Wow! Adults are playing kickball now? What a concept!

I know, crazy stuff, huh? Who woulda thunk it?
All across the country – nay, the world, and perhaps even the entire solar system – real-life grown-ups are participating in a child’s game in an effort to blow off some steam after spending the day cooped up at their soul-crushing jobs. While some guys and gals join softball, bowling and cribbage leagues (hey, uncoordinated people need something to do, too), adult kickball leagues are now a commonplace sight at public parks and baseball fields in cities all over the country.
A keg at second base. Inebriated teammates. Running-induced vomiting. Boy, does that ever take me back to elementary school. Hey, we grow up fast up here in Minnesota. Don’t judge.
A profile by the Las Vegas Sun of the adult kickball league currently taking place in Las Vegas provides an inside look at the pseudo-athletic, alcohol-fueled pastime that more and more adults are choosing to do.

The adult kickball leagues are overseen by its governing body, the World Adult Kickball Association, WAKA for short (Fozzie Bear approves). Forty-one states have officially-sanctioned WAKA leagues and more are springing up every day. For a $65 entry fee – at least in the case of the Las Vegas league – you’re in like Flynn.

Each game is one hour, or five innings, and played with 11 fielders ­– it’s a coed activity, requiring at least four male and female players manning positions in the field. Some teams have rosters with as many as 20-plus players, all of whom are dressed in league-provided shirts.

Most wear soccer cleats and come dressed in athletic gear. And everyone seemingly has a beer or other adult beverage in hand.

Players mingle with the opposing team and sometimes wander off to talk with friends playing in other kickball games. Some become so engrossed in conversation that they fail to take their position on the field or their place in the kicking order.

Adult beverages, you say? Shoot, that’s all I needed to know. I’m in.
And according to the comments found in the Sun’s article, the booze seems to be the primary motivating factor for many of kickball’s participants, where “someone doing a keg stand in the middle of the field in between innings or standing in the field with a beer can” is not an odd sight to behold. Ah yes, keg stands: the binge drinker’s gymnastic routine.

“The alcohol makes it more interesting,” said Miguel Escobar, 30. “For me, it takes away the nerve when you are up to (kick).”
More importantly, the adult beverages help create the party atmosphere the league strives for. Its motto: “Best Parties. Best Friends. Best Games.”
“I have alcohol-induced athleticism,” Lewis joked. “The alcohol makes you outrageously faster.”

Oh, sweet, sweet alcohol. What can’t you do?
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Kickball and kegs: Game graduates grade school [Las Vegas Sun]
(image courtesy of Sam Morris/Las Vegas Sun)