Free Writing {Kickball}

Today is going to be a bit different here in pinkland.

Don't worry, nothing too drastic, just a bit of a change of pace.

For the most part this blog has about my day to day life, big events, funny pictures, current events and of course my totally random humor. I write the way I speak [generally] and try to keep things light and fluffy when possible.

But, I've started to wonder, is that enough? Am I using this space to the best of my abilities? Is there MORE that I could be doing, writing, saying? Can I push  my self to actually write? Am I willing to branch out and let the words speak without the italics, bold or underlined words?

In order to push myself I thought I would do some random free writing. A set time, length and topic and once completed NO revisions [unless there is something horrific]. Sometimes I catch myself worrying too much about the right prose, verbiage or look and I lose sight of the flow.

This challenge kicks off today, with kickball as a subject. If you're already bored, I don't blame you. No hard feelings if you choose to click the lil red X. This post isn't about comments, questions or pageviews. It's about me, my writing and kickball. Cheers!

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I am a 30 [soon to be 31] year old woman and I play travel, professional kickball. Yes, kickball, like in elemenatary or middle school. Yes, we use a kickball similar to children and yes, we pay money to travel to play in tournaments to win money. And YES, we take this sport extremely seriously.

I first joined kickball in 2010 as a joke to play with my roommate at the time. She was not athletic in the least, but she met a ton of friends playing in her league and ended up at the bar every Thursday night. I was nearing the end of my hay-day of partying, but I thought, "Why not?", joined her team and boom my kickball career began. Well, not really. Her team was horrifically awful. Just terrible. There were probably three athletic people on the team, including me, and we got crushed every week. I hated it. The bar was fun, but competing was the worst thing in the world. I was considering walking away and then I was recruited to another team, a more serious team that needed a speedy, athletic team for their championship team.

That phone call was the weirdest calls in history and it was one that changed my life. I said yes to a random team, knowing NO ONE else, because I just felt it was something I HAD to try. I mean, they were going to Vegas in the fall for the championship, what girl says no to her first time to Vegas? So yes, Vegas was the selling point, because honestly, the worst thing that could happen was joining the team, making friends and losing in Vegas. Doesn't sound that horrible to me. I like to think I ended up with the best case scenario, since I met my husband on our team and now have a ton of friends I wouldn't have met without that phone call.

Oh did you catch that word, husband? Yeah, I met Le Husband because of kickball as strange as you may think that is as a meeting point. But, if you lived in DC, you honestly wouldn't find it that strange at all. If you walk along the National Mall any night during the week once spring appears, you will find multiple fields covered with multiple coeds playing kickball in multiple different colored shirts. I have more couples as friends that have met their SO playing kickball. Friends have become life long friends all due to a lil red ball and some bases.

People always joke me about playing kickball, especially when they find out how much I shell out a year to travel. This year alone, I will be traveling to Ft. Lauderdale, Atlanta, Austin, Harrisburg, DC [home], Las Vegas and San Antonio for tournaments. That's a lot of flights, hotels, meals and dinero, but I still do it. Even though I've talked it down, been frustrated and thought about quitting, I can't because it's my niche right now.

Le Husband and I love to compete and this is kind of our last hoorah. We both were college athletes  [he was a super star, I was average] and the level of competition at these tournaments is insane. This isn't your daddy's kickball though. It's the closest thing to being a college athlete I've found since graduating. I play against former professional athletes, college superstars and some mack-daddy talented people. At times it's intimidating, but most of the time it's a whole heck of a lot of fun, especially when we win.

Winning the championship with Le Husband in 2012 is one of my favorite memories. 2012 was also the year that I finally felt 'worthy' to be dating him in the kickball world. He's a stud. He's one of the bests and everyone knows him. I rarely get to hang out with him at the after parties because everyone wants to chat him up about kickball. It's kind of cute and kind of funny. But, it was really  hard to just be 'the girlfriend' of the superstar. But, the year we won I was part of a podcast that was broadcast online every other month and it was a blast. We discussed tournaments, teams, rules and the social events. I became known as Pinky and had people coming up to me to talk kickball at events and that was so much fun. My fellow hosts were awesome and we were a great clique. I have so many fond memories that year and every time I look at my Louis Vuitton I think about how I won the money to buy him.

To sum it up, since 2011 kickball has become my life. My sisters made fun of me for playing and now they are on the team with me and Le Husband. We had a table and half of kickball friends at our wedding and the pictures I have with them are so significant. Kickball helped me find my husband, it helped me find my friends, it helped me find my niche and it helped me find myself. I wouldn't be where I am today, without that silly childhood game.