Hello, everyone! This is Picklewho, the #1 pickleball website, and occasional family counseling blog. On today’s advice, if you have half-German, half-South American ancestry, as a precaution, don’t ask grandpa what he was doing in 1942.

And here’s the news!

•  These are the first winners of the US Open Pickleball Championship

• We are not in Kansas anymore, but it would be cool

• Will pickleball be recognize as an official college sport?

US Open Pickleball Championship: we have some winners!

The Minto US Open Pickleball Championship –or as I like to call it, “please find a shorter name for this tournament”– kicked off a few days ago in Naples, Florida. It's the biggest tournament of the year and only the world's best athletes participate.

Let me be clear: when I say "the world's best athletes," I mean pickleball players, not people who play children's sports like Usain Bolt or Lionel Messi.

These are the first winners in the Pro Singles Division:

- Women's Pro Singles: Parris Todd defeated Judit Castillo Gargallo, which isn't a surprise considering she's already won two out of three MLP events this year.

- Men’s Pro Single: Hunter Johnson beat his twin brother Yates and if Succession taught us anything is that their weekend barbecue is gonna have…let’s call it “a weird vibe”. 

Why all the fuss about the $6 million pickleball complex in Wichita?

Wichita = drama as the City Council prepares to vote on a $6.15 million budget for a pickleball facility with 24 outdoor courts, a clubhouse, family changing rooms and lots of tea. Not the drinking kind.

But there’s an issue. You see, the project was initially approved in 2021 with a budget of $3 million. Costs have doubled ever since and some people think it’s now too much for a pickleball project.

Will concerns go away or will they stop the project? Not sure. The only thing we do know is that the American economy currently sucks and we should all move abroad. I heard Argentina is doing magnificent, though don’t take my advice.

Seriously. Don’t.

We need pickleball as a college sport

The NCAA recognizes football, basketball, baseball, and several other sports as official college disciplines. On the other hand, Florida's college campuses such as FSU, UCF and UM, already have competitive teams who play regularly as well as a significant following for college pickleball.

So, tell me NCAA. When America’s fastest growing sport knocks, will you guys answer?

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