Archive for "Pickleball"
Christie Pink in Wichita
Posted on August 19, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
This post is dedicated to my friend Christie Pink who I first met over three years ago when Erica Case (then Lopez/Davis) played in the Middle States regional pickleball tournament. I think, at the time, this was my first every regional tournament experience.
That tournament was in May 2021 and then I saw her again in January 2022 when I traveled to St. Louis for the Dink In the New Year pickleball tournament with Tiffany and Donnie Lesperance. I played women’s doubles with Tiffany and mixed doubles with Devon Fuller. We arrived a day before the tournament and we ended up connecting with Christie and her crew at Missouri Pickleball Club.
My next notable Christie sighting was at the Minto US Open in April 2022. It was my very first US Open experience.
I got to play against Christie again in the 2022 Middle States Regional, and I think we’ve been at the same tournaments a few more times during the two years that I was playing a ton of tournaments. She was a skill level above me in women’s so, except for that first year, I hadn’t really had to face off against her in women’s but I tended to “play up” a division in mixed so I was more likely to run into her there.
Fast forward a couple of years later, she ends up going to Wichita on a business trip and reaches out to me out of the blue. She was so gracious to let Tiff, Donnie, and I play with her and her friends at MPC all those years ago so this was my turn to return the favor. She arrived on Sunday and, to make the most of her visit last month, I arranged for a couple of play sessions for us.
Our first stop was Chicken N Pickle for mixed doubles with Ramon Lozano and Ryan Kellenbarger.
I purposely chose Ramon because they had met before at the 2022 Middle States Regional. He was my partner when we played against Christie and her partner in that tournament, and so I figured they would remember each other. I invited Ryan because I needed someone who would be fun and balance Ramon.
Our next stop was open play at the Pickle Club from 5 to 7 PM with Susie Ternes and Greta Siemens. Neither of them had met Christie before but I thought they would be a good fit, and they both just happened to be available. Schedules can be difficult to coordinate sometimes.
A couple of weeks ago, when Christie was back on another work trip, her visit coincided with PickleCon, PPA Kansas City Open, OKC Picklemania so the folks that I got to play with us on her first visit were all out of town but the nice thing about Wichita is that we have an abundance of fun pickleball players so it’s pretty easy to put together a great group.
Not to be left out, Karen Fox decided she would host her own PickleCon at the Pickle Club. LOL. Our group that day consisted of Chris Wilson, Mark Armstrong, Donnie Lesperance, Tami Racine, Kimberly Howe, Tiffany Lesperance, Karen Fox, and Janelle Lindeman.
Brian brought us some Wichita Brewing Co. pizzas and a cooler of bevvies so we ended up hanging out and having a little picnic afterward which was a nice end to the evening and play session.
The next day, Christie and I had a mixed doubles session at CNP with Dustin Herman and Noi Sourinthone. For dinner that night, Brian and I took Christie to Stearman Field in Benton (sounds far but it’s really not that far from Wichita) and then we drove out to the Keeper for the Plains for iconic Wichita photo ops.
It’s been such a pleasure entertaining Christie on these two visits. I can’t wait for her return trip!
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2024 Picklepalooza
Posted on August 13, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
Pictures from this year’s Picklepalooza charity event benefiting Senior Services of Wichita. This year we had me, Chris Wilson, and Jeff and Anita Harris (as usual), and we had some new participants — Margie Happy, Ian Bosmeier, and Michael and Tish Habbart. I didn’t get photos of everyone but I did get a few.
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Picklemania MMXXIV
Posted on June 10, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
I know this recap is very, very late but it always takes me a while to recover from Picklemania. It is such a relief when it’s all over!
A bunch of us met at the tournament on Friday afternoon to tape the courts, assemble the portable nets, and hang up signage. Since most of the volunteers were coming at 3 PM, and Brian couldn’t get off work until 3 o’clock, we decided to load up his car the night before so then he could come straight from work instead of driving home first and taking another 20 minutes to load the car. He had to go to work on Friday morning with his car like this.
