On the evening of Sept. 4, Belinda Drake posted on Facebook about an idea for a tournament. “I randomly want to play kickball,” she wrote.
People started jumping in the comments.
“I’m down,” one person wrote.
“Count me in!” wrote another.
That was a Wednesday, and by Sunday there were six teams with a location for the tournament.
“That goes to show we’re looking for positive things to do,” Drake said in an interview. “Look how quickly that came about.”
The single-elimination kickball tournament — featuring 8- to 10-person teams such as Team Domination and Naptown Kick Squad — starts at 4 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Reset Center, 4330 N. Post Road. Games will last 30 minutes, and the team with most runs at the end wins. The championship game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Drake doesn’t have anything for the winner yet but said she’s working on it.
The tournament will also be an opportunity to highlight National Suicide Prevention Month, since mental health experts recommend sunlight exposure and exercise as ways to combat the symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Drake, who is also running for the Indiana House of Representatives in 2020, said this won’t be a pollical event. She also asked specifically for people 25 and older. Community activists are always trying to take care of the youth, she said, and sometimes you have to do the same for adults.
Teams filled up fast, but Drake said anyone is free to watch and cheer at the tournament.
De’Ja Broughton is part of Taste Indy, a group for LGBT people that will have a team at the tournament. She said a lot of what the group gets involved with is serious work, so it will be nice to “kick back and keep things lighthearted.”
But as fun as a kickball tournament should be, Broughton’s team isn’t just coming for a good time.
“We’re coming to dominate,” she said.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
