Ladies and Gentlemen,
We know our enemy:
A kickball blog for the ages. Here shall the adventures and achievements of championship kickballers be recorded. This season, let us recognize: THE PINK TEAM!
It's a Twister!
Socks... have arrived. Kickball can officially begin.
This is going to be bad-ass.
~Captain Big
This is going to be bad-ass.
~Captain Big
The Rules
As we lead up to the new kickball season, there are a couple of important steps that need to be undertaken:
If there's one thing we all hate in kickball, it's arguments and rule-mongering. The best way to avoid these things, I feel, is to make sure everyone has a clear understanding of the rules.
SO: Here're the official Rules:
WAKA Kickbal: Official Rules of the Game
For you veterans who're already familiar, there've been revisions. You can see those here:
2009 Updates and Revisions
Some key areas that everyone should be familiar with are:
Finally, when it comes to arguments, the ONLY person on the team that can talk to the refs is the Team Captain or Co-Captain. As I don't know, yet, how to assign co-captain status with the new site, that means that the only person who can argue with refs at this point is Me.
Refs are allowed to eject players who don't adhere to this rule, so that's reason number one to come to me first. Reason number two is: Our team is not "The Team" that harasses refs. Instead, we're the team that all the other players want to be on: Because we have FUN, dammit!
Ok, now on with the pictorial supplements:
WAKA Strike Zone
IMPORTANT NOTE: Revisions this year now allow bouncing pitches. The ball must touch the ground twice before getting to the plate. The strike zone, however, is the same.
The Kicking Box
When you kick the ball, your plant foot must be within the kicking box. This means that your kicking foot can be outside of the box when it actually makes contact with the ball.
Also, take note of the bit about fair and foul balls passing through the shaded zone. The ball can pass through those areas as long as it constitutes a fair ball as indicated below:
Fair or Foul
Click to expand.
The Extra (1st) Base
All right, I know it's a lot to go through, and there's more still, but it's all available in link to the rules above. Again, I'm always available for questions. Everybody knowing the rules will lead to everybody playing fair and having a good time.
~Captain Big
DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, ASSIGNS OR OTHER CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; BUSINESS INTERRUPTION; OR PERSONAL INJURY) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THE RULES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
- Team name must be selected
- Team color must be selected
- Socks must be ordered
- Rules must be discussed
If there's one thing we all hate in kickball, it's arguments and rule-mongering. The best way to avoid these things, I feel, is to make sure everyone has a clear understanding of the rules.
SO: Here're the official Rules:
WAKA Kickbal: Official Rules of the Game
For you veterans who're already familiar, there've been revisions. You can see those here:
2009 Updates and Revisions
Some key areas that everyone should be familiar with are:
- Balls and Strikes (sections 11, 12 and the video)
- The Kicking Box (see diagram below)
- Overrunning bases (only 1st and home)
- Tag ups: You must touch the base you're on before advancing on a caught ball, but can run as soon as the fielder touches the ball. (section 10.05)
Finally, when it comes to arguments, the ONLY person on the team that can talk to the refs is the Team Captain or Co-Captain. As I don't know, yet, how to assign co-captain status with the new site, that means that the only person who can argue with refs at this point is Me.
Refs are allowed to eject players who don't adhere to this rule, so that's reason number one to come to me first. Reason number two is: Our team is not "The Team" that harasses refs. Instead, we're the team that all the other players want to be on: Because we have FUN, dammit!
Ok, now on with the pictorial supplements:
WAKA Strike Zone
IMPORTANT NOTE: Revisions this year now allow bouncing pitches. The ball must touch the ground twice before getting to the plate. The strike zone, however, is the same.
The Kicking Box
When you kick the ball, your plant foot must be within the kicking box. This means that your kicking foot can be outside of the box when it actually makes contact with the ball.
Also, take note of the bit about fair and foul balls passing through the shaded zone. The ball can pass through those areas as long as it constitutes a fair ball as indicated below:
Fair or Foul
Click to expand.
The Extra (1st) Base
All right, I know it's a lot to go through, and there's more still, but it's all available in link to the rules above. Again, I'm always available for questions. Everybody knowing the rules will lead to everybody playing fair and having a good time.
