Adult Kickball Leagues

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I originally read this article in my local paper and found a copy online. Remember the good old days of kickball back in 3rd grade?

 

Adults venture back into kickball

 

By Melissa Schorr, STAFF WRITER

 

AS A CHILD growing up in Lafayette, Ethan Salter, 28, admits to being "undersized" in the height and weight department. "I wasn't the last one picked for teams, but was definitely in the bottom half," he recalls.

So it must be sweet vindication to find himself chosen league captain of a game most adults left behind in fourth grade: kickball.

 

This time, though, it's for grownups.

 

 

"A lot of people say, 'I haven't played since I was 10,'" says Salter, an acoustic consultant in San Francisco. Then they ask him where they can sign up.

 

Founded in 1998, the World Adult Kickball Association has attracted thousands of twenty- and thirtysomethings back to that silly schoolyard game played with a silly red ball.

 

Recreational leagues have begun popping up across the country. Locally, the league has already grown from eight teams playing one night a week in 2002 to 16 teams playing Wednesday and Thursday nights in San Francisco, with plans to expand to the East and South bays.

 

On a recent Thursday night, several hundred players in colorful team jersey T-shirts gathered in the crisp night air at Golden Gate Park's Speedway Meadows. With team names like Free Ballers and Sick Balls and a boom box blasting Guns 'n' Roses, the atmosphere is more keg party than recess and continues on in post-game matches of a drinking game called "flip cup" at The Kezar Pub nearby.

 

Most players use kickball to socialize, blow off steam -- and relive a moment from their youth.

 

"It brings out your inner child," says J. R. Mellin, a research technician at the University of

 

California, San Francisco.

 

Javier Heinz, a federal worker in San Mateo, claims he was a skilled kickball player as a lad growing up in Millbrae, but brags that, at age 24, he can now run like a cheetah. "It's better than I remembered," he says. "It lets you get back to that childhood place."

 

There is, however, a subtle sophistication that adult players bring to the game.

 

"There's more strategy to it than meets the eye," explains Seeley Bair, a San Francisco teacher dubbed her team's MVP last season. "You've gotta remember, it's a really slippery, bouncy ball."

 

The main appeal is the lack of physical prowess required. "It doesn't matter what you can do athletically," Salter says. "People are varying degrees of athletics."

 

In fact, innate athletic ability is decidedly beside the point, says Martha Shaughnessy, a publicist with Landis Communication in San Francisco.

 

"You just can't be very good at a sport played with a goofy red rubber ball," declares Shaughnessy, who has played for three seasons with her current team, the Mighty Duffs, a name chosen in homage of Homer Simpson's beer of choice. "It's the great equalizer -- no one can be very good, and no one can be terrible."

 

She is far from terrible, having been dubbed "Sweat Heat" by her teammates for her pitching talents.

 

Women, especially, seem to delight in finally having those ancient schoolyard roles reversed: Men who can deliver magnificent pop flies into the outfield tend to be easy outs, while ground ball kicks requiring deft fielding are tougher to handle.

 

"You think, as an adult, 'I'll just kick the hell out of it,'" Salter explains. "But it's the reverse of elementary school. It's easy to catch, but tough to field a slow rolling bunt."

 

Salter's sister, Josselyn, a human resources executive at Pixar Studios in Emeryville, agrees. "I've never been super athletic, but this is perfect," she says. "I can't kick, but I can catch."

 

Only a few specific rules are laid out for the five-inning games. No pitching bouncies: Balls must roll rather than bounce across home plate. No nailing a base runner in the head with the ball, either.

 

Above all, avoid kicking over someone else's beer. "That's a cardinal sin," Salter says solemnly.

 

Just because the players are only semi-sober does not mean they aren't deadly serious. Smack talk reigns supreme.

 

"Sometimes, the teams are too intense," Bair explains.

 

In the third inning of a match-up between Krispy Balls, reigning champions, and K-Ho and the AC's, player Nathan Chin motors toward home plate. An infielder throws the ball at him; he leaps into the air, misjudging her aim, but the ball pegs him in the back before he lands on home plate.

