The Franklin Pickleball Masters
Posted on October 18, 2019 by Ching under Events, Hobbies.
It’s been too long since I posted an update. Sorry about that. So much has happened. I can’t believe I haven’t even posted about the Franklin Pickleball Masters Tournament last month at Chicken N Pickle. It’s only the biggest thing to happen in the Wichita pickleball community.
As if seeing all the best pickleball pros and watching them play in the flesh wasn’t exciting enough, I actually got to host one of them. I saw a post in the one of my pickleball groups on Facebook from pickleball pro Regina Franco. She and her friend Belinda’s housing arrangements fell through and they needed a place to stay. I offered our place. After exchanging a few messages on Tuesday night, they arrived at our house the following day.
She and Belinda were super nice and they were excellent house guests. Brian and I were both busy with work so, regrettably, we couldn’t spend more time with them or show them around. Regina was focused on the tournament so she spent most of her time at CNP practicing. They didn’t really need much from us. We pretty much left them alone to do their thing.
The first night they arrived was my league night. They arrived about the same time Brian and I got home from work. I had to change clothes and skedaddle to pickleball so I didn’t get to spend that much time with them at the house. We pretty much just showed them to their rooms and let them get settled.
She and Belinda showed up at CNP after they were refreshed. I stayed and played some games after league. Regina was so nice. She event played with us “scrubs.” It was great. She even gave me some pointers. I couldn’t stay too late because I had to go to work the next day but she and Michael and the others stayed and played all night, pretty much until CNP closed.
It was pretty much the same thing on Thursday night, except I had my Aqua Zumba class at Genesis West Central. I went to CNP to check on them after class. We got to play together a bit. It was fun!
Matt had a pre-tournament cookout at Seneca Park on Friday night. I invited Regina and Belinda and they actually came! That was amazing! Everyone was thrilled to meet her. Debbie even got her autograph and took a selfie with her.
We had an awesome turnout at the cookout. We had to take a group pic. I can’t believe I got everyone to stop playing for the photo. LOL.
Here are a few more pics from the cookout.
I ended up leaving the park to attend a work event at CNP that same night but after having introduced Regina to Matt and the others (she had already played with Karen and Michael and a few other people at CNP) I felt pretty comfortable leaving our guests there. I found out later that they actually got her to play.
There were some funny videos floating around in our Pickleball Connection group on Facebook. 😉
Here are a couple of pics of me and Brian with my coworkers at our Wichita Corporate Challenge wrap up party at CNP, which just happened to be the night before the big tournament.
It was quite fortuitous!
At CNP I met up with my friend Jeanie. She knew the Franklin people and was there for the official pre-tournament party. I was there for a work thing but after my work thing we got together and walked around a bit to check out the tournament setup.
I met Colin and Ben Johns (they were the big winners of the dramatic men’s division final on Saturday night, which we ended up missing because of Haus of Brews). It was really embarrassing because I mistook Colin for Kyle. Anyway they were both very sweet and had a good laugh about it.
Some people actually came from out of town to watch the tournament so Jeanie and I made some new friends.
Here we are with the Franklin guys.
These are the teams for the men’s and women’s doubles events that happened on Saturday. The mixed event was on Sunday.
The Franklin Pickleball Masters is the biggest thing to happen to the Wichita pickleball scene – EVER – so I was super excited. I actually subbed out all of my classes on Saturday and Sunday just so I could hang out at Chicken N Pickle and watch as many matches as I could. Of course, we had to leave early to attend Haus of Brews but we stayed as long as we could. Brian even went home to grab my Rotary polo so I could just change at CNP and go straight to Haus of Brews from there. I was that committed. LOL.
Here are some pictures from Saturday. This is my friend Debbie. She was totally fan-girling with me all weekend long, getting pics with the pros, asking them to sign our paddles, everything. I was really grateful to have someone there to completely “geek out” with.
Debbie is the reason we got court-side VIP tickets. I originally purchased the $40 tickets but then they opened up some additional $60 tickets and Debbie tipped me off so I could return my $40 ones and buy the better tickets.
Above are two fun ladies in our local pickleball group. We are in the same league at CNP on Wednesday nights.
Next is a pic of me and my friend Debbie with Sarah Ansboury (left) and Regina. Regina’s partner Sarah actually stayed with Brian’s old coworker Will, who knows Sarah from her tennis days.
I got a selfie with Joey Farias and Adam Stone who were partners in the men’s doubles tournament. Joey arrived in town early so I actually met him for the first time on Thursday night when I stopped by CNP to check on Regina and Belinda.
