, because they approved my application super quickly.

The current ambassadors for our area are:
Wichita – Gregg Smith
Mulvane – Cameron Tucker
El Dorado – Jeanie Ferguson
Topeka – Eldonna Coats

Eldonna is also our district ambassador, so basically she is the leader of all the ambassadors in our district. I had the opportunity to meet her for the first when she came to visit Wichita a couple of weeks ago.

Group photo (from left): Cameron, Eldonna, Jeanie, and Ching.

I already knew Cameron and Jeanie but it was nice to get together with fellow ambassadors. I had a blast playing with them. The only person we missed was Gregg, who was golfing in Manhattan that day couldn’t make it — but I’m hoping this won’t be the last time we all get together.

That’s all for now. Until next time. GNG.

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First Time Back at CNP

Posted on May 13, 2020 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.

Chicken N Pickle reopened last week, which was just in time for our top contributor reward. A couple of months ago I decided to start giving prizes to recognize top contributors to our Wichita Pickleball Facebook group to encourage more engagement and activity within the group. We had planned a trip to Hilton Head Island and so I was thinking I would bring some Head swag back from Ansboury Academy which I could use as a prize.

Alas, that trip didn’t happen so I ended up just giving a $25 Amazon gift certificate to the winner who turned out to be Cameron. He immediately used it to buy some pickleballs, which makes sense because we are constantly breaking them.

For the month of April, rather than giving away another Amazon gift certificate, I decided the prize would be a one-hour court reservation at Chicken N Pickle. The condition was that, since I’m paying for the reservation, I would get to play but the winner would get to invite two others to play with us.

My friend Mark Smith ended up winning. When I reached out to him about the date and time that he would like to claim his reward, and agreed on Thursday, May 7, I found out that it was his birthday the very next day. So I ended up reserving an extra hour as his birthday present and he got two invite two additional people.

Here are some of our pictures from that evening…

Our group consisted of (from left) Mark’s siblings Kim Shea and Gregg Smith, Kim Knotts (Mark’s usual mixed doubles partner), Brooke Ayala (Kim Knotts’ doubles partner), and me. We probably could have invited more people to play with us but we were limited by Chicken N Pickle to six people per court based on the current social distancing rules. Everyone in the Wichita pickleball community is just so lovely and so much fun.

Kim Knotts even brought these delicious cupcakes for everyone.

Anyway, it was great to be back at Chicken N Pickle after being away for so long. I just love playing there because it’s an outside court surface but indoors. I’ve missed playing with these guys so much too so it was great to be together again.

It’s been super rainy this week so I’ve actually been hanging out at CNP quite a bit. Since making the court reservations for Mark’s top contributor reward last week, I’ve made a few more reservations.

Last night I was there to play with Jimmy Cho, Michael Cheung, and Ryan DeSantis. It was so much fun! Jimmy even complimented me on the progress I’ve made since the last time he’d seen me play. It made me feel good.

While we were playing, he gave me a couple of lobs that were unsuccessful for him and winners for me. I hit the first one in the air backwards as I was running to get it and ended up lobbing it right back. It landed in and neither Michael nor Jimmy could get to it. I ended up smashing the second lob for a winner. I think he was utterly surprised. I used to not know how to hit overheads but Chris Heck has been helping me and I can actually hit them now. I still flub them once in a while but I feel pretty good about hitting them now for the most part.

I’m playing at Chicken N Pickle again tonight. This time with my friends Tiffany Lesperance, Donnie Lesperance, and Steve Vetter. On Thursday I’m playing with Mark’s group. I’d be back again on Friday but I have a group lesson with my friends Karen Fox and Jenny Cole at Nahola.

I have some court reservations in queue for next week but I’m think I might reserve something for Saturday too because it’s supposed to be rainy that day. I need to figure out who’s available to play, though. Coordinating everyone’s schedules is usually the biggest challenge. Anyway, I’m super grateful to be playing again finally. Time to run off to Chicken N Pickle. Until next time. GNG.

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Seneca Park Shenanigans

Posted on May 11, 2020 by Ching under Community, Hobbies.

Now that the stay-at-home order has been lifted, my friends and I are hanging out at the park again for pickleball. I’m so glad to be playing again because I’ve missed it so much. Here are some of my favorite pics from recent trips to the park.

This is Tiffany and Karen taking Bruce’s vehicle for a joyride.

Debbie wearing her “I Love Lucy” shirt in honor of Lucy Kovalova’s birthday.

Karen has been braiding everyone’s hair. She was in a braiding frenzy.

My most favorite part of the last few days is twinning with Karen in our matching Sofibella skorts. I love that I can twin with someone at pickleball just like we do in Zumba. I am completely hooked on Sofibella outfits. They make the cutest clothes for pickleball. I’m so glad Karen likes them too.

Anyway, the weather over the next few days is pretty crummy so I’m trying to figure out what to do about playing. Now that I’m playing again, I have to get my regular fix. At least Chicken N Pickle has reopened so that gives us another option on days like today. Can’t wait for the Nahola and Riverside Tennis Center to reopen also.

I’m ready to start playing inside. I’ve only played outside a few times and I have gotten so dark already. My skin color is the way it normally looks when I return from a beach vacation.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and this brief update. Until next time. GNG.

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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.