 

Through the haze of a few beers, confusion runs amok. Was he hit before or after he landed? No one is sure. The proverbial bench empties as the team members loudly dispute their opponents.

 

The umpire, a volunteer in a red shirt, makes the call.

 

Out.

 

"It was a close call," Chin concedes graciously.

 

Although Krispy Balls eventually came back to win, 4-3, nothing really matters until the playoffs, explains Joel Pliskin, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project manager and team co-captain.

 

Last season, his 26-member team came into the playoffs as 10th seed underdogs and ended up winning the championships. "It was a Cinderella story," says pitcher Brian Cotter wistfully.

 

They have renamed their team "Defending Champions," solely to rile up the other teams.

 

President Salter attempts to downplay the intensity of competition. "Nobody takes it that seriously," he insists. "If you wear cleats or yell at other players, that's not cool."

 

Still, it must be noted that playing the game is not without perils. At the Speedway Meadows game, one of the players broke his collarbone racing to first base. And Kristin Kudsk, 35, WAKA's regional rep, broke her left pinkie last season and her right wrist sliding into third a few weeks ago.

 

Maybe the truth is that you can relive your glory days. Just not unscathed. "I think we're getting old," Kudsk confesses.

 

Say it ain't so.

 

 

To contact the World Adult Kickball Association and sign up for leagues in San Francisco, the East Bay or South Bay, go to worldkickball.com.

[sfaJack 0]

Dodgeball > Kickball

 

I'm waiting for an adult dodgeball league. I don't know of any, but if there were one, I'd play.

[Guest Choken One]

Both Games were great...

 

and with That new Ben Stiller Movie coming out about Dodgeball...I'm certain that Dodgeball Adult Leagues will get a HUGE boom.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

What about an adult dodgeball league? Man I hated that game as a kid. But kickball was fun if you were able to get a good kick off, and not one of those ugly pop ups that just killed any rally attempt.

 

By the way, anyone think that new "Dodgeball" movie looks hilarious? I mean I can't stop laughing at when that old guy trains the team with tools, and one of the wrenches hits that kid in the head.

[Guest Choken One]

How can you hate Dodgeball?

 

You pelt people with hard rubber balls.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

Well I was one of those kids who always got pelted by the ball, so I didn't enjoy it too much... plus, I can't throw a ball to save my life, hence the reason I wrestled and played on the line in football. So I have scars from dodgeball, but it taught me a valuable life lesson: There are those who will take great pleasure in the pain of others, mainly my pain. I always hated trying to jump out of the way of the ball, but the ball still hit you and took your legs out from under you. And you would end up landing right on your hip on the pavement. Do they still play dodgeball? Or will it cause too many Utes too much emotional pain? Man, every kid should experience the pain of that damn rubber ball at least once. I mean, that was the best part of "Billy Madison" when he plays dodgeball, and absolutely kills every kid.

[Guest Choken One]

According to my little nephew whose 10...Yes they do still play dodgeball but not with those old rubber balls like we used....it's like nerf ball or some shit.

 

 

Poor Kid will never know the TRUE method of Dodgeball.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

Heh. In fifth grade I was a professional kickball player.

 

Nah, there were these two kids who were like rivals, and they started recruiting people for like this kickball world series. I managed to hold out until one kid paid me like 2 bucks a day to be his first baseman.

 

 

Good times.

[jimmy no nose 0]

Me and some of my friends like to play dodgeball every now and then. We bought some of those rubber balls and we usually play every other weekend. It's real fun, I can't imagine it continuing on for many more years or anything, though. It's still as funny now as it was in elementary school when someone gets nailed in the balls.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Well I was one of those kids who always got pelted by the ball, so I didn't enjoy it too much... plus, I can't throw a ball to save my life, hence the reason I wrestled and played on the line in football.

Same here. That's why, much like in the free market, I used my skills in other areas.

 

I would always lay low and try to make that basketball shot to free up my captured mates...

