A couple falls ago on a crisp Saturday afternoon I was outside tending the grill with my brother.  As we precariously waived precious glasses of Kentucky’s finest brown water and critiqued one another’s cow brazing techniques, Luke casually referred to he and his wife Katy’s kickball team before attempting to segueway the conversation into how his iPhone keeps him posted on the operating temperature of the day’s subject meat.

He wasn’t going to sneak that one past me

“Wai…wha?!  Kickball?  You are on a kickball team and you didn’t call me?  Luke, how long have you known me?  (Rhetorical for those of you wondering.)  Yet you have unilaterally determined that Mike Kinzer, lover of all things competitive and teamly in nature, would have opted OUT of playing on a team of fun-loving good-looking people engaged in an organized version of God’s greatest schoolyard game?”

Tell me more…

So he did, and now, a year and a half later, I’m entering my third season of mid-week dirt-diamond social distraction, and it’s not just some kind of unorganized pickup game or weird cultish travel team.  A couple of young entrepreneurs have developed a highly organized, well-run, professionally appearing league.  Teams are color-coordinated, refs show up on time, and we even have an official GO Kickball league bar (which bar I can’t remember because no one paid me to write this).  Somewhere around 18 teams signed up for the fall league and rumor has it that the league will be evolving to add an additional slate of games on Thursday as well as Wednesday nights this spring.  That’s strong to quite strong. See the complete schedule here.

The teams are comprised of guys and girls aging from 21 to 40s’ish; engineers, nurses, bartenders, realtors, accountants, tattoo artists, doctors, belly dancers—you name it.  Among my favorite team names over past seasons are: Kickelob Ultra, Too Legit to Kick, and Kick in a Box.  One team prides itself on its bright multicolored knee high sock fleet.  Another team hires a DJ to play while they take their turn at bat.  As a result, I’m quite sure last summer I heard Skee Lo’s “I wish I was a baller” for the first time in 15 years.

Is Kickball a sport?  I don’t know.  However, there exists within the world of sport a special niche involving games that focus on head to head physical competition while still tolerating the moderate consumption of “Ones .”  Whiffleball, Chicken Fights, and Kickball.

You’ll know a bunch of people out there already and have an opportunity to get to know them better.  You’ll meet people and make new friends.  I will dare to venture that five years from now at a cocktail party when responding to the question “How did you two meet?” someone will say “We met playing kickball!”

If this is your kind of sport, then you have found a home in the GoKickball league.

If you want to play, click here.  If you need a team, sign up as a free agent or call 15 buddies.

See you out there.

Kinzer