WAKA – World Adult Kickball Association

I play down in Fort Lauderdale. I love playing kickball, but unfortunately it’s all a joke come playoff time. There are a handful of teams that have been doing this for so long. They all are friends with each other, and they all have good teams for the most part. Our team has played two years now, and this year we had a pretty high seed. Unfortunately come playoff time the «organizers» failed to provide referees for the games. What happened was the higher seeded team had their friends ref. The whole time the refs were drinking and laughing with the other team. We ended up losing, and none of the ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ calls went our way. If you’re joining to get drunk in the middle of the week and kick a ball around it’s fun. If you want that, and want to win then you’re out of luck come playoff time. The people who run Waka down here aren’t organized, and care more about getting drunk than the games. I care about getting drunk too, but I don’t work for the company. Kickball is fun, but come playoff time it’s a joke because they aren’t organized at all

Wonderful venue to meet new, social people. Very welcoming group and perfect way to unwind and have some fun, circa the third grade. Highly recommend.

Great experiences all around. A proper balance between competitiveness and fun. Customer service is always top notch and the communication is excellent. As long as you know how to open and read your email its a pretty simple process.

WAKA is for Winners. This is the best post college decision of my life. I originally joined in CA and when I moved to Boston I joined up here and it has been amazing. The independence league in Cambridge has some of the best people I know and I’m pumped for next season to start! J.M. knows how to keep the sports serious while still having a blast of an after party!

WAKA is seriously SO MUCH FUN. Joined the Cambridge league after moving back to the Boston area, and some of my coolest friends are from WAKA now. Seriously, try this out for a season, you’ll stay for a long time. Also, shout-​out to Jonathan Marshall :) best WAKA leader hand’s down.

I had several really fun seasons with WAKA across the US, including two in Boston. Great people and an easy way to meet people outside your normal circle.

Poorly organized. Expensive. 24+ people to a team – so yeah, more about the after party if you’re into that. I would liken this to taking a social cooking class and only getting to melt butter and then leaving to go drink crappy light beer afterwards with kids that just graduated from college.

This is a new-​comers dream come true. No one likes moving to a new city and feeling completely out of place. You don’t know any one and you find yourself getting excited to do laundry on the weekends just to pass time and loneliness. Ok, I admit, that’s slightly dramatic and maybe a bit true. I joined WAKA when my childhood friend moved into the city so she could meet people outside her grad school program. After trying another kickball league, I just didn’t want to enroll in a free agent alone.
The concept of adult kickball leagues is pretty standard, you play a game of kickball and then you head to a bar to drink. At a previous league, everyone hangs out only with their team mates and hardly any mingling happens between teams. It’s quite the opposite with WAKA and I could give credit to the company but the people make the difference. If you’re not a person that likes high energy or loud bars, you’re best off never joining this league. You really have to be prepare for happy, excited and really fun people. Yes the teams can be very competitive on the field but you may also make friends for a lifetime. It’s cheesy, but I’ve found it to be truth in the making.

AWESOME!
great way to meet people! really relaxed and fun :)
i enjoyed the bar after kickball better than kickball!

You know that feeling an eleven-​year old has when dreaming of their life after they’ve grown up and moved to the big city? You totally envision yourself partying at fancy bars, becoming active in local organizations, and basically kicking ass at being you. Well, after I moved to Boston, I got stuck in a rut: the most normal, boring, blah rut EVER. Then I discovered WAKA Kickball and it pulled me from my rut with lightning speed. Thank God, you guys. My weeks were verging on middle-​aged. Here is why kickball is awesome:
1. Not only do I spend my Monday and/​or Wednesday nights making a fool out of myself kicking a big red rubber ball, I get to go to Samba Bar and Grill and make an even BIGGER fool out of myself playing flip cup and engaging in dance-​offs.
2. Kickball breaks up the work week (at least in the Somerville league) and keeps me motivated until the weekend rolls around.
3. You cannot be mean and play kickball. I mean, anyone that is playing a recreational child’s game at the age of 20+ must not take themselves very seriously. Good news if you want to meet fun new people!
4. Somehow, WAKA organizational leaders have convinced local bars that it is okay to play flipcup and beirut in their establishments. I can’t think of a reason to top that so I’ll stop there.
Seriously though, if you’re looking for an easy going, super fun change of pace, I would recommend looking into WAKA.

One of my favorite things about our wonderful city of Boston is the abundance of active adults. Every day, I see more people running, biking or playing sports per capita than I have anywhere else. I am always quick to applaud the city and surrounding towns (way to go Cambridge and Somerville) for the wealth of outdoor activities, both solo and team-​related, available to residents.
One of my favorite such Boston-​based young-​people-​centric outdoor activities is my weekly WAKA game at Roberto Clemente Field in the Fens. My team, the Electric Mayhem, has been together for years in the Ironsides League (there are several leagues in town), and through it I have met some of the nicest and most fun folks you can hope for. If anyone ever thinks that it’s hard to make new friends, sign up for a WAKA team and you’ll have a dozen new ones after a day.
The Ironsides League (and I hear the same about the other ones) is just competitive enough to be fun. Teams have a vested interest in winning and playing hard, but not so much of an interest that folks get disgusted and enraged after a loss. Everyone’s there to just play and have a good time. The leagues are all well-​managed and that management leads to the quality of organization and general spirit of WAKA in Boston.
So yeah, in short, get some comfy sneakers on and get to the field. It’s game time.

Yep, kickball is the highlight of my week. Seriously! Maybe its the beer? Maybe its the bad calls, awesome saves, pegging people with a big red ball, bar after, or the people… but something makes me look forward to thursdays now. And its WAKA. I joined for the first time this year and it will def not be my last. The teams are great. The theme music is impressive and the sport totally rocks. Join kickball… in Waltham. Its awesome :)

I have met all of my favorite people in Boston this way. I played several seasons in Boston during the summer and one in Somerville, and the Sunday league in Boston (MA Ironsides) is definitely where it’s at. It’s changed over the years — apparently it was once totally full of hot guys and now it’s a lot of girls — but the bottom line is that boring people don’t play kickball! Annoying people do, but there are enough cool people around that they’re not really an issue. I would just say that a prerequisite to play is that you like to drink! Also, try to get on a good/​fun/​cohesive team if possible.
The MA Ironsides website: