Archive for "Community"
New Friends from Minnesota
Posted on November 21, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I met another one of my Facebook friends in the flesh last weekend. Mang and Sou Vang were on a road trip to visit family and decided to come through Wichita on their way back to Saint Paul (Minnesota).
They asked me where I would be because they wanted to play pickleball. It was too cold to play outside so I told them I would be at the Pickle Club and they actually came! They signed up for guest accounts and added themselves to open play and everything! With the addition of the two of them, we had quite a few people for open play that day. It was awesome!
If you have not been to check out the Pickle Club, you should. It’s in the former Nahola facility so you know that the lighting is great and the court spacing is perfect. It is hands down one of my most favorite places to play. The only down side is that it is so far from my house.
Anyway, I’ve had some conversations with Mang on Facebook so it was wonderful to finally meet her in real life. Her husband and two girls are lovely as well. I hope I can make it out to Minnesota next year and play with their group. Until then, see you at the courts! GNG.
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Spooktacular Sunday Funday
Posted on November 16, 2022 by Ching under Community, Events, Pickleball.
We were all so very excited about the new pickleball courts at Sedgwick County Park that we started using the courts as soon as the nets were installed. We even had a cookout the very next day. I couldn’t believe how well the cookout turned out with very little notice (just a few hours and some notes on PlaytimeScheduler.com) and absolutely no planning whatsoever. So for Halloween, I wanted us to have a proper cookout with at least a few weeks to plan ahead.
This is our group picture from the September cookout.
Anyway, my birthday is the day before Halloween so Brian wanted to know what I wanted for my birthday. When I need something, I usually buy it so I didn’t really want anything — except I did want him to grill for us at the cookout. That was the one thing I wanted for my birthday — I wanted him to come out and bring the portable grill and be grill master at the Halloween cookout.
He still let me buy things so I think I got a new pair of pickleball shoes and a new pickleball paddle but grilling at the cookout was the most meaningful to me. Stuff is just stuff. I think I used to like getting gifts but over time my love language has transitioned to “Acts of Service” because I feel like that requires more effort from the other person. Also, I don’t ever like when Brian buys me stuff because he usually pays twice as much. I get discounts on everything so anything he gets for me I can usually get waaaay cheaper. LOL.
Here is an awesome view of the pickleball courts at the park.
Some people came dressed up, which was so much fun!
I think the funniest part is that only 2 people got Noi’s costume. The rest of us had absolutely no clue what (or who) he was supposed to be.
The event had a huge turnout. A couple of days before the event, I checked the list to see if the 32 burger buns and 36 burger patties that we had purchased for the cookout would be enough and, at the time, it looked like it was. However, that number doubled to over 60 the day before the event. It turned out okay though because there were several of us who double dipped (we had the cookout and also Tim Satterfield’s 40th birthday celebration at Chicken N Pickle) so not everyone ate. I think some people waited to eat at CNP.
Here’s a fun video montage I made from the pics and videos taken at the cookout. The drone footage is courtesy of Jonathan Thorne.
After Brian packed up the park and went home, I went and stopped by Chicken N Pickle to make the last part of Tim’s birthday celebration.
It’s always kind of hectic when you go from one event/thing to another but how often does a friend turn 40? I wanted to be there for that too.
I didn’t play at CNP but I was glad to be there for Tim’s celebration. It looked like everyone was having a great time. I just love how pickleball brings everyone together. I met so many new people and made so many new friends at both events that day. Now that it’s the holiday season, the next round of get-togethers is about to begin and I cannot be more excited. Stay tuned for more fun events and pics!
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Pickleball Lawrence Visitor
Posted on November 8, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I hadn’t been able to set up any DUPR match sessions in a while because of my crazy tournament schedule. There was like a six week stretch around September-October that I was out of town every weekend. Anyway, I finally got a break so when Steve Berndsen from Pickleball Lawrence reached out and asked if he could visit and check out a DUPR session, it worked out that I could put one together.
I didn’t actually plan to play that day because I had enough participants but Jim Spencer started to cramp toward the end so I ended up having to play a couple of games — without socks. Luckily, I had shoes in my backpack that were still there from the last time I played. I just didn’t pack any socks because I didn’t think I was playing. It felt a little weird but it all worked out.
It was wonderful to meet Steve and his wife DeAnn. She didn’t play so she ran the last two rounds when I was playing. They are both lovely and I think everyone had a great time. I always love meeting other pickleball players from far and wide. Making new friends and connecting people is kind of my jam.
