2022 Diamond Amateur Championships
Posted on December 12, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.
Earlier this month Brian and I traveled to Florida so I could compete in the first ever Diamond Amateur Championships. I qualified to compete when I won triple gold earlier this year at the Middle States Diamond Regional tournament in St. Louis. This was our first time at Pictona in Holly Hill, FL. The facility is amazing! They have 49 dedicated pickleball courts in one location, with 13 of them covered, and one being a championship court with stadium seating.
My competition dates were December 1, 2, and 4 and so Brian and I traveled there on November 30 and traveled home on December 5. Brian originally found a cute one bedroom and one bath rental that was directly across the street from the venue and would only be a six-minute walk. However, a week before we were to arrive, we found out that the property incurred some hurricane damage and we could not stay there so we had to scramble and quickly find another place. The new place we found was about 15-20 minutes walk to Pictona. It’s close to the venue but quite a longer ways to walk. Thankfully, Ramon had a rental car. He stayed with Ryan and Kendra at a rental about 2 minutes car ride from our place so we all carpooled each morning while they were there.
Our rental check-in was originally 3:00 PM but we landed in Daytona around 11-ish. I reached out to the host and she said the earliest we could get in would be 1:30 PM so Brian and I decided to go straight to the venue from the airport. I dropped Brian off the Kitchen to have lunch and then went roaming around hoping to find some people I recognized.
As luck would have it, I ran into Jill Blessinger, Jill Thyr, and Kim Stevenson, and they didn’t have a fourth. I think their fourth player was on the way but, as she was there yet, I got to play with them in her place. I met Jill B earlier this year at Marco Island when I went to open play with Joe and Cindy Witte when we were all there for the US Open. It was my first time meeting the other Jill but I had seen Kim at other tournaments before. Anyway, I was so happy to be able to play a little. I mean, I love food just as much as the next person but pickleball > food. Actually, there’s not much in this world higher than pickleball on my list currently. In fact, pickleball > sex these days. And we all know how much I love sex.
Around 1:15 PM, I went back to check on Brian who was feeling much better having eaten lunch. We checked in to our Airbnb and then took a nap (because we were up super early that morning for our 5:00 AM flight). It worked out because it actually rained in the afternoon so I couldn’t play anyway. Then, when Ramon arrived (he actually arrived a day earlier than I expected because I didn’t think he was going to come out until Thursday), the three of us went to dinner at Hull’s Seafood and hung out before Ramon had to drive to the airport to pick up Ryan and Kendra.
The next day was women’s doubles day. Kendra, though she isn’t particularly fond of pink, was a good sport and wore the neon pink Lucky in Love outfits that I picked out for us. I thought it was fitting because the color is perfect for Florida sunshine.
Thursday was fantastic. It was great having our friends there to watch and cheer. Kendra and I won our pool and advanced to the playoffs and then, eventually, to the championship. Brian got all of our matches on video and they’re posted here.
Photographer Toni Bocz got a ton of great pics and they’re posted here.
Kendra and I ended up taking finishing first overall and first in our age group, punching our ticket to 2023 USA Pickleball National Championships.
Friday was mixed doubles day. Ryan and Kendra had an 8:00 AM start so we all decided to carpool. Ramon and I didn’t have to play until later in the day but we wanted to be there to cheer them on.
Ramon and I played in 3.5 35+ but the teams had much higher DUPRs than that. We actually looked everyone up leading to the tournament just to see how we stood. Ramon and I had the third highest DUPR of our division so, while I liked our odds, I knew that it would be a competitive field because there were two other teams higher than us. To top it off, we had the three teams with the highest DUPRs in our pool. I was relieved to make it to the playoffs.
We ended up re-matching the one team that we lost to in our pool and, though we got really close this time around, they still beat us. So we finished in second place. No ticket to Nationals for us but there’s still plenty of chances throughout the coming year to earn a spot.
Saturday was men’s doubles day so I had a break but Brian and I spent most of the day at the tournament live streaming our friends’ matches. Ramon and Jason ended up in 4th place in 4.5 35+ and then Mike and Dave went completely undefeated in their division, 4.5 55+. Videos of all their matches are available here.
On Sunday, I fought off minor period cramps and ended third place overall in women’s singles 3.0 19+ 35+ and earned gold in my age group. That’s my second golden ticket so I already have a spot in two events at Nationals. I just need to earn my mixed doubles spot. You can see the full results of the Diamond Amateur Championships here.