~Captain Big
KICKBALL: Official Rules of the Game
Copyright © 1998-2009 by WAKA, LLC
www.kickball.com. All rights reserved.
THESE RULES ARE PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL WAKA, LLC, ITS OFFICERS,Copyright © 1998-2009 by WAKA, LLC
www.kickball.com. All rights reserved.
DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, ASSIGNS OR OTHER CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; BUSINESS INTERRUPTION; OR PERSONAL INJURY) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THE RULES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
The New American Pastime
Here we are again, a little later and a little more impatient but finally, despite our bitter winters and our stingy coast winds, Spring has come to New England. And while our forefathers sought out the red-breasted warblers as their harbingers of the solstice's face, I look for the red-skinned bounce of the hollow rubber on un-managed dirt. Kickball is back. The new American pastime, has come to New England.
Some of us will undoubtedly strap on a helmet, or the walking shoes, they'll take walks along the river, and duck tours in the river. They'll watch the sun set in the harbor, the moon rise over Fanueil, and watch a Citgo moon well into the depths of those midnight 9th innings. And while I begrudge my fellow Bostonians nothing, I've come to recognize a different celebration of the fairer weather here. It starts with the smell of the plastic as you rip open a new season of socks, or the vodka mixing with the jugs of lemonade. The familiar scream of support, laced with disparaging nicknames that remind you of those last summer nights of debauchery, the ones you tried to forget, and the ones we won't because we have the photos to prove it.
There are those who disparage it. They say things like "hey that was cool...when I was 6" or "you play what?" I was even told by someone I was recruiting that they only played "real sports." I don't know, but I had to assume that meant slow pitch softball with a bunch of has-beens reliving past glory. But I've learned that you can't relive that dropped fly to save the game in little league, and I've come to grips with my father never loving me because of that. but I've forged ahead, and blazed new trails into what the marketing boys up at WAKA HQ call, the new American pastime.
In the past few seasons I can say I've honestly made some great friends, friends who helped me earn those Friday "sick days," and pick the fibers from my fake mustache out of my beer. I've known the thrill of the kickball hook-up, the heartbreak of the unannounced the departure, and the other thrill of beating her team the next week on the diamond.
I've finished dead last some seasons. Last summer I was on a team that took the league. But regardless of how we finished, I've always conducted myself dignity, and like any good kicker, I've never lost sight of what dignity looks like. If you're new this season, feel free to introduce yourself. I'll be the one in the viking helm.
Some of us will undoubtedly strap on a helmet, or the walking shoes, they'll take walks along the river, and duck tours in the river. They'll watch the sun set in the harbor, the moon rise over Fanueil, and watch a Citgo moon well into the depths of those midnight 9th innings. And while I begrudge my fellow Bostonians nothing, I've come to recognize a different celebration of the fairer weather here. It starts with the smell of the plastic as you rip open a new season of socks, or the vodka mixing with the jugs of lemonade. The familiar scream of support, laced with disparaging nicknames that remind you of those last summer nights of debauchery, the ones you tried to forget, and the ones we won't because we have the photos to prove it.
There are those who disparage it. They say things like "hey that was cool...when I was 6" or "you play what?" I was even told by someone I was recruiting that they only played "real sports." I don't know, but I had to assume that meant slow pitch softball with a bunch of has-beens reliving past glory. But I've learned that you can't relive that dropped fly to save the game in little league, and I've come to grips with my father never loving me because of that. but I've forged ahead, and blazed new trails into what the marketing boys up at WAKA HQ call, the new American pastime.
In the past few seasons I can say I've honestly made some great friends, friends who helped me earn those Friday "sick days," and pick the fibers from my fake mustache out of my beer. I've known the thrill of the kickball hook-up, the heartbreak of the unannounced the departure, and the other thrill of beating her team the next week on the diamond.
I've finished dead last some seasons. Last summer I was on a team that took the league. But regardless of how we finished, I've always conducted myself dignity, and like any good kicker, I've never lost sight of what dignity looks like. If you're new this season, feel free to introduce yourself. I'll be the one in the viking helm.
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