It didn’t take long to get all the signs hung up.
Taping the courts went pretty smoothly also. Half of the courts were painted so we really only had to make six pickleball courts. And, the markings we left from the October Minor League Pickleball event were still there so the guys didn’t really have to do any measuring. That saved ton of time!
This is a little highlight video that I made of the entire day. Brian and I left the house around 6 AM to meet Devin at the venue at 6:30 AM so we could unload and assemble the Wichita Wagonmasters tent canopies. That was the only time that worked for him because he had another commitment that morning. The tournament technically didn’t start until 8:30 AM but there were some players who were there by 7 o’clock, before our check-in desk volunteers were even there and before we were completely set up. The one thing I can say about Wichita players, they are very enthusiastic and most of them show up an hour early to events. Early is always better than late but, if you’re not ready for them, it can be overwhelming.
We were worried about the weather leading up to the event and I had several people text me asking about our “weather contingency plan” but, other than being quite windy during parts of the day, the weather turned out perfect. We did run later than I expected but I think things went smoothly overall. The competition was intense in all divisions and our champions (we had 4 divisions of 8 teams each) really earned their medals.
I am so grateful to all the players, sponsors, and volunteers for making our annual pickleball tournament a huge success. Now off to planning next year’s event!
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Weekend with Kumar
Posted on June 10, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Pickleball.
Our friend Kumar Krishnan from Bartlesville came to stay with us the weekend of the Andover Rotary Club’s Picklemania tournament. I always love when Kumar visits because he brings surprise gifts.
Kumar made me black pickleball-themed tumbler and he also made a white techie-themed one for Brian.
Kumar arrived early on Friday and helped us get some signs up. And then he went to meet up with Kimberly Howe and the Friday night pickleball crew for some rec games. Later that evening a bunch of us gathered at Merle’s for dinner.
We did learn a hard lesson that night. The kitchen closes at 9 pm. There was an issue with a couple of orders that didn’t get rectified before the kitchen closed so some of us got fed and some of us didn’t. Not really great because Brian is not a huge fan of Merle’s to begin with.
However, we made up for the lackluster dining experience by taking Kumar to one of our most favorite local spots (Local Flavor) the next day after the tournament.
Stuffed Mushrooms
Sriracha Beef Tips (Brian’s fave)
Meat Loaf and Red Potatoes
Pork Belly Mac and Cheese
Chicken Bacon Wrap and Fries (another Brian’ fave)
I needed a drink after the tournament so I ordered the first one on the list. I think it’s Local Flavor’s version of Long Island iced tea but I can’t remember what is called. Will share highlights from Picklemania in the next post. Check back soon!
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It’s Pickleball Tournament Season Again
Posted on May 13, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.
Cinco de Mayo weekend was packed with tournaments but it’s only the beginning. Once we get to this time of year, I feel like there’s multiple tournaments competing for your attention every weekend.
On Saturday, May 4, we were at Chicken N Pickle for Erica Case’s pickleball tournament to raise money for her Leukemia Lymphoma Society visionary of the year campaign. Ronnie, Jay, and Becca were actually playing in that one and they needed a fourth. I volunteered Brian. I hadn’t donated to Erica’s campaign yet at this point so I figured paying for Brian’s team was a good way to show my support.
The next day was the day of the first iPickle Nation 3-player team tournament which was held at Genesis Rock Road. We had just the right number of teams for the courts that we had. Katie Merrill and Deana Holman came up from Oklahoma to play. The event went pretty smoothly and we finished right on schedule.
Here’s a little highlight video that I made.
Speaking of iPN, the weekly Nation Builder Series round robins are back at Riverside. We are playing every Sunday starting at 9:30 AM (except June 16 because that’s the weekend of the Midwest pickleball tournament). You can sign up for the weekly iPN mini tournament here.
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