This was one of the best, most organized, well-run tournaments I’d ever participated in. I had a ton of fun competing, meeting people, making new friends, and hanging out with my pickleball pals. I am so glad that I got to be there for the first one and that I brought back three medals. And, that I have Nationals to look forward to next year. I originally thought this would be my last pickleball event this year but I’ve got two more (a team event in Kansas City and a team event at the Pickle Club) local ones to cap off the year. I just love having these tournaments and events to look forward to. I’m already thinking of which ones (besides Nationals) to hit next year. Until then, GNG.
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Hull’s Seafood Restaurant and Market
Posted on December 11, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
We picked Hull’s Seafood for our first dinner in Florida. Why? Because you gotta have seafood when you’re in the coast!
Unless, of course, you are Brian. Then you will probably get chicken.
Ramon was, at least, adventurous and got shark bites.
I had the shrimp dinner thing that was on special.
This was such a nice surprise because I didn’t think Ramon was arriving until Thursday. Since he arrived on Wednesday, we got to have dinner and hang out after. Brian and I taught him how to play 13 (the card game I learned this year while waiting around at the ICT tournament) and I promptly kicked both of their asses. JK. I think Brian won the first game and then he retired (so he could watch Wednesday, the Netflix series about Wednesday Addams that he had been binging) so Ramon and I played the second game with just the two of us and I won that one. This will probably be the only game (and the only time) I will beat Ramon because he is good at everything. Well, maybe except for that one time at Smash. LOL.
Anyway, after dinner and cards, Ramon went back to their rental, which was conveniently located just a two-minute drive from ours, before he had to go pick up Kendra and Ryan at the airport.
I’m going to write a bit more about Ramon in this post because he has appeared on the blog several times but I don’t think I’ve said much about him. I mean, I wrote an entire treatise on Steve Vetter at one point so Ramon deserves at least a few paragraphs, specially since he is one of my most favorite people (and for the longest time was my #1 most favorite pickleball partner).
Brian and I like Ramon so much he even has a permanent room at our house whenever he’s in town. Because of this, people assume we’ve know each other forever, but I’ve actually only known him maybe a year and a half (two years at best). Friendships are weird, pickleball friendships most specially. Well, maybe just for me. When I meet people I like, I just kind of latch on to them and am like, “You’re going to be my friend whether you like it or not.” LOL.
The first time I met Ramon was at open play at Nahola. I think this was sometime last year. I believe he was in town for a bowling tournament. I have no idea because we didn’t really speak. I just remember playing against this guy I had never seen before in open play. I played against him every time, which is pretty much my MO at open play (I always want to be across the net from the best person there because it helps me get better), and I lost every single time. Also, when I meet someone new, I always want to play against them because I’m trying to figure out how good they really are. I didn’t know this at the time because I wasn’t playing as many tournaments back then, but it was also a way for me to find potential tournament partners. I’m not playing in open play as much these days but the same thing is happening at the tournaments. I meet people across the net and the people who kick my ass as the likely to get an invitation to partner for the next one.
Anyway, I didn’t really see him again after that but he made an impression so whenever I saw him at the tournaments I always remembered him as that random guy I met at Nahola that one time. He was part of a close knit group and he had a set partner at the time so, even though I thought he would be super fun to team up with, I didn’t really ask him to play any tournaments with me. I remember being super excited the first time he asked me to play in a thing with him. It was the same feeling I had when Brooke Ayala first invited me to come play and when Debbie Fanning promoted me to permanent (instead of a sub) in the Friday night pickleball group and when Chris Wilson first asked me to play (even though I was half insulted that he thought I was old enough for the senior games).
Here was this really amazing pickleball player who I’d been dying to partner with and it was finally happening. I didn’t even have to think about it. I didn’t care what was going on that weekend. This was a “drop everything and rearrange your schedule” situation and I was perfectly fine with it because this was going to be my audition. I didn’t even care that we were going to play against a bunch of really tough teams with players far better than me. I was going to rise to the challenge and make him like me. I must have passed my audition because I got invited to play with him a few more times after that (Great Bend, Middle States, Newport Beach, and some other smaller events which I don’t even remember but I can dig all the details up if you really want to know).
I actually did so well at my “audition” that I picked up another future partner at that same tournament. I didn’t realize it at the time but not only was I auditioning to play in future tournaments with Ramon but I was pretty much auditioning for every single person I met or came into contact with that weekend.
