Young-at-Heart Fun

Written by Lance Sittig

This article is courtesy of Christian Single magazine

“It’s hard to talk about kickball,” notes a diehard fan on www.worldkickball.com, “without recounting the story of that sunny day, long past, on a playground far, far away where you stood fast in the face of the big kid. Far out in left field you stood, waiting for that big red ball, falling from the sky like a meteor. At the last minute you winced and your eyes closed. A moment later it was over, ball caught, victory declared.”

It’s childhood fun at its finest. Have you had any childlike fun lately? As adults, our ideas of fun can be pretty lame. Going to a poetry reading. Yawn. Spending time in the garden perfecting our baby tomatoes. I don’t think so. Taking out some hostiles in a game of paintball. Now you’re getting somewhere.

As children we played games like kickball with the intensity of an Olympic hopeful. Now this childhood game is catching on with adults, as leagues and tournaments are starting to form. In addition, many adults are aiming for great scores playing disc golf or heart-pounding excitement with paintball. These activities are bringing enjoyment and health benefits to those brave enough to leave their easy chair.

Who Said You Had to Grow Up?

When I was a kid, the game of choice was kickball. What’s more fun than driving a long kick into the outfield for a home run? If you’re starting to feel an adrenaline rush, don’t worry. You can relive your childhood. Kickball is making a major comeback. Just ask Jimmy Walicek, director of Division Relations for the World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA). His organization exists to promote the sport and help others “get a big smile on their face.”

“(Playing kickball) reminds you of a better time, when you were more carefree,” says Walicek. “Everyone out there is having fun, trying to kick a big rubber ball.”
Walicek is a five-year veteran of the sport, and WAKA is dedicated to starting divisions in cities all over the country. Most of the participants are young professionals looking for a break from behind their desk.

“There are some sports nuts who are super-proficient,” says Walicek, “but also people who aren’t psycho but just out to have a good time.”

Playing kickball is just what you would expect. Kick the rubber ball and run the bases. Catch fly balls. Throw the runners out. You get the picture. The games are played with softball rules, except for a couple of rules unique to kickball, such as no throwing at a player’s head. Also, players change positions frequently to make the game more fun to play.

Walicek rotates between pitcher, first base and catcher and is quick to add, “I think I’m really good, but who didn’t think that when they played kickball as a kid?”

Not necessarily a strenuous sport filled with fitness benefits, kickball produces positives like stress relief, fun, and teamwork without the competitiveness or intensity of other team sports.

That’s Gonna Leave a Mark

Anyone who played capture the flag as a kid can probably remember the thrill of running, trying to get back to your base and eliminating your opponent. Now imagine being on a team of goggle-wearing, air-gun-toting marauders bent on victory at all costs. Sound scary? Not if you’re an avid paintball player.

Paintball is a relatively new yet extremely popular recreational sport. It involves players who wear eye protection and carry CO₂-powered paint “markers.” The marker propels a gelatin-like round ball the size of a small marble. Inside is a water-soluble color, which isn’t really paint but a combination of mineral oil and food coloring. The markers fire the paintball at a safe velocity, so there’s no risk of real injury.

Teams can play capture the flag or “last man standing,” where survival is the key. According to Bob McGuire, president of the American Paintball League, there are many factors that make paintball a challenging sport.

“It’s a combination of capture the flag and a chess match,” says McGuire. “Strategy is very much an important part of the game.”

McGuire also points out that there are different kinds of players: “Some play first for fun, then they start practicing and taking it seriously. Some corporate games pit employees against the front office to put leaders into different types of conflict and see how they react. Others, like most kids, just go out to have a good time and get an adrenaline rush.”

To get into paintball, you can rent or buy your equipment. If you go to a local paintball field for the day, you might pay between $15 to $30 for fees that include goggles, a marker, and an allotment of paintballs. There are usually playing fees for the field as well. And for those who become addicted to the paintball rush, discount retail chains also carry the equipment.

McGuire believes the biggest draw of paintball is the fun stealth factor: “It’s a blast for the careful, cautious person who can avoid all contact with the opposition and sneak up and take the team’s flag without marking anyone or being seen either. It’s so intense you can hear your pulse in your ears.”

Do I Have to Replace My Divot?

For the mild-mannered gamer, there’s disc golf. With more than 4,000 courses nationwide, tossing a round disc for distance and accuracy is appealing to many adults. Bill “Old Man” Wallis of the Peoria Frisbee® Club in Peoria, Illinois, says there are clubs to join and places to play all over the United States.

“Most people should be able to find a course within a two-hour drive,” says Wallis. According to Wallis, disc golf got its start as object golf, when throwers challenged each other to reach targets like a nearby lamppost or garbage can in the park. It evolved into a game much like traditional golf. Players throw discs from a tee, count each throw as a stroke and continue until they reach the pole hole or throw basket. Courses are usually set up in public parks in areas that aren’t suitable for other uses. In those cases, disc golf is usually free to play, aside from any park fees.

“The difficulty of a course depends on the terrain, how wooded or open it is, and a nine-hole course usually means about five acres of space,” says Wallis. “Our distances are about one-third of a traditional golf course.” Wallis points out that disc golf is an environmentally friendly sport because some clubs go into parks and develop the terrain, removing undergrowth and protecting mature trees.

To get started in disc golf, you can use your garden-variety plastic throwing disc, but Wallis advises moving up to a regulation disc, which is smaller and made of harder plastic. These can be purchased on the Internet or through local disc golf clubs.

“The learning curve is low,” says Wallis. “At first you have to learn how to throw the disc, because it will follow the angle that you started it on.” Someone who is just starting out will throw between 75 to 100 feet, while professionals can reach lengths of 350 to 400 feet.

So what’s so fun about disc golf? Wallis believes there are several benefits to this tossing game: “It’s very healthy. It gives you extra exercise, stretching and more range of motion. And it’s a great sport for camaraderie and building friendships.”

While the challenge of controlling that round piece of plastic is enticing, just as alluring is feeling like a kid again and having unbridled fun. So whether it’s with a plastic disc, ball, or pellet – or anything else usually reserved for kids – drop your inhibitions and find a fresh way to be young at heart.

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