With all the recent celebrity deaths, it's not uncommon for people to blame the year 2016. All over social media, I see people saying stuff like, "2016 is the worst!". It's almost become a meme. But you know what? For those of us in the Hampton Roads CLUBWAKA community, 2016 hasn't been that bad. In fact, it's been a blast! We opened up new kickball leagues in Virginia Beach and Williamsburg and introduced new sports like Ultimate, Bowling, and Volleyball. Our community grew to over 2,000 active members, which means several new friendships, relationships, and memories created. There were engagements. weddings, championships, and parties. Oh yeah. Don't forget the parties. As is our annual tradition, let's take a look back at the year 2016 in CLUBWAKA Hampton Roads.
JANUARY
- January 10th saw unusually high temps in the 70s. Only one thing to do. Get 25 friends together and go play some pickup kickball.
- As a newly hired full-time CLUBWAKA staff member, I shared some thoughts on why I chose this career. After one year on the job, I still feel the same way. Stronger, actually.
- The warm winter weather wouldn't last however. The great blizzard of 2016 wiped out the opening day of VA Raptor kickball on January 23rd.
- VA Peninsula introduced a new tiered conference structure on January 25th. By separating into the Jungle Gym and David Tortolini divisions, it ensured more evenly balanced schedules. The new format was a big hit with a majority of players welcoming the change.
- On January 30th, VA Raptor finally kicked off!
- Randy Orton made an appearance during week 1 and interfered in the Shiver Me Timbers vs. Beast Mode game. His run-in ultimately would not make the difference as Beast Mode still won the game.
FEBRUARY
- The brand new CLUBWAKA VA Admiral Kickball League welcomed Brickhouse Tavern on board as the official postgame sponsor. Lots of Bud Lights and delicious pies were consumed on Wednesday nights in 2016.
- Following the week 2 VA Raptor games, we took over the Greene Turtle for the first of two great parties.
Great time this afternoon! Thank you @GreeneTurtleHam for hosting us! pic.twitter.com/lgS8QrfbHQ— CLUBWAKA Hampton Rds (@WAKA757) February 7, 2016
- Brad Kirby took some incredible photos all winter long. Here's an album of some of his best shots of the VA Raptor season.
MARCH
- CLUBWAKA made a great first impression on Williamsburg when we hosted our first ever pre-season pub crawl. Five locations in 4 hours. It turned into a bit of a shit show towards the end, but it was a blast!
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| The 5 O'Clockers returned to WAKA action with the opening of VA Admiral. |
- On March 9th, VA Peninsula Kickball named Brian Neal as the new commissioner. Brian did an amazing job in two seasons at the head of "the flagship".
- For the 3rd year in a row, the VA Raptor Kickball finals came down to Beast Mode and The Situation. Once again, The Situation emerged victorious and won their fourth winter title.
Our kickball team just won the 2016 .@WAKA_Kickball VA Raptor CHAMPIONSHIP in Hampton. Now we get to go to VEGAS!!! pic.twitter.com/A1IAnJJ4Q3— LaSalle Blanks13News (@13LaSalleBlanks) March 12, 2016
- On March 19th, CLUBWAKA participated in the famous Ocean View St. Patrick's Day Parade. It was so much fun building a float and marching. And yes, the post-parade festivities at Greenies was pretty good too!
— Brent Wentworth (@brent_wentworth) March 19, 2016
- The VA Admiral pre-season meet n greet was held at Aleworks Brewing Company in Williamsburg on March 29th. Great turnout!
APRIL
- No April Fools joke. VA Freedom kicked off the spring season on April 1st!
- The weather was cold and rainy for the 2nd Annual VA Varsity tournament. Regardless, 6 teams had great attitudes and gutted out four games to raise money for the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life.
- VA Atlantic started another fun season of #MondayNightKickball on April 4th.
- Finally! CLUBWAKA comes to Williamsburg! For the first time ever, VA Admiral Kickball opened up at Kiwanis Park.
- On April 13th, the VA Peninsula spring season began. Between Hampton and Williamsburg, 25 kickball teams were in action on Wednesday nights in the spring!
The first "After-Midnight Photo" of the Spring 2016 WAKA VA Peninsula Kickball Season! #WAKAWednesday @TappsVirginia pic.twitter.com/xYNsqLixaw— CLUBWAKA Hampton Rds (@WAKA757) April 14, 2016
- On April 16th, CLUBWAKA kickballers volunteered to serve beers at a Reggae concert at War Memorial Stadium. The players earned over $1,250 in tips that were donated to the American Cancer Society!
#WAKAWilliamsburg showed up in force at Brickhouse last night! #kickball #hrva #williamsburg #waka pic.twitter.com/Grux8sVD4d— CLUBWAKA Hampton Rds (@WAKA757) April 28, 2016
- Pop Pop displayed some interesting fashion choices with their April 29th VA Freedom kickball win.
MAY
- Rain. Lots of rain for the month of May. Unfortunately, this led to lots of rain outs.
- May The Fourth Be With You.
