08/16/2026
The ladies are expanding their competitive spirits!
Apparently Panhandle Pinettes has expanded into competitive hula hooping. 😂🌺
This wasn’t a tournament weekend. No strikes. No IFPA points.
And yet somehow, a whole bunch of us still ended up back at MVP Arena together for their luau — Pinettes, friends, family, and some of the guys who are always there supporting us.
And THAT might be one of my favorite things about what this little community is becoming.
There was a hula hoop contest. There were questionable athletic decisions. There were Hawaiian outfits. There was a suspiciously competitive amount of practicing.
Alex Slamder casually hula hooped for 13+ minutes before they finally just declared her the winner. Tyler Luksis discovered that apparently neck hula hooping counts, went 11+ minutes, and took second. Cindy Sweeney Brackett practiced enough to be dangerous and then wisely decided she had seen enough. 😂
Mariah Shoemaker and Adria Spikes absolutely understood the luau assignment, Jeff Martin got in on the fun, Tracey Heine Sinclair handled cheerleader duties (and Ken Kalbaugh - with the ever trusty bucket o b**r), and the rest of us did what we do best — laughed, encouraged terrible ideas, and had an absurdly good time together.
Panhandle Pinettes started as a women’s pinball tournament.
Turns out we’re building something a little bigger than that. ❤️
Pinball brought us together.
Apparently "Tyler's mom" aka Melissa Hienkle's Macarena moves to ho**ey tonk badonkadonk and hula hoops are keeping us there. 🌺😂