“Unlike other ostensibly adult leisure activities, kid games are inherently about fun,” Noxon said in a telephone interview. “There's too much self-improvement and status accrual and purposefulness in things like going to the gym or doing yoga or racquetball. I think the essential appeal is that they just want their play to be more playful.
“Kickballers sort of relish the fact that it's a stupid game. They wear it as a badge of pride. It's their way of announcing to the world: `I'm not done. There's still fun here. I may be grown up, but I'm not going to go quietly into that dark night.’”
Whether it's the game itself or the drinking, WAKA now has leagues in more than 20 states — from New Hampshire to New Mexico — with more than 20,000 players on 1,000 teams in 100 divisions. In the summer of 2005, the association even helped set up a league for Marines stationed in Fallujah — the Iraq Semper Fi Division. WAKA is in the middle of its fall season, which stretches from August to October and lasts about 10 weeks.
At least a handful of other significant kickball organizations exist. An Internet search turned up 18 different groups, including Brooklyn Kickball and the Little Rock Kickball Association.
And, as with any playground-style pursuit, kickball isn't without its shouting matches. WAKA and DC Kickball, a smaller rival league, are currently caught up in a federal lawsuit, with WAKA charging the competition with copyright infringement (for using their rules) and defamation. WAKA is suing DC Kickball for more than a few weeks' allowance — seeking US$356,000 in compensatory and punitive damages.
Today, WAKA is releasing a free version of its rules, though it was unclear how this would affect the case. Carter Rabasa, the founder of DC Kickball, said, “I suppose it's a good thing, but I would still maintain that the rules for a game like kickball are, and have always been, part of the public domain, so I don't really feel like WAKA's in any position to release any part of the public domain to the public.”
Hardcore fans who care about the game more than litigation can turn to www.kickball365.com, a giant message board forum, to discuss everything from why they love kickball to rule changes they'd like to see. (A recent regional tournament in Annapolis, Md., where the winner of a tie game was determined by playing rock-paper-scissors, brought particular scorn.)
WAKA held its ninth annual world championship, the Founders Cup, in Miami last July, and attracted more than 300 fans to most games. Fifty-six teams were invited, and 11 showed up, most of them coming from the Washington region and Florida. The Kick Asphalts, from Reston, Virginia, won, and Wilner's team, Off in Public, finished second.
Which is a long way from teams like Kutcher's, who don't take themselves too seriously. During their loss to Project Kickball the other night, the team's captain shouted encouragement to a young woman who awaited the pitch.
“Rachel, the ball comes fast!” she called.
Her teammates laughed, and then Rachel popped out.
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