New sport comes alive

By Michael Harthorne

It's a tough summer to be a Seattle sports fan.

The Sonics are gone, the Mariners are missing-in-action, and there is still a painful, football-less six weeks until the Seahawks' first exhibition game.

However, there is one sport that's booming in the Northwest this summer: adult, amateur kickball. Kickball leagues are springing up around Seattle, including one in Ballard, giving everyday people an opportunity to step onto the field rather than pay an arm and a leg to watch a professional do it.

Shawn Madden, Underdog Sports Leagues' ambassador of fun, said the goal is to provide a laid-back experience where anyone can participate in sports without the burden of having athletic skill.

"We're trying to be the antithesis of the corporate sports machine," Madden said. "We're trying to provide an environment where people can enjoy sports on their own terms."

Underdog Sports Leagues, based in Belltown, runs kickball leagues in both Seattle and Portland, and the number of teams signing up has grown exponentially. Enrollment grew from 70 teams in the summer of 2005 to 200 this year.

Underdog Sports creates neighborhood specific leagues for men and women of varying skill degrees in a variety of sports, from flag football to bowling.

On a recent July evening at the Ballard Boys and Girls Club, two teams of men and women of a wide range of ages faced off against each other playing a sport that most haven't played since their days on the grade-school blacktop.

The players laugh, taunt and display a questionable understanding of the rules. And in the end, team Kicking It defeats team Caught in the Zipper 13-3.

Even though the victory felt great, Kicking It team member Chris Smith said winning is not goal.

"The point is to get out, run around and act like idiots while playing kickball," said Smith, a kickball veteran of three seasons.

A new kickball season starts in Ballard in early September, carrying with it the chance for ordinary people - Kicking it is comprised of employees of the Starbucks corporate building - to do something extraordinary on the field.

Smith and teammate Vanessa Tubbs both agree that their favorite kickball memory is teammate Joe Janask's diving catch on a rain-soaked field to save a win a few games earlier.

"Joe was a hero," Tubbs said.d

"I expect to see it on ESPN soon," Smith said.

Michael Harthorne may be reached via bnteditor@robinsonnews.com