What a great turnout!

I would like to thank all of the participants and providers who helped make this tournament/fundraiser a success.  Apparently our passion and fire for kickball knows no bounds.  You folks are absolutely amazing. I was happy to hear the terms “fundraiser” and “for charity” thrown about ALL DAY with palpable enthusiasm.  I’m positive we represented the KVKL and Health Care Access with grace and dignity…..well, most of the time anyway.  

(Please check the KVKL website for complete results – www.kawvalleykickball.com)

Some of the games were competitive, some were not.  In the end, the Eastsiderz rolled away with the trophy-less championship.  Hopefully that’ll ease some of the suffering from their extra innings playoff loss. The other late game was the Fertile Crescent v. the Vagtastic Voyage.  In all reality, it was THE HIGHLIGHT of our tournament.  If one were to observe the stands during the late games, one would notice this game held the attention of nearly all the remaining audience.  Sorry guys.  When the ladies play, people watch.  The game nearly got way away from TFC early on, but they rallied to keep it close near the end. The swagger and moxy of the VV propelled them to a victory.  The game was fantastic.  See images (bottom of this post) of the two team jersey’s kindly sent to me from their creator, Drew (who has art on display at the Pig until the end of the month – please, CHECK IT OUT!).  I think there are pictures from that game and others, as well.  Hopefully someone will publish them for all to see.

What else you missed (if you couldn’t make it to Lyons):  Jacki’s and Robert’s (separate vendors) fabulous foods; for example, baked goods, chex mixes, veggie burgers, and jumbo hot dogs.  Twenty four games played by eight undaunted teams beginning at 1:30 and ending around 11:00 p.m.  Lots of talk about the past kickball year and next year.  I dropped a Bush-esque new.q.ler (nuclear) and was immediately chastised by my beloved colleague Adina.  Rightly so.  A few brief snippy moments as we opted to go without officiating (which I still firmly believe to be the right move).  And a bunch a good ol’ fashioned fun havin’…………and stuff (that’s for you Sasha).  

On that breezy Sunday, I felt it a privilege to have shared company with so many honorable kickballers. As our kickball community grows, so do the opportunities for fun and inclusion.  Thanks again all!     

I’ll post periodically until January when someone else (hopefully) takes the reigns of this blog or another.

xoxo, Deron