{"id":656,"date":"2025-11-01T13:38:27","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/?p=656"},"modified":"2026-03-30T15:59:58","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:59:58","slug":"kaw-valley-kickball-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kualumni.org\/stories\/kaw-valley-kickball-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Jayhawks create community, impact through Kaw Valley Kickball League"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On a mild night in August, the day after KU football\u2019s season opener and first game in the reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, two more local teams face off under stadium lights just a mile east. Though Monday morning looms, the atmosphere at Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park is festive, the grandstand abuzz with spectators who\u2019ve gathered for the 9:30 p.m. showdown. On the field, a spirited competition unfolds for the next hour and a half, the action turning on the resounding thunk<\/em> of a rubber ball booted into the cool air.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the Kaw Valley Kickball League<\/a>\u2019s 2025 Cup Championship, the culmination of 13 Sundays of play for the co-ed league\u2019s 36 teams. Throughout the day, teams have claimed trophies at three levels of tournament play, and now, the last squads standing are contending for the Cup, KVKL\u2019s top prize. A double play in the top of the ninth inning decides the game, 10-7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many in the league\u2014which naturally attracts hundreds of KU alumni\u2014would attest, however, the final numbers on the scoreboard don\u2019t reflect the full reach and rewards of the KVKL experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn one sense, it\u2019s the cheesiest thing ever,\u201d Nick Lerner, c\u201903, says of Lawrence\u2019s grassroots kickball league for adults, which began in 2002. \u201cAnd in another sense, to me, it\u2019s been one of the most important things in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Josh Seybert, e\u201918, kicks and Michael Linton, e\u201917, plays catcher during the KVKL Cup Championship Aug. 24 at Municipal Stadium.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lerner met his wife in KVKL in 2005, and as an early member of its board of directors, he has watched the league evolve from a group of Lawrence restaurant and bar employees who convened for a handful of informal kickball matches into a local institution that now boasts more than 600 players and stages more than 200 games every summer. Thanks to kickball\u2019s accessibility and wide appeal\u2014it\u2019s played like baseball\u2014KVKL draws participants of diverse ages, backgrounds and professions, and, in turn, fosters connections among residents whose paths may otherwise never cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are people from so many different walks of life who get together because of kickball,\u201d Lerner says, \u201cand it\u2019s not just about the games.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its 23 years, the league has also emerged as a powerhouse in giving back to and enriching Lawrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I saw kickball, it was this organic world of people who were engaged in their community, so it just made sense to tie it into some of our local nonprofits,\u201d says Jacki Becker, c\u201992, who has played in KVKL since 2004 and led the establishment of its charitable component in 2009. To date, the league has raised more than $130,000 for local nonprofit organizations, including Just Food, the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center and the Lawrence Humane Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think KVKL lifts Lawrence up as a community\u2014for health, for charity, for building relationships,\u201d says Becker, who muses on the league\u2019s offbeat charm: \u201cA crowd cheering in a stadium for adults playing a kids\u2019 sport on a Sunday night\u2014it\u2019s uniquely Lawrence, and it just fits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humble beginnings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In summer 2002, during the relatively slow stretch between Commencement and the start of fall classes, employees of several downtown Lawrence establishments, looking for a novel social outlet, formed what would become the Kaw Valley Kickball League. Lerner, then a manager at the Cheese Shoppe inside Round Corner Drug on Massachusetts Street, says the league was the brainchild of a fellow downtown employee, Natalie Winn, c\u201905, who circulated flyers at businesses inviting staff to play kickball after their Sunday shifts. Eight teams competed in KVKL\u2019s inaugural season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was ironic\u2014it was a bunch of kids who were not athletic and had no idea what they were doing,\u201d Lerner says of the first year. \u201cIt was just a fun way to get together.\u201d He describes early KVKL as a \u201crogue\u201d league, with games played in open park space without permits or refined rules. \u201cThere were no refs, and if there was a close call, we\u2019d have do-overs,\u201d he laughs. \u201cThat was the feel of the league.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Top: At the 2025 KVKL Cup Championship in August, Cup contenders and crowd members link up to sing \u201cTake Me Out to the Ball Game\u201d during the seventh-inning stretch. Bottom: Megan Engleman (left), b\u201918, and Kerry McCullough Linton, c\u201917, j\u201917, savor their team\u2019s Cup victory, hard-won hardware in hand.