Kick It 915 - Fun in the Sun Kickball Tourney - REVIEW

With the popularity of co-ed adult kickball continuing to grow in El Paso so does the need for more kickball tournaments. Currently most local kickballers find themselves having to travel out of town to be able to participate in kickball tourneys, which is unfortunate considering there are three kickball leagues operating in town.

The last local kickball tourney was held by the almost now defunct El Paso Kickball league. They would hold an annual charity kickball tourney called the Kickball Clash for the Kids. In all fairness the tournament was actually fairly good. However since the Clash there have been no local tourneys that is until the introduction of the new Fun in the Sun Kickball Tourney hosted by Kick It 915. Kick It 915 is looking to become El Paso's first major kickball tournament league.

The Fun in the Sun Tourney was set to feature:

2 Divisions: Social and Competitive

Cash Prize for the Competitive winner

$150 Bar Tab for Social winner

Water Ballon Fight at noon

3 Games guaranteed

Now when looking at any tourney, three categories on which you can grade the quality are location, format, and organization. In addition, the quality of a tourney can also be relative to whether a team is looking for a competitive atmosphere or a more fun event. 

7 teams ended up registering for the tourney which resulted in one big division rather than two separate ones. The teams were a mix of competitive and fun teams.

The tourney was held at Dick Shinaut Park, on the main soccer field area. This late in the year the grass is already going into hibernation, but it still made for a playable surface although not ideal. There was plenty of parking and trees for shade. There was music playing which provided a good atmosphere. 

The format was double elimination and due to low participation, the competitive and fun groups were merged. There was no pool play and match-ups were essentially scheduled at random, which left some teams confused. There was also one team that despite only having one loss was slated to play the 3rd place match-up. The format seemed to suffer from the uneven amount of teams and having to merge the fun and competitive groups. More participation should alleviate these problems.

Organization wise, there were a few problems. For starters, the tourney was scheduled to start at 9am, but didn't start until 10am. Which resulted in a later than planned end time. This often causes headaches for players who have plans later in the day. Also transition between games was shaky with teams waiting to hear who their next opponent was. Just a couple of items that would make for a better tourney if corrected. 

The officiating was sub-par at best. Umpires were often confused on the rules, that were supposed to be Kickball 365 inspired. Its important for umpires who run a game solo to be mobile and get into position, something the officials didn't do during the tourney. A much needed upgrade here.

And ultimately things seemed to be decided on the fly. Hopefully organizers due a better job of planning for the next tourney.

However the spirit of kickball seemed to be alive and in a drought of kickball tourneys, kickballers were happy to attend a new event. The initiative was greatly appreciated. 

There seems to be another tourney planned for February. Let's see what Kick It 915 has in store for kickballers in the future.

That is all for now kickballers, Good Luck and Happy Kicking!~

Kickin' N' Screamin' Back on Top!

Although this post is little bit over due, it's importance shouldn't be diminished. So after a brief one season hiatus, Kickin' N' Screamin' is back on top of the kickball world.

Earlier this year Kickball Nation was witness to a very rare occurrence. After seasons off kickball dominance, Kixxx took down their long time rivals, KNS, in a brilliant semi-final game during the Spring '13 season. Most folks were astonished to see KNS finally lose their crowns, while others celebrated a new champion. However KNS vowed to regain their crown once again.

And guess what...they did.

It only took KNS one season to resume their strangle hold on the King of Kickball division. 

Although there were a couple of teams that were also in contention to make a run at the crown, namely I'd Hit It and the Smoking Aces. 

Lucas Quimiro and Company would miss their chance at the championship with a heartbreaking loss to the Smoking Aces. A game most would argue they should have won. However their stumble would give the Smoking Aces, the only team to beat KNS during the regular season, an opportunity to beat them again. 

However the battle for the crown was a fairly lopsided affair with KNS gliding to a 8-1 victory. KnS was extremely focused and weren't about to let anything or anyone get in their way. They had the Smoking Aces on their heels right out of the gate. 

Throughout the season Kickin' N' Screamin's talent was under-stated. Although their main strength is their teamwork, they arguably have the most talented roster within the league. Their big off-season pick ups, Manny Martinez and Armando Duarte, were completely over looked and made a huge difference on their team. Not to mention the return of Marco Gallegos, the league's best catcher. 

So now as we enter the off-season, the question becomes who can match the talent and skill of Kickin' N' Screamin'. It's Just Kickball will be closing monitoring off-season movements to see who will have the ability to take on the new Kings of Kickball! 

That's all for now... Good Luck and Happy Kicking