WEDNESDAY,JUNE25,2003
SPORTS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN - 21
RECREATION
Kickball league kicks off second summer season
By Brandon Baker bbaker@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Lawrence residents are putting their own adult spin on the game of kickball.
The Kaw Valley Kickball League began last summer with only eight teams. This summer, the free league grew to 20 teams in four divisions with games every Sunday evening.
Zach Straus/Kansan
Jon Stong, Lawrence resident, kicks the ball out of the infield and gets a single. Stong went on to score in the game between his team, Great Cheese Wood, and Let it Ride Boardshop in South Park, 12th and Massachusetts streets, on Sunday.
Natalie Winn, Dallas senior, started the league after she talked to friends and coworkers about starting a recreational softball league. They decided kickball would be more fun.
Teams contain members from Lawrence businesses but are not limited to employees working at those businesses.
Scott Edwards, Lawrence resident and member of the Rudy's Pizzeria team, said his team was "made up of
the Rudy's family and a couple of mercenaries."
One such team member, Howie Lynch, Lawrence resident, said he played because it reminded him of being a kid again.
"I couldn't tell you the last time I played kickball. It was probably when recess stopped in the sixth grade," Lynch said.
"We drink before, during and after the games." said Kenny Kantner, member of Papa Keno's kickball team. "Sometimes it seems we're the only ones bringing out coolers though."
Things have changed since grade school. Adults play these games and drinking is not discouraged.
Kantner said kickball was what employees talked about all week and what they scheduled shifts around on Sundays.
Players attitudes, although mostly playful and competitive, can get heated.
"Iref'd a game last week and it was one of the most stressful things," Winn said. "I headed to the Replay after and just started drinking."
Referees officiate the games according to the rules Winn and Edwards developed. Winn said the rules were based loosely on the World Adult Kickball Association's rules, though the Kaw Valley league was unaffiliated.
Mike Baum, Lawrence resident and KU alumnus, said as long as people were friendly the games remained fun.
"Everyone knows each other, it's a small town, so every game could turn into a rivalry," Lynch said.
"I like the faces of people driving by when they see a bunch of adults playing kickball."
— Edited by Annie Bernethy