#WAKAKicksCancer raised over $10k for @RelayForLife this year. Today we celebrated at @NNRelay4Life. Great event! pic.twitter.com/hCOcJRH6fb— Brent Wentworth (@brent_wentworth) May 8, 2016
- The 13th fell on a Friday. So, that means that some VA Freedom kickballers had to get into the spirit.
- On May 14th, The Greene Turtle hosted another killer CLUBWAKA party.
- The 3rd annual CLUBWAKA MidAtlantic Regional Kickball Tournaments was held in Virginia Beach. Kickball teams from all over the east coast were competing for charity and prize money. Eye Candy won the new charity division. The Hammerheads earned the regional championship. And 50 Cent showed up to our after-party at Peabody's.
- The VA Peninsula Bar Buzz Belt spent Memorial Day Weekend at Naval Station Norfolk, courtesy of Justen Wullenwaber.
Sometimes, both teams just have to combine for a post-game hokey pokey. #WilliamsburgWAKA #kickball #thefunlife pic.twitter.com/3w9gQKHKvO— CLUBWAKA Hampton Rds (@WAKA757) May 31, 2016
JUNE
- Introducing CLUBWAKA Ultimate Frisbee! The brand new summer league in Hampton began on June 5th!
- The 5 O'Clockers capped off an undefeated season with a championship in the VA Admiral Kickball tournament. The final game could have been smoother, though. The lights cut out in the 4th inning of the championship game! Ever since that dark ending on June 8th, the trophy has been dubbed "The Lights Out Cup".
- On June 11th, Pop Pop earned their 4th VA Freedom Kickball Championship with a hard fought victory over Pitches Love Bunkbeds.
- On June 13th, the VA Atlantic playoffs began. Jiminy Kick-It defeated the Gucci Dolphins to make the finals. On the other side of the bracket, the Kung Fu Pandas knocked off the top-seeded 2L2K to punch a ticket to the championship. Unfortunately, the city lights blew out and the finals had to be postponed until June 20th.
- Thursday, June 16th marked the beginning of another awesome season of Sand Volleyball at Paradise Ocean Club. This summer, we had 10 teams hitting the beach and bumping the ball around.
- June 18th was the date of the VA Peninsula Kickball Tournaments. The Chaotic KILFs were crowned champions of the David Tortolini Realty Conference while Plan B took home the Wentworth Trophy® for winning the Jungle Gym Conference.
Because it's 2016, the law says all championship runner ups must get the #CryingMJ treatment. Even in kickball. pic.twitter.com/l04G7YOvQ6— Brent Wentworth (@brent_wentworth) June 19, 2016
- Some of Brad Kirby's pics were shared to reddit. The comments were pretty awesome.
- The VA Atlantic Finals were resumed in Virginia Beach. Jiminy Kick-It became the first two-time champions of the #MondayNightKickball league!
- A kickball wedding! Laurel and Mike Ramey met playing in CLUBWAKA VA Peninsula kickball in 2013. On June 25th, they were married!
- June 26th was Draft Day for VA Patriot kickballers! 174 players threw their name into the hat and were drafted to new teams for the summer!
Today is the deadline for the VA Patriot Draft Kickball League! Join today at https://t.co/WkurgSa8tu pic.twitter.com/u4AJ42MnSP— CLUBWAKA Hampton Rds (@WAKA757) June 22, 2016
- With the growth of the Newport News, Hampton, and York County-based leagues, we made a decision to go with a monthly regional party for the Peninsula instead of the traditional mid-season and end of season format. More parties! Hooray!
JULY
- On July 10th, we opened up a new summer kickball league in Virginia Beach. VA Shore aka Sunday Funday featured the hottest kickball action in Hampton Roads (literally). After the games, players cooled off with some cold Bud Lights at Chicho's.
- Some nights, like July 14th, things are just weird at kickball.
- We had a great time chatting with people at the Red White & Brew Festival in Virginia Beach on July 16th.
- Remember Pokemon Go? It was a thing for a while. We hosted an open kickball game with a pokemon theme on July 17th. "Team Instinct" (yellow) ended up winning the day.
- Another kickball wedding!!! On July 23rd, Emily and Frank Council were wed. They began their journey together after a winter kickball game in 2014.
- The first season of VA Peninsula Ultimate came to a close on July 24th. Rumspringa showed their dominance with the disc, winning the first ever league championship!
AUGUST
- August 10th was Bowl Week in VA Patriot Kickball! Big Booty Throws ended up being the top champion of the summer!
- On August 17th, the Bar Buzz Belt made the trip across the country with PBJT's Kim Orange to check out the sights in San Diego.
- Double rainbow sighting at Paradise Ocean Club! What does this mean?!?
- With a new leader (Josh Carr), new fields (Kiln Creek Park), and a new sponsor (County Grill), VA Freedom Kickball launched the fall season on August 19th.
- The summer sand volleyball season came to an end. Kinky Sets ended up winning the championship after a season of excellent competition.
- August 24th was opening day of the 2nd VA Admiral Kickball season!
- We had an on-field proposal! Following a VA Freedom game, Eric Cosma got down on one knee and asked Megan Kramer for her hand in marriage. She said yes!
