They compare their leisure time to recess back when they were 5 years old and water breaks played out at the school water fountain.
But it’s been decades since members of this kickball squad darkened the schoolhouse door. And those water breaks? Well, now they’re always at the local bar.
This mix of sports and socializing is fast becoming a national trend among adults, particularly young professionals looking for a recreational outlet and a place to meet old and new friends, said Jean Keller, professor of kinesiology, health promotion and recreation at the University of North Texas.
“People like the special event and festivity around the games and tournaments,” Keller said. “The games are safe in their design, implementation and rules and regulations. They are fun for both participants and spectators.”
What’s the draw? You needn’t be athletically talented and there’s a happy hour at the end of every game.
“It’s not the most athletically intense, but it’s hands-down the best way to meet people,” said John Barabas, customer service manager for the World Adult Kickball Association in Sandy Springs.
Local recreation centers and open fields are being overtaken these days by a growing number of adults willing to go along with a little athleticism for the sake of their social lives. WAKA members are known to chase a red rubber ball three to four times a week. Still, participants say, what might have started as a way to reconnect is much more. Leagues also support local charities and raise money throughout the season to benefit them.
For instance, when the Lancers 4 Life basketball league organized three years ago, members simply wanted to rekindle relationships they formed when they were students at College Park’s Lakeshore High School.
“We always talked about getting back together and not just for a reunion but for the long haul,” said Staci Hill, a former member of the Lakeshore drill team.
So William “Drew” Pearson, a former shooting guard and member of the graduating class of 1981, asked himself: “What one thing would draw everybody back together again?” The answer was basketball and specifically the rivalry between his Lancers and the College Park Rams.
Pearson, 48, reached out to members from both teams. They hesitated at first. Their teenage years were far spent, their jump shots not what they used to be. But after several stops and starts and a double elimination tournament in April 2009, Pearson’s and Hill’s efforts started to gain momentum. “People were talking,” Pearson said. “Everybody who missed the first game was trying to find out when the next one was scheduled.”
Last year, they held a Lakeshore alumni game, then set out to figure what worked and what didn’t.
This year Pearson and Hill decided to combine the game with a picnic, but they wanted to do more. They decided to adopt Harriet Tubman Elementary, now housed at old Lakeshore. They offered lawn services to the school, volunteered at field days and created a mentoring program.
“Once word got out that we were coming home, Drew said let’s call it the homecoming game,” said Hill, a Fairburn resident. They raised $1,800 and this year will award scholarships to Westlake High School students. Efforts are under way, Pearson said, to extend the league’s reach beyond south Fulton County.
While no one can pinpoint when this craze began to take hold, Keller said that the fact that the games promote social enjoyment while allowing people to remain active accounts for much of their staying power.
“I think promoting an active leisure lifestyle is excellent and highly desirable for maximum health and well-being,” Keller said. “Businesses and industries find the corporate challenges fun and engaging and the activities help promote team building and health among their employees.”
Even seniors are getting into the mix with pickleball, a tennis-badminton-table-tennis hybrid invented a half-century ago by a congressman and a couple of his friends to keep their kids occupied.
And according to Barabas, WAKA, believed to be the world’s largest co-ed kickball organization with more than 4,000 teams in nearly 40 states, will soon introduce a dodge ball league.
Last month, the Georgia Bandits, one of six kickball leagues in the state, kicked off their summer season at Hammond Park in Sandy Springs. Individuals, small groups and full teams can register for the fall season online at www.kickball.com /atlanta in about two weeks. The typical WAKA player is a single 21-year-old. An even mix of males and females ranging in age from mid-30s to late 40s also plays.
“Some are die-hard athletes and others are social butterflies who look forward to gathering at the bar afterward,” said Barabas, a former procurement officer who was introduced to the league about five years ago.
“I instantly fell in love,” he said. “I went from being a player to a captain to a customer service rep to a customer service manager. Now I spend my day worrying about how much fun everybody is having and hoping there is no rain or thunder on game night.”
Barabas got everything he could hope for last Wednesday when teams Hit It Then Bounce and Take Your Shoes Off met in a match at Hammond Park. As her teammates hit the field, Lisa Lyn Jackson, a 47-year-old from Alpharetta, waited to see where in the outfield she’d be needed most.
She has been playing with the league since 2009 when a friend suggested she might like it. The game, she said, has become “my major source of entertainment, relation and exercise.” Three times a week, she said, she plays kickball.
Looking around the field that night, Jackson admitted she was a little apprehensive. The odds seemed stacked against Hit It Then Bounce. It was a new team.
But she shouldn’t have been. Her team beat Take Your Shoes Off 5-2.
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