Kickball, and other ageless classics

Ormond Beach Observer
Sports

If you haven't played kickball as an adult, take it from a former skeptic: It's just as fun at 25 years old as it is at 10.

BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. If you want me to immediately open an email and read every word as if they’re directions to buried treasure, there’s no better subject line than: "Adult Coed Kickball League."

The city must have been reading my recent diary entries, because they sent out an email Monday afternoon with that exact header. It was a standard press release, announcing the city’s very first adult kickball league, with a start date (Jan. 7), contact information (676-3250) and other nuts and bolts.

But for me, it was exciting.

There was a time, though — and not too long ago — when an email about kickball wouldn’t have elicited much of a response.

In fact, I would have laughed, the same way I laughed when I found out a good friend was a serious kickball player and regularly traveled to national tournaments (yes, they actually exist).

I found out about this friend’s kickball passion a year ago. He started playing socially while living in Miami and quickly found a home, as a pitcher, on a competitive team.

I ridiculed him for several months for carrying a World Adult Kickball Association sanctioned kickball (yes, those actually exist) in his car at all times and asking me to practice with him.

But, after a while, he convinced me to join a social league. For him, it was a “spring training” to “get his arm back” before he returned to Austin, Texas, and the world of competitive kickball.

For me, it was a regular old rec. league. But as it turns out, kickball is just as fun at 25 years old as it as at 10 years old. And so, I started licking my chops. I had a plate of crow to eat.

I get no indication the Ormond Beach league will be more than a social league. And for first-time adult kickballers, that’s the best kind to start with.

So, if you’re an adult kickball skeptic, take it from a former one, grab some friends and sign up. You never know, you could end up traveling to Las Vegas for a tournament one day soon and step to the plate against my friend.

And if you do, here’s scouting report: He’s got a mean curveball. (And yes, those actually do exist.)