LITTLE ROCK — Since forming three years ago, the Adult Kickball League in Hot Springs has been getting lots of looks, not only for the teams’ wacky attire, but for their performance as well.

A program of the Hot Springs Parks and Recreation Department, the league was awarded the 2010 Sports Management Program of the Year from the Arkansas Recreation and Parks Association. In July, the league will kick off its third season at Kimery Park, on Kimery Lane, with an expected 20 to 30 teams - a significant increase from its initial season.

“People have positive things to say about it, and that always helps with the growth of it,” said Nathan Neighbors, recreation superintendent for Hot Springs Parks and Recreation.

For more than a decade, Parks and Recreation has offered residents the opportunity to play league sports, but didn’t include kickball until 2009. Other league sports include youth softball for girls, adult coed softball, senior softball and coed “Chicago-style” softball. In the winter, Parks and Recreation offers coed indoor soccer for youth, and Neighbors said he hopes to start a dodgeball league in the fall.

“Parks and Rec has always offered softball and your traditional, mainstream American sports,” Neighbors said. “One thing that’s always appealed to me, even growing up, was obscure sports, such as kickball and dodgeball, … and I thought this will be a way for us to touch another demographic that we’re not currently serving.”

He met with members of the Little Rock Kickball Association, who helped him set up some rules and showed him how they structured their league.

“I kind of took their recipe and cooked it into what worked for us,” Neighbors said.

Tom Braughton, assistant fire marshal with the Hot Springs Fire Department, has had a team in the league every year. He heard about the new program from Neighbors, and - having played on the softball league for many years - was eager to form a kickball team.

“He’s trying to cover from January to December with something that everybody in the city can do, where that’s never happened before,” Braughton said of Neighbors. “I think it’s awesome. I think it’s great. The thing is, you get a different variety of people throughout the city that are playing in all the different sports.”

Braughton approached his friends about joining him, and together they formed a team that comprises 14 or 15 players, about half of which are fellow firefighters. The other half of the team is made up of their spouses and friends.

When team members took the field at Kimery Park three years ago, as one of just eight teams, they turned some heads.

“When the Fire Department showed up, they walked into the park wearing all pink,” Neighbors recalled. “It looked like roller derby and Rock of Love got together, … and they had a boom box playing music. It was just really cool.”

Braughton explained that with softball, they had all been “super serious” and “super competitive,” and this was an opportunity to have just fun with friends.

“We try hard and we want to win, but we’re going to have fun doing it,” Braughton said.

The season spans six weeks, with five weeks of league play, followed by a single-elimination tournament. The first year, the team won the league but not the tournament. The second year, the team did not win either, but, Braughton said, “We’ve got renewed vigor this year.”

Word spread about all the fun the team’s players were having, and by the second year, the league had double the number of teams. By then, wigs, hats and outlandish attire were commonplace.

“It caught on, so it was a good trend,” Neighbors said of the Fire Department team’s attire. “They really set a standard for our league. I think it’s helped it exponentially, as far as growing.”

It also helps make a more relaxed atmosphere.

“If there’s a tough play and you’re kind of upset about it, you’re going to have a real hard time being mad when you’re wearing a clown wig,” Neighbors said. “It takes the pressure or the seriousness out of it.”

Despite the costumes, there is a serious side to the league. Each year, teams raise money to fund Saving 2nd Base, a softball tournament in September that benefits the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization and its efforts to fight breast cancer.

In addition to raising money for the tournament, many of the teams also play in it or volunteer time at the event. Last year, the tournament raised $8,300.

“It’s just a way for us to create an avenue for a good cause,” Neighbors said.

Registration for the 2011 season will remain open until Monday, June 20. Teams and individuals may register at 111 Opera St., Suite A. The cost is $250 per team of up to 15 members or $30 per individual. The parks departments has a policy that if enough individual players sign up, the department will help them create a new team.

Players must be at least 18 years old, and at least three female players must be on each team. For more information, call Hot Springs Parks and Recreation at (501) 321-6871.

Tri-Lakes, Pages 125 on 06/05/2011