Kickball. It’s most commonly known in elementary and high school gym class. Either kids dread stepping up to the plate, because every ball they kick is caught 2 seconds later in the outfield, or they anxiously await the chance to kick a big soft ball and watch it fly above their classmates heads.
After high school, those crazy kids and their beloved kickballs were separated. That is until 10 years ago when the first adult social kickball league was created.
The World Adult Kickball Association, otherwise known as WAKA, is the only recognized kickball league in the world. It is a legitimate nationwide network with growing popularity. Its website, www.kickball.com, allows anybody, from virtually any state, to find a league in his or her area to join. There are over 350 players in Hartford alone.
Janine Murdy, guidance counselor here at Woodland, is a proud WAKA member. She plays on a team called “Connecticut Lightning,” one of the 11 teams in Connecticut.
CT Lightning consists of 17 adults, between the ages of 20 and 40. The season runs from August to late November and is made up of weekly games.
Every Sunday in the fall, Murdy and 16 other kickball players meet at Colt Park in Hartford for a fun filled game of kickball. Before each game, the team practices for an hour. When it is time to hit the field, Murdy is joined by three other women, but there are up to 11 total players on the field.
The game of kickball is played a lot like baseball. There are five innings, and the rest is how one may remember it in grade school. Traditionally, it consists of two teams, bases and a big red ball. As its website states, “In short, WAKA plays with 11 fielders, five innings, two base coaches, bouncies, no head shots, one base on an overthrow, forced outs, no ghost men, and bunting is allowed so get a good catcher on your team.” But the website also displays a 12-page rule book. WAKA is all fun, but no joke.
Murdy describes the sport as fun and laid-back. In fact, it was the fun of the game that initially attracted her to WAKA. Some of her Alumni UConn Marching Band friends brought her into it. She found that it was a “good way to reconnect with old friends.”
However, Murdy also recognizes that the game of kickball requires an amount of skill. There is a lot of strategy involved, such as where the kicker hits the ball on his or her leg. She has realized that “the key to success is not kicking the ball as hard as you can, but bunting it.”
For more info on the WAKA league, check out the website.