A few months ago, Ashley Raymond, production manager at What’s Up? sent around an e-mail to gauge everyone’s interest in joining the Annapolis Sports and Social Club Kickball League. Since the last team I had played on was tee-ball, I was a bit nervous at the idea of being on an organized sports team. I forwarded the e-mail to my boyfriend, Victor, secretly hoping he would say he wasn’t interested but within minutes he had written me back, “I want to do this. Make it happen.” After being reassured by Trish Sharpe, events and production assistant at What’s Up? (and my kickball coach) that we would be playing in the “super extreme social” league for people with basic athletic skills I signed up.
I admit I was a little disappointed when I found out Trish and I were the only people from What’s Up? on the team (What happened Ashley?) but my money was paid and there was no turning back. I should also mention that it was after I paid that I learned you are allowed to actually hit people with the ball to get them out—yikes! “Don’t let anyone hit you in the head,” my dad told me. (Just to clarify, the official rule is that you can only hit people from the neck down, phew.)
After our first (and only) practice, I felt more at ease. Everyone on the team was really nice and just out to have fun. The games have a 50 minute time limit and there are special rules to ensure the safety of the players. We were ready for our first game, at least we thought we were.
When we arrived at Collison Field at Truxtun Park for our first game, we discovered the “white team,” as they are now referred to by members of our team. The white team had lots more players than us, were doing stretches, had nicknames (yes, nicknames) and numbers printed on the back of their uniforms, and were wearing cleats. Needless to say, as most of our team came from happy hour we were a little intimidated.
The white team beat us bad. Though I’m not entirely sure on the exact score, I know that they were in the 20’s and we were in single digits. At future games, we took it upon ourselves to spread the word to other teams in the league about the white team. A couple weeks later when we found ourselves on the same field as the white team, we all looked around at each other in a slight panic, “Are we playing the white team again?!”. Thankfully, we weren’t.
Unfortunately for us, our game against the white team didn’t end up being much of a fluke and rather set the precedent for a mostly losing—but fun—season. Our current record is 1-4 and we’re quite proud of our one win. After our loss this week, my teammate Rob said, “Well, we certainly laughed more than they did.” And he was right. With the super slick dew covered field, our players were sliding and falling all over the place. There was nothing we could do but laugh. If we had a video camera, I’m sure our team would be a hit on YouTube.
The Annapolis Sports and Social Club Kickball League finishes up next week. Our team, the “O’s, Bohs, and Strohs, Hon!” will wrap up the season with a doubleheader on Tuesday, May 13th. Come cheer us on at Griscom Field at Truxtun Park. The first game is at 7:30 p.m. and the second at 8:30 p.m. I guarantee you’ll be entertained and you may even earn an invite to our team cookout!
To learn more about the Annapolis Sports and Social League and what other sports they offer, visit their website at http://www.annssc.com.
—Katie Redmiles