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Word spread, and by summer 2003, KVKL had expanded to 20 teams. Kelly Corcoran, j\u201998, took the helm as commissioner during the league\u2019s fledgling phase, and says the unifying quality of organized kickball quickly stood out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was really a community rallying point, and that sense of community was why the league became such the talk of the town,\u201d says Corcoran, who worked at Love Garden Sounds on Mass Street in the early aughts and today co-owns the record store. \u201cIt was our thing, and people found a lot of camaraderie in it. It was just a blast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Corcoran guided KVKL for two seasons, but says his greatest contribution was shifting administration of the league from a single person to a board of directors. \u201cI ran the league like a basement punk venue,\u201d Corcoran says. \u201cThe board was able to run it like a real organization. They got the permits for the fields and brought some legitimacy. Different hands and personalities came on deck and shaped it into this amazing thing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becker, who served on the board for four years, says game days gradually gained luster. \u201cKJHK came out and did a play-by-play. There were food trucks, and people started to come watch the games,\u201d she says. \u201cIt started to become an event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both she and Corcoran cite the league\u2019s first game at Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park, the 2006 championship, as a turning point. \u201cI remember thinking, \u2018This is incredible,\u2019\u201d Becker says. \u201cThe stadium lights were on, and it was so special. I knew then that this was something we could run with.\u201d In 2007, the league instated Game of the Week, a featured contest in the historic stadium that caps every Sunday\u2019s slate of kickball matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThose early days were fascinating,\u201d Lerner, a board member from 2007 to 2013, says of witnessing the league\u2019s progression. \u201cWe all knew it was something special, and a lot of us wanted to do what we could to continue to make it happen. We weren\u2019t thinking about it lasting 23 years; we were just passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their instincts proved ahead of a trend: \u201cNow there are kickball leagues all over the nation, and there are people who travel to play in kickball tournaments. Now it\u2019s a legit sport,\u201d Lerner says. \u201cBut it wasn\u2019t back then. And that was part of what was fun about it\u2014the reaction of, \u2018You\u2019re playing kickball?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A labor of love\u2019<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s KVKL retains much of the whimsy and self-governing spirit it was founded on, but with a formalized infrastructure and streamlined operations. The league is now a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and it has documented rules and a code of conduct for players. The volunteer board of directors handles the logistics, setting game schedules, renting the fields through Lawrence Parks & Recreation, and overseeing the league\u2019s charitable initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elizabeth Karr, b\u201915, g\u201921, a current board member, says a culture of cooperation and pitching in defines KVKL. \u201cOne of the things that makes this a well-oiled machine is that to be a team in the league, you have responsibilities to the league,\u201d she says. Teams\u2019 duties include providing referees, scoreboard managers and postgame cleanup. Karr notes, however, that many in the KVKL world lend their time and talents beyond what\u2019s required, volunteering for the league\u2019s charity events or for administrative tasks like website maintenance. \u201cThere are people who don\u2019t play anymore who still want to be involved and be around kickball,\u201d Karr says. \u201cThe league is a labor of love for a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Karr, who has played in the league since 2016, serving on the board is an opportunity to give back to something that has significantly shaped her life. \u201cKVKL gave me a family in town, and I\u2019m so grateful for that,\u201d says Karr, who came to KU from rural Lyon County. \u201cIt helped me feel like I belong in Lawrence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she met Jimmy Bormolini, b\u201917, c\u201917, at a friend\u2019s birthday party in 2017, they not only connected over KVKL, but discovered their teams would be playing each other the next day. \u201cWe ended up losing to them pretty bad, like 24-2,\u201d Karr says, remembering the game fondly despite its outcome. She and Bormolini married in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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KVKL bonds, from top: Jimmy Bormolini, b\u201917, c\u201917, Elizabeth Karr, b\u201915, g\u201921, and very good boy Hammond celebrate Elizabeth\u2019s team winning the Cup in 2021. Steve Harder, c\u201904, and Arianna Auxter, who met through KVKL, married in Municipal Stadium on Sept. 18, 2021. Simon Skinner, c\u201906, g\u201910, and his son, Magnus, don their matching KVKL jerseys. Magnus cheers on dad and mom, Betsy Pederson Skinner, p\u201913, PharmD\u201915, who plays on the team too.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During her tenure on the board, Jacki Becker championed incorporating charitable efforts into the KVKL enterprise, a concept that has become a cornerstone of the league. Every season, KVKL chooses one or two local nonprofits to receive the proceeds from its variety of fundraising activities, which include a preseason kickball tournament, raffles at Game of the Week and a postseason auction at Liberty Hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is about people being willing to give $10 or $20 every year\u2014to give what they can,\u201d Becker says of the fundraising approach. \u201cThat adds up, and it can really make a difference in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, the league donated $16,000 to the Douglas County Special Olympics and $1,100 to Toys for Tots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Becker was also an early advocate for gender inclusivity in the league, a value now enshrined in its rules: For a 10-player roster, teams may field no more than seven men or seven women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWomen were kind of sidelined in the early years,\u201d Becker says. \u201cOne of my goals was to get what were mostly male teams at the time to truly notice that women can be competitive and can be critical pieces of the game. Today, you can\u2019t win a tournament without having incredible women on your team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A former KU swimmer, Becker says KVKL has