Shortly after, Chris Wilson picked up Ramon’s previous mixed partner because they wanted to play 50+ events together, which freed Ramon up to play with me in 35+ in Middle States Regional. I’ve also traveled to Newport Beach to play with Ramon, even though I didn’t have a women’s doubles partner and had to pick up a blind date. For most of the past year, Ramon is probably the only partner that I would be willing to travel far and wide and rearrange my schedule for, so when I say he is one of my favorites, I really mean it. If he asked me to play in anything, I would find a way to make it work.
Over the last few months, I’ve also had the opportunity to play against him several times and it’s almost as much fun as playing with him — maybe even more so because of how much I respect and admire him as a player. I think he is so amazing that I relish the challenge of actually being across the net and coming out on top in battles. I mean, he’s going to win 99% of these but it is so much fun and so very satisfying whenever I get one over on him.
There are so many more stories I can share that I am regretting throwing all this in here with the Hull’s Seafood post. I feel like Ramon deserves his own entry. Come back next time for an entire post just dedicated to my friend Ramon.
Until then, GNG.
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Bringing Back Queen of Court
Posted on December 10, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.
Back in 2020, when I first started getting into pickleball, we used to have a group of ladies that met regularly at Chicken N Pickle early on Saturday mornings for what we referred to as “Queen of Court” play. It was essentially a ladder group, where when you win, you move up a court, and when you lose, you move down a court. Partners split after each round so you get to play with various partners during the session. It was one of my absolute favorite play groups. However, I had to give it up when I started teaching Saturday morning Aqua Zumba classes. Jenny Cole took it over for a while and was organizing the groups but then it just kind of fell apart. I eventually gave up my Saturday morning Aqua Zumba class but I was getting even more into pickleball and found myself out of town a lot on weekends for pickleball tournaments so even though I really missed the group and wanted to bring it back, I didn’t have the capacity to do it because of my crazy schedule.
Fast forward to a few months ago, when I saw a video of my Tanner Rice crowning a “King of Court” at one of his DUPR events… It brought back memories of our old “Queen of Court” days which I have missed and gave me the idea to combine it with a DUPR session. I had hosted several DUPR sessions over the summer before my tournament schedule got insanely crazy. Over the last few weeks, my schedule calmed down enough to where I could actually squeeze in a women’s only DUPR session. I bought a very special crown just for the occasion.
We held our first official one with the crown in October. I remember Cindy Egan having a last minute emergency and asking Brandi Richardson fill in for her and Brandi ended up winning the crown the night.
Since Brandi was the queen, she got to decide when the next QoC would be. She had a bunch of travel in November so we couldn’t have our second one until November 28. I generally don’t like to win my own events but I think I was still so pumped from my #DUPRDoubleDib weekend so I ended up doing really well and winning. So now I’m the reigning queen, at least, until Monday, December 12, when we have our next QoC session. I’m not playing in it this time (unless someone backs out last minute) so there is no way for me to possibly win.
I’m looking forward to passing the our beautiful crown to the next winner. Good luck to all the ladies playing for the crown on Monday! GNG.
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The DUPR Double Dip
Posted on December 9, 2022 by Ching under Community, Food and Drink, Pickleball, Travel.
My “DUPR Double Dip” weekend over Thanksgiving break is hands down one of the highlights of my entire pickleball year. It’s the best things about going to pickleball tournaments without actually playing in one.
My weekend started in Oklahoma City for my friend Tanner Rice’s Friday night group play at Hidden Trails Country Club. I arrived early enough to get my butt kicked at ping pong, which I am decent at, and, even though Tanner told me “he wasn’t very good” at it, his concept of “not very good” is still better than me. The guy is just good at everything.
I also learned the basics of Euchre, which is a super complex card game. Tanner teamed up with Erica Dennis against Katie Merrill and me. It helped that Katie is a ace card player, who is really great at Euchre, and so I think I understand the game enough now that, whenever she and I have to play our friend Ramon Lozano and Tanner at some point (when our #TeamBonding thing ever happens — more on this later), we are going to smoke ’em.
Anyway, we ended up not reporting the results of the Friday night session because one of the players had an emergency and couldn’t make it. I still had a ton of fun, though. I met and played with new people who I’d never met or played with before and that’s kinda my jam. Oh, and I hit a sweet ATP — even without the potential payout as an incentive.
Katie rode to OKC with Erica and then spent the night with me at Avid so the two of us got to do a little “team bonding” with just the two of us. The more I get to know Katie the more I love her. She is just an all-around great human being.
The next morning, the two of us rode to Tulsa together and bonded some more. She took me to her favorite lunch spot in Brookside called Blue Moon Cafe.
