"Kickball Kick-off" gets Program Board's year rolling
Grass stained jeans, skinned knees and elbows, an aching big toe and a soaring sense of victory matched only by the spinning flight of a red rubber ball were all happened Wednesday night.
Program Board's annual “Kickball Kick-off” in the field between Finch Fieldhouse and the Health Professions Building let participants temporarily relive their days of schoolyard sportsmanship.
The event has been a tradition since 2004, showing new members Program Board is a great organization to get involved in and have fun while doing so, said Steve Lewis, Allegan junior and Program Board president.
“When our kickball event started, people wanted to go back to elementary school, recess days,” Lewis said.
Milford junior Sean Bergin said part of the reason he enjoys kickball is because it is such a simple and fun game anyone can play.
He fondly remembers time spent playing the sport in the fifth grade, though he didn’t always escape the diamond uninjured, he said.
“When I was little it was my favorite sport, even though I got hit in the face,” Bergin said.
Crysta Heckman, Program Board vice president and Pinconning senior, had similar luck in her fifth grade kickball days but still loves the sport.
Heckman recalled an occasion when she literally had the wind knocked out of her by a kickball sent soaring straight into her chest.
“Of course the kid that kicked the hardest hit me,” she said.
Madison Heights sophomore Emily Panone said she considered herself a “beast on field” when she played it at recess.
“I love kickball,” Panone said. “I didn’t really like sports in school, except for kickball.”
Heckman said having the annual kickball game is a great way to get new people involved and really enjoy the year.
“It’s the everyday playground game,” she said. “People miss that.”