These are the two best women pickleball players and they dominated their field. That’s Lucy Kovalova on the left and Simone Jardim on the right. Lucy in a tennis instructor at the Wichita Country Club so all of Wichita was definitely rooting for her in the women’s doubles and her boyfriend Matt Wright in men’s doubles. They’re our local pickleball celebrities who we are very proud to claim because they are two of the best in the nation (and quite possibly the world).
That’s Matt Wright in the red shirt below.
I took a pic as they gathered everyone for a group photo before the tournament officially started. It was exciting to see all these amazing pickleball pros in Wichita. I was completely awestruck.
Here’s a pic of me with two pickleball friends, Patrick and Michael.
This cute 12-year-old is pickleball pro Anna Leigh Waters.
Another friend from pickleball, Sheryl.
These were some big checks for the winners. Literally.
Pickleball is not as established as tennis so this is probably the most prestigious tournament to date. It was invite only and had the biggest prize money of any pickleball tournament.
Another pic with Anna Leigh. This time with Becky and Debbie. Becky Middleton is known in our community as the “godmother of pickleball” because she was instrumental to getting our six courts at Edgemoor Park.
I wish I could have stayed for the dramatic men’s doubles championship match between Matt Wright and Kyle Yates vs. Ben Johns and Colin Johns. They went three games and, in the third game, the Johns brothers came back from being down 2 to 10 to win the gold. Brian and I were at Haus of Brews at the time.
Since we missed that much, the highlight of the men’s tournament for me was Adam Stone’s Christmas outfit. LOL.
Jokes aside, I missed the women’s doubles final also but later that evening I got to hold Regina’s second place trophy.
We went to CNP bright and early on Sunday morning because I didn’t want to miss a moment more. My friend Jeanie was already there.
This is another friend from pickleball, Laurie. She is in the same Wednesday night league as me, which baffles me because she is really good.
Michael, Mary, and me with ref Ron Ponder.
I had to take a pic of these ladies and their awesome “I Love Lucy” shirts.
We had fabulous court-side VIP seats.
These are Leigh Waters and Anna Leigh Waters. Leigh played with Dave Weinback and Anna Leigh played with Kyle Yates. I really wish I could have watched this mother and daughter duo play together. At least I got to watch them play against each other. It was an exciting match!
Anna Leigh and Kyle ended up winning and took third.
Wichita’s golden pickleball couple — Lucy Kovalova and Matt Wright.
Lucy and Matt took second with the big winners being Simone and Ben who both got golds in the women’s and men’s doubles events as well.
Here’s me with the Asian pickleball crew (Jimmy, Michael, and Patrick) with our honorary white dude, Bruce. LOL.
Some more pickleball friends — Becci, Jeanie, and Kim.
Me and Jeanie with Anna Leigh and Kyle.
They are so cute!
These are all the mixed doubles winners.
It was a great payday for these two especially.
Franklin really went all out, complete with Franklin-branded yard games. It’s a shame it rained part of the time. We still had a great time, though.
I hope this is only the first of many more exciting pickleball events to come!
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Pickleball League at Chicken N Pickle
Posted on October 5, 2019 by Ching under Hobbies, Things to Do.
While at competing in the pickleball event at the Wichita Corporate Challenge, I made a new friend and signed up for my first ever pickleball league. I met Renee at the WCC and she told me how she joined the women’s doubles pickleball league on Wednesday nights but she didn’t have a partner. We got to talking and I found out that the first night of play was September 11 and it just so happened that I wouldn’t have my Wednesday night Aqua Zumba class at South YMCA anymore after Labor Day so I had Wednesday nights free. I ended up signing up for the league and officially becoming her pickleball league partner for the season that same afternoon. It was quite spontaneous but I’m really glad I did it.
We are now four weeks in to the league — though we’ve only played three times because Koch decided to shut down CNP on one of our league nights so league play was canceled — and I’m really enjoying it. I think the universe brought us together for a reason. If it weren’t for her needing a partner, I probably wouldn’t have joined a league ever because I was pretty indifferent about it. Now I realize how much I’ve been missing out. It’s so much fun!
Here are some pictures from our first night of league…
My teammate/partner Renee is on the left. The other two women are one of the opponents we had that first night, Laurie and Haley (team Haylo). Our team name is Heavy Dinkers. Renee’s coworker Mason suggested it when we were at the WCC that same afternoon at that I signed up.
Here’s another pic of me with Laurie. She is very good.
Brian came out the first night for moral support and took some action shots.
Next time I think I will try to talk him into getting some video because I really want to be able to see what I’m doing.
This league has been super fun. The only downside is Renee has missed a couple of sessions. One was due to a Carrie Underwood concert and the other due to travel. So I’ve had different partners the last couple of times due to subs. I’m really looking forward to this Wednesday because she’s back and we will finally have another opportunity to play together. I’m so excited!