It’s hip little place that serves great sandwiches, salads, and other things. I don’t know much about Tulsa but apparently Brookside is kind of the place to go dining and shopping and such.
Here are some pictures of our food…
After lunch, we went to LaFortune early to help set up for the “Paddle Off the Turkey” DUPR event. Tanner was actually working in the area and decided to swing by to help Ryan and Caroline Luelf with their event by entering scores, taking some pictures and videos, and even helping with tear down. So I didn’t get any pictures from Friday because we were all playing but, since Tanner didn’t play on Saturday, I actually have some pics and clips to share. Thank you, Tanner!
I was super impressed with Ryan and Caroline’s DUPR event. They were highly organized and I love that they took the time to group everyone that that the games would be more competitive. Here’s how my rounds went:
Round #1 —- I played with Genevieve Eskridge and Amanda and Jordan Jones (this amazing mom and daughter duo from Edmond). I only won one game this round but the scores were super close. Genevieve and Iost 12-14 and Amanda and I lost 8-11. When I played with Jordan, we won 12-10. She was super excited bec she prefers left side and I prefer right side and so we stacked on our serves. It was my first time playing with the Joneses and it was a blast!
Round #2 —- I played with Caroline, Colby Fugit, and Kali Wilson. This was my favorite round of all because I won all 3 games. And, Kali and came back from being down 2-9 to win our game against Caroline and Colby, 12-10. It was epic!
Round #3 —- I also loved this round because we got to play mixed doubles and I love mixed! Mike Ward and I were paired against Jesse Mabon and Erica Dennis. It was my first time ever playing with Mike and first time meeting and playing against Jesse. The format was best 2 of 3 games to 11, win by 2, but if one team wins in straight games then you switch partners and still play a 3rd game. We split games so ours was a legit 2 out of 3. It went 11-4, 3-11, 11-6. There was clearly a better side but Mike and I pulled it out in the end.
Round #4 —- This was my 5-player group with Caroline Luelf, Erica Dennis, Jordan Jones, and Ben Meyer. This was my worst round. I think in part because we were in hour 4 of playing and also because there was a long break between the previous round and this one. You will see in my DUPR match history that my scores were not good this round.
Anyway, I loved getting to play with different people and I loved how they set up the groups so that the matches would be more competitive. I’m so glad that I made the trip to check out both Tanner’s Friday night session and Ryan and Caroline’s DUPR event because I learned so much this weekend. I can’t wait to implement some of the things I learned at my own events so that matches will be even more fun and competitive for all the players.
On Saturday night, after playing, a bunch of us decided to check out Roosevelt’s. We wanted to have dinner there but the wait was over an hour so we stayed and took some pics while we waited for everyone to arrive but then ultimately ended up eating a nearby Mexican restaurant called Chimi’s instead.
Here are some pictures of our dinner…
You can never go wrong with Mexican food!
We took some pictures on our way back to the car after dinner.
It was so great that a couple of friends from Wichita (Colby Fugit and Ben Meyer) came to check out the DUPR event and also joined us for dinner.
I am so grateful to Katie for letting me stay with her that weekend. I not only got to bond with her but also met and bonded with her sweet dog Rosie. It was the best weekend ever and one that I won’t soon forget, specially now that I’ve written about it here. Definitely one of the highlights of the year for me. I just love spending time with my Oklahoma friends and can’t wait to visit them again. I’m already counting the days until my next OKC tournament! Until then, GNG.
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Thanksgiving Weekend
Posted on December 9, 2022 by Ching under Family.
David and Donna were in town over Thanksgiving and so, along with mom and dad and grandma, we all got together at YaYa’s for Thanksgiving brunch.
We like going to YaYa’s because then no none has to spend several hours preparing and cooking our meal, there’s no clean up after, and we aren’t stuck with a ton of leftovers that we have to eventually throw out. Also, the food selection at their brunch buffet is quite extensive. They have ham, turkey, beef, pork, seafood, a wide variety of sides and desserts — there’s something for everyone.
Brian always fixes grandma’s plate for her and then tells her what all he got since she can’t see very well these days.
Brian and I don’t really do the whole Black Friday thing anymore but we did swing by Bradley Fair on Friday morning to deliver a cup of hot chocolate to our friend DJ Carbon. He was spinning tunes outside Lululemon to keep the shoppers waiting in line to get into Lululemon entertained.
Brian actually had to work on Black Friday so my time with him was very limited. Also, I left for Oklahoma City on Friday afternoon to play pickleball that evening with some OKC friends. More on this in the next post.
Until next time, GNG.
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