[Lando Griffin 0]

When I was a kid, in my formidable kickball days, I always wished there were major kickball leagues. I could knock the crap out of that ball.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

I rarely if ever got thrown at because I caught pretty much anything tossed at me.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Oh man, if an adult dodgeball league forms, I'll be its Joe Montana. I dominated that game in school. Hardly anyone ever threw it at me, because I was a good defender with the ball I was already holding, and I had a drop kick technique that would send the ball through the air fast enough to where it'd make a whirring sound. I'd literally knock kids off their feet with it. I'd only bust it out once or twice a game, because people were legitimately afraid of getting hurt. Wasn't the greatest aim with it, but the psychological advantage was still huge after a miss. If a kid took one in the snout, forget about it, the whole team would be demoralized.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

If a kid took one in the snout, forget about it, the whole team would be demoralized.

 

Do that now and you/teacher/school would probably get sued...

[Guest Choken One]

Anyone have the Pussy Kid?

 

Ya know...the one that stood next to the padded wall for the whole thing and managed to avoid getting hit...usually by sheer luck and only purpose was holding the ball for you? And yet...at the VERY end it came down to you and that kid...and you had to fight like hell to beat the 5 guys on the other side without much help and then he would throw the ball out of nowhere and hit three people at once somehow and then would celebrate too early and the other guy on the other side would just DRILL the shit outta him?

 

Things Like that i loved bout dodgeball

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I always like the stupid jocks that would just start the game wailing the ball at anything that moves, then getting hit themselves early on. After that they would spend the rest of the time on the sideline bitching at the rest of their teammates to either get hit and finish the game or make that basketball shot. A friend of mine almost got into a fight once regarding this issue.

 

Jock: Hey hurry up and get hit.

 

Friend: Kiss my ass. It's not my fault you suck at this game.

 

Jock: Say that to my face.

 

Friend: *Walks over to jock with dodge balls flying around; think of those war movies with the grizzled Sgt. just walking around ignoring the bullets overhead* YOU SUCK.

 

Jock: *Stands in silence.*

 

Fun times...

[Guest Choken One]

The best were the girls that were forced to play against their will...

 

They would have given a blowjob on the spot to get hit and out of the game but yet no one threw at them...mainly because it was more fun watching them run around trying not to get hit.

 

KKK is right...it was never the jock's game because they always targeted each other...leaving the game for the smart intelligent people who came up with stragedy other then the jocks usual "throw the shit outta these things!".

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I wasn't a jock, but that was my method, and my team almost always won. The worst thing I ever did was use my punt technique, and hooked it right into this slow girl's face..broke her glasses and gave her a fat lip, but at least I apologized for that. I felt bad for laughing, more than anything.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I would always lay low and try to make that basketball shot to free up my captured mates...

 

What kind of bullshit rule is that? Dodgeball at my school was kill or be killed.

[Lightning Flik 0]

I would always lay low and try to make that basketball shot to free up my captured mates...

 

What kind of bullshit rule is that? Dodgeball at my school was kill or be killed.

It's was the "fair play rule". If you managed to get nailed, you could be revived if the person who nailed you went down. This rule was invented by teachers who wished for dodgeball games to drag out an awful long time.

 

Funny enough, I was the only player in my school that if I went down, almost half of the other team would stand up under that rule. Not that I'm awesome with the heat, but I wasn't stupid and would pick my shots. That and I have an uncanny knack for making sure to time them just right so there was no defense against my headshots. Since I was "guy who you must all pick on just because he's not cool", I kinda liked I could get back this way.

 

And if the teacher doesn't like headshots, it was a simple way to get around it. Wait for the guy to grab a ball, or dive. You can't do much about the way a person just "happens" to "fall" right into a shot "aimed at the legs", now can you?

 

Best memory I had, one incident in which I almost gave a kid a concussion. Considering the bastard had earlier jumped me outside at recess, I felt it only kid to drill him headside. Ah, good ol' days.