- The DEOC Charity Tournament was held on August 27th in Hampton. This unique event flips the script and limits the guys to only four spots in the field. CAKE ended up winning the tournament and a donation of $1,740 was made in their name to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Later that night, Olde Towne Tavern hosted our August blowout.
- The first ever VA Shore Kickball league came to a close. The Norfolk Suns earned their first CLUBWAKA Championship! The postgame celebration featured a tasty CLUBWAKA cake made by Commissioner Liza Maula. (8/28)
SEPTEMBER
- Nothing is better than seeing people meet at CLUBWAKA, fall in love, and get married. Journey and Nick Schmidt were wed on September 3rd in a beautiful ceremony.
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| No kickball wedding is complete without the Bar Buzz Belt. |
- September 7th was opening day of the 20th season of CLUBWAKA VA Peninsula Kickball!
- VA Atlantic Opening Night! #MondayNightKickball began for the fall on September 12th.
- CLUBWAKA players from all over the Peninsula enjoyed another great blowout at The Greene Turtle.
- New logo. New Peninsula Bar Buzz Belt. One of the best photos of the new belt came from Balls & Dolls' Barry Utter (below).
OCTOBER
- No better way to ring in October than with an Oktoberfest theme week!
- All season long, the Gucci Dolphins mascot was kidnapped. Found. Kidnapped. Found. The cycle continued. At one point, there were dolphins everywhere. I don't even really know exactly what was going on, to be honest.
- One of the best bar challenges every season is the VA Peninsula "Shirt Swap" week. (10/12)
- On October 15th, CLUBWAKA sponsored the inaugural Craft Beer Bash at War Memorial Stadium. 10 awesome breweries. Rocking live music. Beautiful weather. It was pretty much perfect. Best part was the event helped raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula.
- Another weekend, another charity event. The CLUBWAKA Kicks Cancer Tournament was on 10/22. 15 teams competed and raised over $5k to benefit the Sentara Cancer Network Mission Funds. In the end, Save the Brewbies took home the championship!
- Of course, it wouldn't be October without Halloween theme weeks to close it out. Rumspringa always goes all out in VA Peninsula.
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| From the director's cut of "Batman v. Superman" |
NOVEMBER
- On the first Saturday of November, two kickball championships were decided. Resting Pitch Face earned the VA Admiral title, while Cardiac Arrest claimed the VA Freedom 'chip.
- The Chicago Cubs won the World Series and many people couldn't help but notice the similarities between catcher David Ross and Pop Pop kickballer Matt Seaford. Separated at birth?
- Every Veterans Day, we take the time to salute all of our service men and women in our leagues.
- The VA Peninsula playoffs were held on November 19th. Rumspringa took home the David Tortolini Realty Championship while the Night Sweats won the Jungle Gym title. Anthony Williams became the first player in VA Peninsula history to win 8 Wentworth Trophies®!
- Following the DT Conference Championship, Ricky Holmes and Rumspringa helped raise over $1,000 to provide clean drinking water to impoverished people.
- After a rainout pushed the original date back, a champion was crowned in VA Atlantic. Public Enemy took home the trophy! Nick Sutton was on hand to take some incredible action shots of the teams competing.
- The brand new CLUBWAKA VA Peninsula Bowling league celebrated opening night in Hampton on November 28th. The league maxed out at 10 teams!
- Indoor Volleyball in Newport News began on November 30th. 12 teams are bumping, setting, and mingling on Wednesday nights this winter!
DECEMBER
My kickball team ROCKS!!!!! They surprised me with this amazing Christmas gift!!! pic.twitter.com/NlqxjySOon— LaSalle Blanks13News (@13LaSalleBlanks) December 4, 2016
- Tradition Brewing hosted our annual Tacky Sweater Party on December 10th. Jiselle Anderson and Missy Aaron organized a raffle that helped raise $480 for the Carden Family.
— Brent Wentworth (@brent_wentworth) December 13, 2016
- Team "Chewblocka" showed excellent form in pre-game warmups on December 14th.
- On December 15th, registration opened for the majority of CLUBWAKA's Spring Leagues, most of which were at a special discounted price. The 'flash sale' was a huge hit and over 200 players took advantage of the deals. This spring is going to be incredible!
- We took over Downtown Hampton for the CLUBWAKA WinterWonderland Charity Bar Crawl. Sixty-plus holiday revelers got in the spirit and drank a lot of spirits. We also raised money for the Boys & Girls Club of the Virginia Peninsula and collected a ton of cool gifts for the kids.
- Jillian Simms hosted a special yoga class at Tribal Yoga on Sunday, December 18th. Participants were asked to bring donations and all proceeds went to the CLUBWAKA Kicks Cancer Relay For Life team. Altogether, they raised $535 to fight cancer!
What a year it was! With as long as this post is, there is no doubt that I left out some great memories. There's always something going on and it's pretty incredible when you stop to think about it. So, I don't care what anyone says, 2016 was alright in my book. Thank you all for the tremendous year and can't wait to see you all in 2017!
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