Archive for "Pickleball"
A Couple of Pickleball Tourneys to End the Year
Posted on January 6, 2026 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I closed out the year by playing in a couple of fun pickleball tournaments at Chicken N Pickle and also helping my friends Zach Nguyen and Susie Ternes with their first Miracles and Mentors Pickleball Tournament benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Youth Horizons.
Matt Rochat and I played in the Friendsgiving Tournament as Smash Ching Pumpkins.
Bo Tolbert and I played in the Ugly Sweater Pickleball Tournament as Tolbert and Erne.
Teamed up with Zach Nguyen and Susie Ternes to host the first ever Miracles and Mentors Pickleball Tournament, which Susie ended up winning (LOL) along with her partner Jordan Sparks.
Jamie Lynch and Krysta Crawford took second. Sarah Berry and Fernando Martinez took third.
-
The winners of the recreational group were as follows:
- 1st – Janelle Lindeman and Devin Hansen
- 2nd – Scott Knox and Karen Fox
- 3rd – Evelina Le and Justin Kongmanychanh
It was a great turnout for a first fundraising tournament and I think everyone had a great time. We may have to do this again next year.
No Comments
Birthday Festivities
Posted on December 30, 2025 by Ching under Events, Pickleball.
I thought by leaving town the weekend before my birthday I would get out of birthday festivities. I just don’t like when people make a fuss. It makes me feel bad. However, Dawn texted with me while we were in St. Louis and she insisted on hosting a birthday get together at TapNPaddles. I was a reluctant participant but it was very thoughtful of her and I appreciated it.
Here are some fun pics from that day.
Pic with Cindy and Joe Witte. My US Open travel pals.
Picture with my good friend Ryan Kellenbarger. This isn’t his first appearance on the blog. I think he made his debut as early as 2021. We’ve done quite a few things together over the years.
Picture with James Pham who I met for the first time a couple of months ago in open play. He just happened to be at Tap at the same time as my birthday pickle so he got to celebrate with us.
With Cindy Witte and Fong Witte — no relation. Actually, Cindy pronounces her last name as “Witty” and Fong pronounces her last name as “Wit” so same spelling but totally different.
With Keith Lietzke and Chris Wilson.
With Jeanette Santo, Janelle Lindeman, and Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance.
With Chandi Bongers.
With Jeanette, Monica McGehee, and Chandi.
Two of our favorite girls — Huyen Nguyen and Hannah Wesolowski. They’re so fun!
With Uyen Dang, Hannah, Senda Vu, Fong, and Tiffany.
Jeanette, Dawn Hazlewood (she’s the one who orchestrated the whole thing), and Karen Fox.
Brian with Dawn.
Me with Sandi Dobbs.
Jeanette, Sandi, and Chandi.
With Dawn and Trung Ho-Nguyen.
As much as I don’t like to make a thing of my birthday, it was nice being able to see and play with everyone.
Dawn is the best birthday pickle organizer!
She even got me a fun cake!
But I also brought cake for everyone to try. I’m weirdo who brings cake to her own birthday celebration. Anyway, the funny story about this cake is that it has been showing up on my social media feed for over a year and I’ve been dying to try it but there’s no way I could eat the entire cake by myself — not even with Brian’s help. So, when Dawn decided she was hosting a birthday pickleball party for me, I rush ordered the cake so that it would arrive in time. This was the perfect excuse for me to try and it wouldn’t go to waste because several people would be helping me eat it.
Before the birthday pickleball party on Sunday afternoon, Susie and Grant Ternes had invited us to dinner at Bella Vita. This was our first time back since they moved to their new location. It was lovely dinner but I started to get a headache.
After dinner with the amazing Terneses, Brian and I went to Barleycorn’s to watch Grandma the Band perform. I had promised our friend Kyle Starkel that we would go. Although, we contemplated not going because my headache was getting worse. I didn’t want to go back on my word though because I had bailed on coming to his band perform a few times before.
It was fun seeing Kyle in his element.
The next day, my headache was still in full force but I couldn’t bail on the pickleball party because they were having it for me. I just had to suck it up. I’m glad I did though, because it was wonderful celebrating with everyone.
That’s my post-birthday weekend in a nutshell. I feel like I got to do everything I wanted to do during my birthday and then some.
No Comments
Halloween Pickleball at the Park
Posted on December 29, 2025 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
Halloween fell on a Friday this year; however, since TapNPaddles closed early that day, we ended up gathering at Seneca Park, our old pickleball stomping grounds. It’s probably been almost two years since I last played at Seneca. Now that we have many indoor options, people are mostly playing inside rather than at the public parks. I really don’t know who play regularly at Seneca park anymore. The nets look dilapidated and the courts were full of debris. I think it was different when we were playing there regularly because the players would regularly sweep the courts or bring their leaf blowers and stuff. Though the courts looked largely neglected, it was still a great place to gather on Halloween night — at least until sunset because there are no court lights at Seneca Park.
No Comments
4K Members Celebration
Posted on November 7, 2025 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
Guess what. The Wichita Pickleball Facebook group finally surpassed 4,000 members. We held an event at TapNPaddles to celebrate. Thanks to Cameron Ventling for the idea!
I brought a cake from Costco as my contribution because no celebration is complete without cake.
A few players stayed for drinks that night.
Congrats to Julie Pauly and Matt Dutton for winning Friday Night Fiesta that week.
Anyway, here’s to 4K and looking forward to celebrating the next milestone!
No Comments
What Else Happened in July?
Posted on August 25, 2025 by Ching under Events, Life, Pickleball, Things to Do.
What else happened last month? Let’s see.
We made several trips to the ballpark, formerly Riverfront Stadium but now known as Equity Bank Park. Free tickets are the best! You can use the money you saved on their expensive drinks. LOL.
BTW, this awesome “Pickle Baller” ball cap is from my friend Carrie Soto. She gifted ball caps to several of us on her one year pickleversary. Isn’t that sweet?
Our friend, and fellow Chicken N Pickle ambassador, Laurie Adams came to visit and we took her to one of our most favorite restaurants, the Belmont. You’ll recognize this place from our social media because we’re here almost every week.
We had dinner with the Egans and Terneses at Public at the Brickyard and enjoyed the lovely tropical ambiance and decor of the Wild, their summer pop-up experience. Public does the best pop-ups!
We got a much-needed couples massage. Hit me up if you need the contact info of our massage therapists. They said they are open to taking new clients by referral.
We loved the Glass in Flight 2 exhibit at Botanica so much, we returned with our friend Chris Townley. I hope you all got a chance to see the traveling exhibit while it was in Wichita. If not, I created a video so you can at least see the awesome installations. Enjoy!
The Sobeks — father Rosti (left) and son William (right) — made another pit stop in Wichita during their summer pickleball academy and tournament road trip. A few local players were fortunate enough to meet and play with them at TapNPaddles.
I think that pretty much sums up our July. Come back next time for the August recap. Until then, I hope you’ve all had a great summer (despite the sweltering heat). Here’s to cooler days ahead!
No Comments
