Norfolk Squad Kicks Home National Title
There's two myths that the Frosty Balls kickball squad would like to clear up.
First, there's the fable about their sport being a "children's game."
About three years ago, Larry Liverman and his wife Terri were looking for a way to stay active together. They'd been through tae kwon do (Terri won a national title two decades ago, and instructed Larry all the way to his own black belt) and thought about softball, but they weren't sure.
One day, Larry was watching the WVEC news, and noticed newscaster LaSalle Blanks extolling the virtues of his kickball team, the Frosty Balls.
"I thought it was the silliest thing I'd ever seen," Larry recalled. "It was a game for kids! But Terri convinced me to go sign up, and it's been history ever since. Now we play two or three times a week."
They're by far not the only ones, even in the immediate vicinity; several nights a week, hundreds gather across Hampton Roads to play in such leagues as the World Association of Adult Recreation and World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA) groups.
"When you leave college and come into the real world," Blanks said during a break in the action at a league night at Fort Story, "there aren't that many opportunities that allow you to experience that sense of team. Out here, you get to be with friends and do other things."
The second misconception that the Ballsters want to change is that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - when one finds what they did in the City That's Almost Its Own State, they don't mind sharing it with everyone.
Last winter, the Balls qualified for the WAKA Founder's Cup national championships by winning a regular season title. They'd been to the event in Boston the year before and made it to the top 16, but for 2008's event, they'd have to go a little farther.
Of course, making the trip to Vegas would be worth it if they could also go farther once there.
In the 2007 event, said Blanks, "we really got to see what competitive kickball is like. It's war! Pitchers whip the ball in, and it bounces, curves, and hits you. It's like dodgeball."
That's a situation in which the squad would find itself all day Aug. 30, and even into the 31st as well - the tourney kicked off at about 2:30 p.m., and the winner would have to take home seven victories in a day (games go five innings or 45 minutes).
Ranked 25th in a field of over 50, the Balls got off to a quick start, charging past an Arizona squad, 11-0. Their second match, against the charmingly-named Screw the Team, would be a bit tougher; the Florida Team was ranked fifth in the nation.
"We knew that if we could hang with them, we could go somewhere," Blanks said. They did, eking out a narrow 1-0 victory.
"That was awesome," Blanks said. "We went on an incredible ride."
The Balls kept rolling, beating squads from Georgia and Massachusetts. Then they dug in against Hey, Woah!, which had caused some serious woe to the Balls' neighbors; the New York squad, tops in the country, had knocked teams from Hampton and Norfolk from the Cup.
"You have to have some luck on your side, and some fire and determination," Blanks explained. "Every single play was like rooting for your team in the World Series."
Perhaps that's why everyone went crazy when the Balls came out on top 2-1, and rolled into the title game, against the Meat Balls of Florida, also a member of the top five.
By now, it was the wee hours of Sunday morning, and Blanks tried to keep his squad's intensity up.
"I'm the captain, so keeping energy up was my job," he said. "I was yelling at them, inspiring them, saying 'Let's go, let's go! We're gonna win this thing! We're this close!'"
On the mound, Dan Nicols tried to keep his intensity up and his arm attached.
"I have big enough hands to palm the ball, so I can throw it like a baseball," said Nicols, nicknamed "The Man," and "The Machine," by his teammates. "I take a running start like I'm trying to throw somebody out from centerfield. It's just like pitching in baseball (he played that in high school), trying to place the ball in a different spot and keep the kicker off-balance. I try to overpower people, and the ball spins off their foot, so they foul out (four foul balls is an out in kickball)."
Though she'd caught quite a few balls while helping First Colonial to the top of the Beach District in as a soccer goalkeeper, the Vegas games were a new experience for Kate Barcus.
"I was insanely nervous," said the outfielder. "It was intense and crazy. When we grinded (our win over Screw the Team) out, we knew we could go farther than anyone gave us hope for. It was such a good feeling. The only thing that was going through my mind was the time that I spent playing goalie, so I was thinking, 'No mistakes!'"
Neither team made many for the first few innings, as no one pushed across a runner. Blanks started to get worried; if a team hasn't won after seven innings, games are decided by - are you ready for this? - a game of rock-paper-scissors. Blanks' team lost a game by that manner in a $5,000 tournament two years ago.
"We weren't going to have any rock-paper-scissors," he said. "We were going to take it home."
They took their first step in the third, as the Balls finally got on the board. The defense held, and Kellam Terry led off the fourth, and "bunted" a single. Terri moved him over with a single of her own.
The next kicked smack a ball up the third base line. The third baseman grabbed it, and launched it at Terry. As the ball soared at him, Terry took to the sky.
"I was probably no more than a foot or two off the ground," Terry said. "Fortunately, he threw at my legs and not at my head." The ball skittered under him and went to the outfield, and he kept going.
"As soon as I hopped over it, I felt like it was going forever away from me," he said, "so I just ran home and scored."
The lead was two, and there were three outs to get. As the home team, the Meat Balls had the last at-bat (or at-kick).
With competitors from all over the tournament cheering him on from the sidelines, Nicols headed to the mound one more time.
"At that point, I was trying to give everything that I had," he said. "I wanted to throw my arm out." Facing the top of the order, he got the first two kickers, and one more opponent stood between the Balls and national prominence.
"I was hoping he would kick it right back at me," Nicols said. "It was poetic justice to have the ball come back to me, to end the game and the tournament. I was praying that it would be a line shot right up the middle."
He rolled, and the kicker blasted a rocket. Rising steadily off the ground, the ball headed straight for centerfield.
That is, until it slammed into Nicols' hands and waist. Grasping the ball - and the Cup - in his hands, he lay back on the ground and started screaming.
"I was so fired up," he said. "I rolled on my stomach and waited for people to pile on me."
Dozens of players rushed the field, cheering for the Balls. Some jumped on Nicols, some on each other. Hugs and high-fives were exchanged. Beer and champagne were poured, and dumped on the winners. Confetti rained down on America's finest.
"It was one of the coolest things I've ever been a part of," Nicols said. "It's the sort of thing that makes you almost speechless."
In a corner of the infield, Blanks knelt down and wiped tears from his face.
"We believed in our team," he said. "It was great seeing my team jump up and down like we won the World Series. Anyone who's played the game during recess can appreciate winning the title in kickball!"
They're already on their way back - several members of the squad, including Blanks, said they plan to make the trip again in 2009 (the event's tentatively scheduled to be held back in Vegas). Meanwhile, back in Hampton Roads, members stay in kicking shape on weeknights.
"It's amazing how many people do this," Larry said (Terri called the Founder's Cup the second-biggest sports thrill of her life, behind the tae kwon do title). "There's doctors, lawyers, business owners, truck drivers like myself, every different type of job you can think of, hanging out together and having fun. It keeps us in shape, and keeps us busy."