[Cran Da Maniac 0]

Wow, my elementary school dodgeball games were a lot different. You'd start with a group of people on the outside in a circle, that had to be a certain distance. They'd be the Throwers. Another group would be inside. They'd be the Dodgers. The Throwers would basically have 2 or 3 balls, and they'd try their best to get the Dodgers out. Now the Dodgers could also catch the ball and try and hit one of the throwers, eliminating them. No teammates or nothing, just every man for themselves. I was pretty good in this environment, having won a good amount of these games.

 

And an Adult Kickball league I'd be up for. When I was in the 6th grade I could launch the ball from one end of a basketball court to the other, hopefully I still have that kind of leg strength.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I would always lay low and try to make that basketball shot to free up my captured mates...

 

What kind of bullshit rule is that? Dodgeball at my school was kill or be killed.

This is what I'm talking about.

 

When we played in the gym we used up 1/2 of the available space. The teacher then would lower the mini "side" hoops. If you were able to make a half-court shot with a ball you freed up all your "captured" teammates. I don't think it was b.s. at all -- those shots were hard to make...

[Tawren 0]

Wow, my elementary school dodgeball games were a lot different. You'd start with a group of people on the outside in a circle, that had to be a certain distance. They'd be the Throwers. Another group would be inside. They'd be the Dodgers. The Throwers would basically have 2 or 3 balls, and they'd try their best to get the Dodgers out. Now the Dodgers could also catch the ball and try and hit one of the throwers, eliminating them. No teammates or nothing, just every man for themselves. I was pretty good in this environment, having won a good amount of these games.

I did that, as well as team vs team.

 

My favorite kind of dodgeball, and the one we play at my school, is everyone for themselves. The entire gym is the court and there are 5 balls and it is a ton of fun.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Actually, I have seen that basketball shot rule used before. Halfcourt with a kickball? Yeah, that's worth bringing people back in, I guess. I'd like to play like that, and obliterate anyone's grill who dares post up for a shot.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

That's exactly why hardly anybody tried making that shot. Most of the time people would attempt that shot from their foul line so they'd have some time to react to the barrage of kickballs chucked at them...

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

Getting back to kickball, back in 3rd grade, we used to play every recess. I was in Catholic school, and the grade was divided into 2 classes (i.e. 1 teacher had ~15-20 kids, another teacher had the other ~15-20), so we'd play 1 class against the other. Whenever my team won, we'd do the Redskins "fun bunch" group high five. Being the tallest, I wouldn't jump, though.

 

Man, those were some fun times.

[KanadianKrusty 0]

I remember being pretty good at kickball, for a short time in 6th grade I was king of home runs~! ,and most of the players were also soccer players so needless to say the ball would go pretty damn far. Good times...

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

When it came to kickball, I tended to line-drive the ball so my chances of getting out were lessened; kicking it high in the air meant it had a better chance of getting caught...

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I was king of the foul ball. Which made for a good time. You see, on the 3rd base line, in foul territory, were the swings and the monkey bars. I could pretty much choose who I wanted to nail on any given swing or monkey bar. I could call my shots like Babe Ruth. The good old days indeed.

[Just call me Dan 0]

This thread is classic. Hilarious stuff in here, guys.

 

Kickball was ALWAYS my favoritepartof elementary school. We didn't get gym class but maybe once a week, and when we had to do anything but kickball, it sucked. I remember being the mediocre kid who got picked quick because I was friends with everyone. I was never very good because I was small. I'd absolutely LOVE to play now.

 

Dodgeball didn't start for us until middle school when kids REALLY start getting demonic with thier hate for others. In one school there was a line of throwers and everyone else ran and dodged.

 

Tghe next school I got to was just straight up war. I was in the class when the game was officially banned from the school. You had one of those HUGE black guys who could sprout a beard and was legit 13 veaming a poor little 6th grade girl with glasses in the face and knocking her out, sending her to the floor and with a head injury. He wasn't even aiming for her, but she was just running and not paying attention (rather slowly) and there it went.