Until then, have a fabulous week. GNG.
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Uncorked and Unwined
Posted on October 2, 2019 by Ching under Community, Events.
I attended the best networking event last month hosted by BKD. It was at the New Market Square Cocoa Dolce, which I’d never been to before.
I’m so glad I was able to squeeze in the schedule because I bumped into my Leadership Wichita classmates Jennifer Wold (she organized the event), Dotty Harpool, and Jessica Dunbar. It was fun catching up.
I don’t frequently get to spend time with my Leadership Wichita classmates because we are all so busy. However, Dotty has been coming to my Aqua Zumba classes so I actually have seen her more frequently than the others the last few months. Another classmate that I bump into on a somewhat regular basis is Teresa Veazey. She couldn’t make event that night but Brian and I will sometimes run into her at events or at the nail spa.
Last week I ran into Jason Mock at the Walkway Cafe (the cafeteria in our building). I hadn’t seen him in forever. He stayed and we caught up over lunch. It was nice. I always love running into my Leadership Wichita classmates.
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Kung Fu Tea
Posted on October 1, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink.
I found a new boba tea place and it’s actually close to our house! My friend Michael from pickleball recommended it when he found out that I liked boba tea.
I went to check it out a couple of weeks ago because I had a referral promo from Michael for downloading their app.
The place is not huge but the location is perfect.
I haven’t been back since the first time because I always forget that it’s there but it is so convenient. It’s just south of Harry on Rock Road so I can actually hit it on my way home from VASA. If only I can remember that it’s there. Perhaps now that I’ve blogged about it, I’ll be able to remember better. LOL.
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Zoobilee 2019
Posted on September 26, 2019 by Ching under Events.
Brian and I attended our 11th consecutive Zoobilee event this year. Every year we say it will be our last but, when we end up getting tickets to a super fun event, it’s really hard to turn down. Even during the years that we would volunteer and have to work until late in the night we’ve had fun. In fact, those were some of our best Zoobilee memories. We have never not had any fun at Zoobilee.
I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t take more photos. Brian and I actually looked pretty good this year. Unlike other years when we either had to volunteer during the event or didn’t expect to go and ended up with last minute tickets, we actually knew we were attending at least two weeks before this time so we could plan accordingly. I even scheduled a haircut that afternoon so I wouldn’t have to do my hair myself. LOL.
We went in early and saw Sherii and her husband Brian. We got there a bit before 5:30 PM when they let the patrons in (general admission is 6:00 PM) but at least they let you in the area outside the gift shop where they actually are serving drinks so you can start drinking while you’re waiting. Brian and I learned a few years ago that we can use this entrance and skip the long line. We’ve done the long line before and it’s not that fun specially when it’s super hot outside.
We ran into my friend Michael early in the evening. Michael is one of several new friends I’ve made playing pickleball. Michael and I are actually playing in the Bob Jackson Friendship Tournamnet together on Saturday.
Here’s pic of us with Caroline, Chet and their daughter. Caroline is also a pickleball player. She isn’t playing right now but she knew about pickleball even before I did.
We also ran into Andrea and James. Andrea also goes to Zoobilee pretty much every year. We’ve ran into her there every year since we’ve known each other.
Brian wanted a picture with the tinman because it’s the name of his gaming page. Of course, I obliged. He always takes pics for me. I got to return the favor.
Ran into my friend Bill from Leadership Wichita. I always love running into my Leadership Wichita classmates. They are the most accomplished bunch of people I know. Bill is an entrepreneur extraordinaire and is involved and many very important business dealings.
We also ran into Augustine and Bianca, owners of Augustino Brewing.
Bumped into Ebony later in the evening.
We multiplied when Mercedes and her friends walked by.
With Travis, Ennidh, Evette and Jimmy. This is the only pic that shows my dress. I’m so sad. I wish I would have gotten more full body pics. It’s a great dress and my current favorite. It’s super comfortable but also nice and dressy because it’s sparkly. I might wear this dress again to another event and take full body pics next time.
Brian and I took one last selfie as we were leaving. Some people stay until midnight because the party goes on forever but Brian and I usually leave around nine thirty or ten o’clock but we are old. I’m not much of a drinker so I pretty much lose interest when all good food is gone. LOL. Besides, I have Zumba classes to teach the next day and I actually have a 10:30 AM class on Sundays now.
That pretty much sums up our 11th Zoobilee. Amazing how time flies. Brian couldn’t believe this was our 11th one. I had to remind him. We have all sorts of pictures online to prove it. In fact, I’ve posted about them every time here.
Until next time. GNG!
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