Kickball, the wave of the furture.

I was sitting at my computer trying to think of something to write about this week, but it’s so hot, I wasn’t sure I could get my brain to process words and sentences. I thought about writing about the baseball trade deadline, but in all actuality, I don’t keep up with things like that. Then I thought I would write about football, but to tell you the truth I dislike football generally. I then turned to soccer, why I don’t know, but I quickly regained my senses and realized my mistake and moved on. As I was just about ready to retire from my lucrative sports writing gig, it hit me. It hit me like a red balloon ball to the face. Kickball, that’s it, kickball.

Now before you start to think of me as a bigger geek than you already thought me, I must explain. In grade school, I must humbly tell you, I was the kickball king. There was nothing I loved more, and it was probably the only sport in which I could have been an all-star. As I moved on from grade school to middle school, kickball disappeared along with all recess opportunities. I along with about 80% of the male population lost one of our true reasons for being, but we picked up the pieces and moved on, reluctantly.

With the back-story out of the way, I happened to stumble upon a story on the internet about the growing popularity of kickball and how kickball leagues are being formed around the country. With softball having been driven out of Ohio County, I need something to do during the week besides reading sports mags and watching TV.

A kickball league should be the easiest league to run. You need a ball, to kick, you need Frisbees, for bases, and then all you need is a field and people. In fact, it is so easy to run, that there is an association that helps you by giving you all the rules and regulations you need. It is the World Adult Kickball Association or WAKA. I know that sounds weird, but you would be surprised how many weird associations there are in this world.

Kickball has been growing as a regulated league sport over the last 7 years. WAKA started with 8 teams and 150 players and now has 700 teams in 18 states and has 17,000 registered members. They even have a world kickball championship, the WAKA Founder’s Cup. Who wouldn’t love to have a shot at a world title? You and I, the average Joe’s and Jane’s could be called a world champion in the sport of kickball. Of course we would be laughed at by about 90% of the population if they knew what sport we were champions of, but that’s ok. They can be world champion haters.

I had heard a nasty rumor that Owensboro had a kickball league, but this was about two to three years ago and I don’t know if this is still the case. Why do we always have to go to Owensboro for sporting events? Is it not bad enough that we have to go to Owensboro to play softball? Why can’t we start a kickball league of our own? It can’t be too hard, can it? As I said a ball, four Frisbees, a field to play on and a group of people to play and you have your league. I would be one of the first to find a team to enter and if someone, meaning not me, wants to put this thing together, then I believe we could have a fun time and quite possibly see some people get smashed in the face with a ball.

For me that was one of the greatest parts about kickball. You get to throw the ball at people running the bases. Many was the time I blasted the feet out from under someone sending them crashing to the ground in a heap. Ah, those were the days. One of my greatest kickball memories is the time I smashed a kid in the face with a ball I had kicked. He was sitting on top of a slide and WHAMMY! I know, I know, that sounds harsh, but he was ok and though I was just a kid when it happened, I gotta tell you, it is still funny to this day.

Am I a former washed up kickball athlete who is looking for any way to recapture his former glory? Yes, but this glory isn’t too hard to recapture, I mean you kick and run, even someone as out of shape as I can pull that off.

So that’s what was rolling around in my head and I hope it starts a countywide kickball renaissance and we will have the biggest league in the state. I just hope that if Ohio County someday does get its own kickball league, it won’t get run out of town like softball. I have seen the wave of the future in the world of sports my friends, it is kickball. I plan to ride it all the way to the WAKA Founder’s Cup championship.