Kickball Shenanigans


Providence Kickball League (PKL) owns Dexter Park every Saturday through September, but this month’s schedule is particularly heavy on the mayhem that crowds have come to love and expect. First up is the PKL All-Star Game, featuring the best, or maybe just the most enthusiastic, from each of the two divisions’ teams squaring off on July 18 at 4pm. That same day will also find some of PKL’s finest kicking balls in NYC for the Brooklyn Kickball International Tournament where they’ve been invited to wage all-out war against Philadelphia. According to PKL Commissioner Sean Larkin, “Last year a team from Philly beat [Brooklyn] so this year’s a big revenge match.”

Providence Kickball League 2015 from Providence Monthly on Vimeo.

Of course nothing exemplifies blood feuds, athletic theatrics and shenanigans quite like wrestling, so it only makes sense that PKL will have a crossover match with Providence’s own Beyond Wrestling on July 25.

Hijinks reign supreme for PKL. Any given Saturday is chock full of more double entendres involving “balls” than Deflategate, and there are rules that apply to the spilling of your beer... if the umps feel like upholding them. Plus there are the costumes, some hilarious, some sexy and a fair share that just can’t be comfortable on a Saturday in July, but if it gets a rise out of the crowd it’s worth it.

“The league is something that embraces counter-culture and ridiculous behavior at the same time as good sportsmanship,” says Commissioner Larkin. “I feel like we have a good healthy balance of shenanigans alongside athleticism.”