The Sacramento Bee  quotes Professor McCann regarding a federal lawsuit between two adult kickball leagues

Timeout for Recess

Adults returning to grade-school roots discover that kicks aren't just for kids

M.S. Enkoji
Sacramento Bee
Monday, May 7, 2007
Story appeared in METRO section, Page B1

A growing number of adults are gathering in places like West Sacramento's Bryte Park to embrace the scrappy playground game of their recess days -- kickball.

This pastime redux captures the carefree spirit of a slap-happy 10-year-old with some adult enhancements, such as, well, gathering for a few rounds at the bar afterward.

"One of my favorite nights of the week is kickball night," said Mike Howell, a 38-year-old Sacramento program analyst. "It's a good chance to be an 8-year-old again."

Hatched by a bunch of buddies in Washington, D.C., in 1998, the World Adult Kickball Association has set up at least 32,000 co-ed teams in cities in 23 states, including Sacramento.

But the very uncomplicated game of kicking a big red ball and rounding the bases -- think softball without the bats -- has become a federal case. WAKA has sued another kickball league, DCKickball, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., claiming "copyright infringement."

WAKA is claiming that when former members broke off to form the second league, they stole WAKA's unique rules.

Neither side will talk about the lawsuit.

"They think all of a sudden they created kickball? It's kickball," said Michael Murphy, general manager of the Golden Gate Sport and Social Club in San Francisco. "You roll the ball; someone kicks the ball," he said, explaining the basic rules of the game his organization also offers. "It's a free country."

The San Francisco club, which has not been sued by WAKA, is part of a multi-sport national organization that started 12 years by some Chicago women interested in co-ed football.

"It's hard to believe that people would go to court over this," said Michael McCann, an assistant professor who specializes in sports law at the Mississippi College School of Law. "The notion that they own a sport, that's just crazy."

McCann said the suit boils down to a complicated legal point that will be tough to prove. No one owns the mechanics of the game, just as baseball and basketball aren't owned, he said. But the way certain rules are "expressed" or used, such as requiring at least four women and four men on each team, could possibly be a copyright issue, he said.

The suit was filed last year and no trial date is set, according to court records.

The game, meanwhile, goes on.

Lennie Salmon, 26, helped launch the Sacramento WAKA league last April with about 80 people. This season, participation has doubled. And a WAKA league is trying to start up in Folsom, he said.

In San Francisco, about 3,000 active members sign up for mostly volleyball and basketball, said Murphy of the Golden Gate club. Probably 10 percent of the members are there for kickball, he said.

"But we're definitely keeping an eye on the growth," he said. "It's just amazing that people are connecting with their grade school roots."

Conventional wisdom dictates that everything we do as adults -- politics to business -- is a rehash of what we did in elementary and high school, said Richard Southall, an assistant professor of sport and leisure management at the University of Memphis.

For another generation, bridge and bowling filled the free hours after work -- the need for recess, he said.

Choosing a low-skill, low-tech game like kickball as a social magnet is genius, Southall said, and is probably a reaction to the way some recreational sports have evolved into competitions that can even erupt in violence.

Sociologists of late have focused on the need for good, old-fashioned play instead of organized sports, Southall said.

"Maybe that's what this kickball thing is," he said, "the balance between play and sport."

Howell figures his circle of friends has doubled since he started playing last year.

"To be honest, that's what keeps me coming back," said Howell, who also plays recreational softball. "It really is more social than athletic.