been a gift in her life. \u201cKickball got me healthy, active and well with myself, and I\u2019m grateful to KVKL for that,\u201d she says. \u201cSwimming isn\u2019t really a team sport, and KVKL gave me the ability to be a team athlete that I didn\u2019t know I could be. It has been amazing to have that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She reflects proudly on KVKL\u2019s evolution into the philanthropic, more inclusive organization it is today. \u201cSo many of the things that were important to me in those early years are just standard for the league now,\u201d Becker says, \u201cand that means a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kickball for all<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When he arrived in Lawrence in 2010, Farai Rusinga, PhD\u201917, had never heard of kickball. An accomplished athlete, Rusinga had played soccer for Grinnell College in Iowa, but a kicking-driven game set on a baseball field was unfamiliar turf for the Zimbabwe native.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had never played diamond sports before,\u201d says Rusinga, who earned his doctorate in chemistry at KU. \u201cI think I stepped into a baseball field in Zimbabwe for one or two innings when I was 8 years old, so that was what I knew of even baseball or softball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kickball, it turned out, suited him perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always loved playing soccer, but kickball felt like it was a good pace for me now,\u201d says Rusinga, a KVKL player since 2019. \u201cIn soccer, once the game starts, there\u2019s no stopping. You\u2019re running all the time. The pace with kickball is more stop-and-go, so there\u2019s a lot more time to talk to people, time to watch my teammates and cheer them on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scenes from KVKL games at Youth Sports Complex in southwest Lawrence. In recent years, the league has held the majority of its regular season matches (aside from Game of the Week) at YSC.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rusinga says he enjoys the strategy of kickball too, and plans to be part of KVKL well into the future, adding that the people are what he appreciates most. \u201cA lot of my friends in the league are people I never even imagined that I would come across, and they\u2019ve welcomed me,\u201d he says. \u201cThey\u2019re my people; it\u2019s my community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kickball as an accessible, lifetime sport is a notion at the heart of KVKL. The league invites all skill levels, and teams\u2019 competitiveness runs the gamut from the tenacious to the laid-back. The four tiers built into the season-wrapping tournament ensure that teams of different competitive stripes can make a bid for a title. In addition to the Cup, KVKL awards the Twain (a bust of Mark Twain, for ninth place), the Plate (a Princess Diana commemorative plate, for 17th place) and the Boot (a gold-painted cleat, for 33rd place), each trophy an item formerly plucked from a kickballer\u2019s personal possessions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In its customary hospitable fashion, KVKL offers resources for those who\u2019d like to improve their kickball skills. All are welcome at Wednesday evening open practices\u2014held during the season at Municipal Stadium\u2014which provide a no-pressure environment where less experienced players can get instruction from veteran players. Kristin Colahan-Sederstrom, c\u201905, first organized the midweek sessions more than a decade ago, and says a skill she acquired at Wednesday practices spawned her favorite kickball memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She recalls being up to kick at Game of the Week, two outs, bases loaded, and needing to kick the ball behind first base. \u201cIt didn\u2019t go so well, and after that I decided I wanted to become \u2018ambi-kick-strous,\u2019\u201d she laughs, \u201cbecause kicking to right field is easier with your left foot. So I spent one season of Wednesday nights just learning how to kick with my left foot. The next year, we played in Game of the Week again, and the exact same scenario came up: bases loaded; I was up to kick. I kicked it right where I needed to, scored my runner and got on base. I still kind of get goosebumps from it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2012, KVKL has also hosted \u201cKickball Is for All,\u201d an annual community outreach event that offers an inclusive, supportive space where kickball newcomers can spend an afternoon learning the basics. The league holds the clinic especially for women, transgender and nonbinary players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Teammates revel in their KVKL tournament triumph that claimed the Twain trophy.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Colahan-Sederstrom says \u201cKickball Is for All\u201d and Wednesday practices can be good trial runs for folks curious about joining KVKL, and the relaxed occasions are among the many ways the league unites simply by breaking the ice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaking friends as an adult is so hard,\u201d Colahan-Sederstrom says. \u201cAnd especially in a college town, it can feel like a revolving door of people who graduate and move all over the country.\u201d KVKL provides the type of casual, consistent setting in which connections can spark and grow, and for Colahan-Sederstrom, who has played in the league for 14 years, kickball kindled some of her closest friendships. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine my day-to-day life now without people I\u2019ve met through KVKL,\u201d she says. \u201cThe people I see and touch base with every week, the people who know my pets and we go to the dog park together\u2014all of those relationships formed from KVKL. It\u2019s enriched my life tenfold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Common ground<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sociologist Ray Oldenburg coined the term \u201cthird places\u201d in his 1989 book, The Great Good Place<\/em>, to refer to public spaces that \u201chost the regular, voluntary, informal, and happily anticipated gatherings of individuals beyond the realms of home and work.