It turns out we have some mutual friends, Nicole Mathis being one of them. I cannot wait to make it up to Lawrence and meet the rest of the players from their club! Until next time, GNG.
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Fun Weekend with My Gal Pals
Posted on November 3, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
One of my favorite parts about living in Wichita, besides the low cost of living, is that it is centrally located. A few weeks ago some ladies from Kansas City, Great Bend, and Tulsa met in Wichita for a women’s doubles scrimmage. Molly Sager and Genevieve Eskridge were teaming up for the upcoming Smash pickleball tournament in Oklahoma City and, since it will be their first time playing together, they wanted to get some practice matches. I pinged Nicole Mathis who I will be playing with for the first time also at the same tournament and, as luck would have it, she was available the same weekend.
Nicole arrived on Friday night so she and I could have some one-on-one team bonding time. We went to have dinner at Chicken N Pickle and also play with Brandi Richardson and Huyen Nguyen that evening.
She spent the night and the next morning we were back at Chicken N Pickle for a women’s doubles team round robin with all the ladies (from left): Caroline Luelf, Genevieve, Brandi, me, Sveta Yakubovich, Molly, Cindy Egan, Katie Merrill, Tami Racine, Nicole, and (from left on the ground) Greta Siemens, and Sarah Johnico.
Greta and Sarah are holding the crown because they were the most winning team that day. They had the best record out of everyone.
After playing, a few of us went to Tacos TJ before the ladies headed home. Brian and Ed came to join us. I can’t believe I didn’t get a group picture at the restaurant.
I did get these selfies with Katie and Genevieve (top pic, actually this is from Katie’s phone) and (bottom pic) me and Katie. She is so much fun!
I can’t wait to be reunited with everyone in a couple of weeks at Smash, even if we are going to have to compete against one another. Until then, GNG.
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ICT Fall-out Recap
Posted on October 13, 2022 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
The ICT tournaments are my absolute favorite local tournaments. They are super organized and Kayla Keuter and her band of volunteers always do a fantastic job. I remember the 2020 ICT Fall-out being one of my first “real” tournament experiences. A guy from Arkansas named Ryan Cating was playing in it but his mixed partner fell through. He was playing 4.0 level so I was going to hook him up with Huyen Nguyen or one of the other girls (I actually don’t remember now) but no one could play so, as a last resort, I ended up playing with him instead. I actually felt really bad because Ryan was pretty good but I had limited experience and, although I was decent, I didn’t really thing I was 4.0 material at the time.
Ryan and I went 1-2 in that tournament. Those aren’t great results but, when you consider that I had zero tournament experience, it’s actually not too bad. And, it’s probably the only win I’ve ever logged against Ashok Periyaswamy.
Ashok has gotten so good and Ramon Lozano and I actually got murdered by him and partner Suparna Garinger in the Lenexa tournament. It was my first time teaming up with Ramon.
Anyway, the my very first ICT Fall-out tournament started me on a journey of playing in all of the pickleball tournaments I could squeeze into my schedule. Last year I played in about 10 or so pickleball tournaments. This year I am on track to complete 20 — my last one for the year being the Diamond Amateur Championships in Florida in December.
Back to the most recent ICT Fall-out tournament… I actually started playing singles this year and, even though it is quite taxing on your body, I am enjoying it at a lot. I also feel like the singles has helped my doubles game in that I’m actually driving the ball some now, whereas I’ve never really been able to drive the ball before because of my lack of tennis experience.
This year I planned to play 3.5 women’s singles on Friday, 4.0 women’s doubles on Saturday, and 4.0 mixed doubles on Sunday. I used the word “planned” because that’s not what actually happened. On the last day of registration, I saw there were 3 ladies in 3.0 singles, 4 in 3.5 singles (counting myself), and 2 in 4.0 singles. Me, being that schemer that I am — I moved myself to 4.0 singles when they extended the registration period. I figured even if things go horribly wrong, I’ll still get bronze. Basically, everyone is guaranteed to get a medal.
When the weekend came, we ended up with 5 players in 4.0 women’s singles. So much for my scheme! LOL. I guess having only 2 players in 4.0, and the cheap $5 per event entry fee, also enticed Chanell Nguyen and Fong Witte to sign up. Instead of just being handed my bronze medal, I actually had to earn it.
