Game Time
Harrisburg’s sports and social clubs are calling adults back out to the recess yard

By Michael McMonagle
Fly photo by Steve Stoltzfus

Anyone approaching the dreaded 30-year milestone - or worse, 40 - will tell you growing older kind of sucks. All of a sudden your Saturday mornings are a little rougher than you remember them from your college years.

You're out of breath by the top of the staircase. Your beer belly has officially graduated into a full-blown beer gut. Bottom line is, your body isn't quite as limber and spritely as it once was. And it's only going to get worse.

What you may not have known, however, is that Harrisburg lays claim to a bevy of organizations dedicated to injecting a little bit of fun into the sometimes-daunting world of physical activity. This month, the Harrisburg Young Professionals, Kickball365 and the Kickball League of Pennsylvania get their spring sports leagues up and running, offering everyone from the young professional to the young at heart the opportunity to relive their recess yard glory days and rekindle that competitive fire. The game - as they say it - is on.

Grown adults battling it out in a heated game of kickball may seem a tad silly, but there's actually a good bit of precedent here. For years, cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have hosted numerous social sports leagues offering everything from playground games like dodgeball and kickball to floor hockey and ultimate frisbee. Here in Harrisburg, the kickball fever has struck.

Take the Harrisburg Young Professionals, for example. Since 2007, HYP has included sports leagues as a large component in its mission to bring the area's young professionals together and promote city life. It all started with kickball, however the menu of sports has grown to include dodgeball, flag football, ultimate frisbee, volleyball and bowling. The leagues are spread throughout the year - dodgeball is held in the winter, ultimate frisbee and volleyball in the spring, kickball and beach volleyball in the summer and flag football in the fall - allowing for a year's worth of activity.

"What's great about it is that you don't actually have to be an incredible athlete to play," explains HYP sports committee chair Anthony Hoover. "We do have some more competitive divisions available if that's what you're after, but we make sure to have fun divisions, too."

Additionally, clubs like Kickball365 and the Kickball League of Pennsylvania
focus their efforts entirely on the old playground classic.

Kickball365
is a national organization based in Washington, D.C., but this spring marks it's first season operating here in Harrisburg. League organizer Jason McMullen began his social sports career as a participant in HYP's leagues, but, after traveling around the country to kickball tournaments sponsored by Kickball365, he agreed to head up a spring and fall league here. Also this summer, the Harrisburg chapter of Kickball365 will host one of the national tournaments on June 9.

The Kickball League of Pennsylvania
also features two springtime leagues that begin this month; the West Shore League begins April 11 and 12 while the East Shore League kicks off April 12.

So what differentiates the sport and social club experience from other recreational sports leagues? It's the emphasis on the "social."

The leagues require participants to be at least 21 years old in order to register because many of the social events associated with the league are held at bars. While HYP spreads the love on partnering with different city bars for each of its sports leagues, Kickball365 is aligned with the brand-new Arooga's Draft House (201 North Second Street) while the West and East Shore Kickball Leagues of PA are lined up with the West Shore Hardware Bar and Mulligan's East Shore Pub, respectively. These "sponsor" bars serve to host post-game socials for the league participants each week.

Or, in some cases, pre-game socials are in order. "Depending on what time your game is, you might go to the bar first," says McMullen with a laugh.

What results is a win-win for both the players and the sponsor bars; after the games, the players have a designated party destination - complete with exclusive discounts on food and booze - while the sponsor bars enjoy a guaranteed wave of business.

"We're bringing 20 teams, with as many as 15 people per team," McMullen explains. "If just half of those players go out, the bar is looking at a good night."

In addition to the post-game socials, the clubs host parties, happy hours and bar crawls for their members. Kickball365 hosts a pre-season party and captain's meeting on April 5 at Arooga's, as well as mid-season and end-of-season parties in May and June. HYP organizes happy hours on first Fridays and second Wednesday socials each month.

One final benefit is the opportunity to meet new people, forge new friendships and maybe even make your employers happy by doing some networking (the latter is especially important if you're able to convince your employer to front the bill on your team's registration). The socials are a casual setting to strike up a conversation with somebody new, even if just an hour ago that person was the guy or girl who launched a kickball at your face.

Get in on the game
Want to get in on the action? Registration for HYP's summer kickball league and Kickball365's summer tournament is open this month. In the meantime, here's a quick roundup for all the kickball Harrisburg has to offer:

Kickball365
League starts: April 12
Format: Coed (competitive and social leagues available)
Game day: Thursdays
Game location: Hidden Creek Park (50 Millfording Road, Mechanicsburg)
Season length: 8 weeks, plus playoffs
Registration cost: $50/player
Additional seasons: Fall
Website: www.kickball365.com/harrisburg

Kickball League of PA
League starts: April 11
Format: Coed (competitive and social leagues available)
Game day: Wednesdays
Game locations: West Shore Hardware Bar
(5401 Carlisle Pike, Mechanicsburg) and South Side Elementary (4525 Union Deposit Road, Harrisburg)
Season length: 7 weeks, plus playoffs
Registration cost: $425/team, or $45/individual
Additional seasons: Summer, fall
Website: www.kickballpennsylvania.com

HYP Kickball
League starts: June 14
Format: Coed (competitive and social leagues available
Game day: Thursdays
Game locations: Harrisburg Armory (1400 Calder Street, Harrisburg) and Harrisburg State Hospital grounds (behind PA Department of Agriculture building)
Season length: 8 weeks, plus playoffs
Registration cost: TBD (at press time)
Website: www.hyp.org/sports