\u201d Oldenburg proposed that these places, which encourage conversation, relaxation and diverse company, are central to community vitality and individual well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The welcoming, recreational setting furnished by KVKL can serve as just such a venue, and, to Seth Sanchez, c\u201910, kickball answers a growing need for affordable opportunities to socialize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt can be difficult to get out and just interact with other people without having to spend a fortune,\u201d says Sanchez, who has played in KVKL since 2008. \u201cKickball is a free or minimal-cost activity, and when you go out on Sunday, there are hundreds of people you can talk to about a common interest. Right away, you have a touchpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being a thread that knits together an eclectic patchwork of locals\u2014players are teachers, attorneys, bartenders, financial planners, personal trainers, firefighters\u2014Sanchez says KVKL is a tie that binds former residents to Lawrence, with games occasionally featuring cameos from past players who\u2019ve moved away but never kicked their affinity for Sunday kickball. Even iconic Jayhawks have been known to make an appearance: At a 2024 Game of the Week, KU women\u2019s basketball legend Lynette Woodard, c\u201981, rolled out the first pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park, located at 11th and Delaware streets, is KVKL\u2019s home base.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanchez says the league\u2019s many affiliated ventures, which include a weekly podcast during the season, further expand the range of folks who can excel and belong in KVKL. \u201cThere is such an infrastructure that has been built up over the league\u2019s 20-plus years that is administrative, legal, fundraising, artistic. It makes it a community that allows a lot of people opportunities to showcase skills that are not just athletics, not just who can kick the ball the farthest,\u201d Sanchez says. \u201cEveryone who\u2019s a part of KVKL loves it for a different reason, and everyone can contribute to the league growing and moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Nick Lerner, a self-professed KVKL \u201cold-timer\u201d who has played in every season since the league\u2019s inception, the vibrant, big-hearted world of KVKL is a glittering testament to the vibrant, big-hearted city it calls home, and to the university whose students and alumni help steward it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the Kaw Valley Kickball League is a representation of what Lawrence is,\u201d Lerner says. \u201cLawrence is this cool, quirky community, and inside that is this group of quirky people who play kickball. It\u2019s an embodiment of what Lawrence and KU are about\u2014about embracing people, doing things that are different.\u201d Adds Lerner: \u201cAt KU, we\u2019re proud of our sports, and I\u2019m also really proud of this kickball league.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Preserving a Lawrence landmark<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In its nearly 80 years as a pillar of the East Lawrence neighborhood, Municipal Stadium at 11th and Delaware streets has hosted generations of youth athletes, adult baseball and softball teams, and, since 2007, the Kaw Valley Kickball League\u2019s summer tradition, Game of the Week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fall 1946, a petition signed by 1,014 Lawrence residents requesting a modern baseball facility went before the city council. The new baseball field was dedicated on July 9, 1947, and construction of the 1,200-seat grandstand was completed the following year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to an article in the Lawrence Daily Journal-World, about 2,000 people packed Municipal Stadium to watch the Lawrence Colts, the city\u2019s semipro baseball team, take on the Kansas City Monarchs on Aug. 6, 1949. The Pittsburgh Pirates came to town to hold a tryout camp at the ballpark in 1967, and before he was a KU football and NFL star, John Hadl, d\u201968, played youth baseball at Municipal Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A baseball game at Municipal Stadium circa 1949.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To address time\u2019s toll on the site\u2014cracks and water damage threaten the concrete grandstand\u2019s structural integrity\u2014a group of local organizations in 2024 partnered to launch the Municipal Stadium at Hobbs Park Legacy Project<\/a>, an effort to revitalize and preserve the historic venue and the larger park in which it\u2019s located. KVKL is among the partners, alongside the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, Lawrence Preservation Alliance, Watkins Museum of History, Lawrence Parks & Recreation, Hernly Associates and the Shelley Miller Charitable Trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe stadium is a reflection of American history, a place to play and a source of pride for the community,\u201d says Erin Adams, a longtime KVKL player and one of the volunteers shepherding the Legacy Project. \u201cIt needs to be celebrated, and the best way to do that is to preserve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Adams, who grew up in East Lawrence, says the Legacy Project\u2019s first phase is to raise money to cover the cost of research and other legwork necessary to nominate Municipal Stadium to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation would unlock access to grants and tax credits to go toward the restoration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Legacy Project held its most recent fundraiser, a screening of the movie \u201cField of Dreams,\u201d at Liberty Hall on Oct. 26. Adams says the group plans to host more community events to benefit the project in the months ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Megan Hirt, c\u201908, j\u201908, is managing editor of Crimson & Blue.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aerial photo by Drone Lawrence
2025 tournament photos by Griff Hastings
Contributed photos courtesy of Elizabeth Karr, Defie Photography and Simon Skinner
Youth Sports Complex photos by Steve Puppe<\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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