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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