Looking for adult kickball teams

Just about everybody, at some time in elementary school, has played a game of kickball on an old dusty playground during recess.

There’s good news for those who miss those games of kickball.

The Crestview Parks and Recreation Department is forming an adult coed kickball league.

Registration originally was set to end Aug. 31, but the minimal of four teams required to field the league hadn’t registered so Chuck Powell, the director of Parks and Recreation, has extended the registration deadline to Sept. 15, with play scheduled to start Sept. 20.

Powell said a local resident approached him with the idea of starting the league and his first impression was it would be something that adults could enjoy.

“It’s something none of us have done probably since we were in elementary school,” he said. “Nobody else in the area is doing it.

“And every time an adult hears about it they say, ‘That’s pretty neat. That would be a lot of fun.’”

Kickball, as is the case with all other adult sports in Parks and Recreation leagues, requires team registration rather the individual registration of youth league sports.

Cost of registration is $150 per team and $15 per player. A regulation kickball is included in the registration fee. And each team is guaranteed at least 10 games.

The teams must have at least 10 players, with an equal number of male and females on each squad. Another rule requires that the kicking order alternates male and females. There also must be an equal number of male and female infielders and outfielders.

Powell said adult recreation leagues in softball and other sports tend to be very intense and competitive, but he’s hoping that won’t be the case with kickball.

“I even said that in our rules,” he said. “One of my first statements is, ‘First and foremost this is a recreational league intended for the participants to have fun, socialize with friends and family and to gain some degree of physical fitness. Play with dignity and with the mind of the children that may be watching. We are adults playing a children’s playground game.’

“It just seems like it would be a real good, fun, stress reliever just to get out and play a kid’s playground game for a while and not be too intense. I think that it’s the fact that people will be playing with those memories in the back of their mind that they created as a fifth grader. It kind of just gives it kind of a different feeling about the competitiveness of it, and the level of intensity you should be playing with as an adult.”

Although it’s an adult league, the kickball league is open to children 13 and older. By allowing 13-year olds to play, Powell hopes to encourage families to get out and play together.

For more information, or to register a team contact the Parks and Recreation Department at Twin Hills Park at 682-4715.