I lost to both Jenny Corley (silver) and Krystal Fosnight (gold) but beat both Fong and Chanell and ended up in 3rd place. Not to shabby for a short girl.
The weather was absolutely perfect and that was the most fun I’d had playing singles – ever. My favorite singles match of the evening was against Chanell. Typically when women play singles it’s mostly a baseline battle. Chanell and I had cat-and-mouse rallies at the non-volley zone. I wish I could have gotten our match on video. Also, I was down 7-10 in game 3 and ended up coming back to win it 12-10. I’m pretty proud of that comeback, most specially since we were just having such a good time playing against each other.
Ramon Lozano and Katie Merrill didn’t play singles but they came to hang out and watch and so a bunch of us went to the Monarch for dinner after.
Clockwise from left, starting with Ramon: Ramon Lozano, Drew Spencer, Karen Fox, me, Katie Merrill, Mitch Spencer, Jenny Corley, Austin Corley, Ben Meyer, and Ty Richardson. Brian was our photographer.
The next day was women’s doubles day. Sue Denny got some awesome action shots of me and Jenny. This is only my second time playing with her but she is such a great player and fun partner.
I love her easy going and positive energy on the court. We lost our first round against the two ladies from Kansas City (Brandi Meyer and Tiffany Bateson) but we didn’t lose again after. We actually ended up coming from behind and taking gold!
Brandi and Tiffany (the team that we lost to in the first round) ended up getting bronze. They lost to Molly Sager and Cindy Egan (silver) in the winner bracket final and then we defeated them on our way back up. We actually had to beat Molly and Cindy twice because they were undefeated and we had come up from the back draw (aka oppotunity/consolation/losers’ bracket). We beat them in the best 2 of 3 match and then had to beat them again in the game to 15.
Anyway, I love this podium pic so much, not just because Jenny and I are at the top but because all of the teams were perfectly matchy-matchy. Matching outfits are my most favorite part of playing doubles. In fact, if it weren’t for matching outfits, I wouldn’t care to play women’s doubles at all. LOL.
After gender doubles day, a bunch of us went to Twin Peaks for late lunch/early supper. Ramon had never been there.
Tanner Rice, my mixed doubles partner who also ended up being Ramon’s men’s doubles partner that day because Jason Doll was still recovering from knee issues and didn’t want to push it, and I wore our matching DUPR shirts. The shirts arrived too late for Tulsa Pickleball Classic so Tanner had to bring them on this trip.
It was still too early for them to go to their next activity so we ended up watching football at our house to kill time. Tanner didn’t have a place to stay because he was originally just going to only play mixed with me and drive up and back on the same day on Sunday but then he got roped into playing with Ramon on Saturday (I think totally worth it for $5 more because they ended up winning gold in 4.5 men’s doubles) so he was going to sleep on the couch but then some plans fell through and we ended up with a couple of bedrooms available so he got an upgrade.
So far I had competed in 4.0 women’s singles on Friday, and 4.0 women’s doubles on Saturday. When Tanner and I originally talked about playing together back in May/June, I thought we were playing in 4.0, but we actually ended up playing in 4.5 instead. I talked about the bait-and-switch in a previous post. I totally felt tricked but it worked out great in the end. We took 2nd out of 5 teams. It also helped that Ramon and Katie moved up to 5.0 in that tournament so we didn’t have to face them again. They were our first round match at the Tulsa Pickleball Classic a couple of weekends prior and they sent us to the back draw.
I’ve only played with Tanner twice but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself both times. Besides both running DUPR sessions, we have so much in common. Our personalities and approach to tournaments are so much alike. I feel like if I were a tall, white guy I would be him and if he were a short, Asian girl he would be me. Katie has dubbed us #TeamNice.
Anyway, he is pretty darn amazing so I hope that I get to play with him a at least a couple more times before he moves on to greener pastures. People get better and they leave you in the dust. It’s just a fact of life and nothing personal (although it never ceases to amaze me how people take these situations so personally). He is super nice (much nicer than me), fun (I probably have the edge on fun, though, just because I am super goofy), and easy to play with so I have no doubt he will be in very high demand for future tournament team ups.
This weekend for the Bartlesville Pickleball Classic tournament, I am teaming up with Jenny again (our 3rd tournament together) but I have a different partner for mixed doubles. Tanner is also playing in the same division as me but with a different partner so we get to face off. This will be the true test of how nice he really is – LOL. Stay tuned for the results. Until next time, GNG.
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