Kicks and Giggles starts off the 11th Season of (CLUB)WAKA Freedom Fridays with their 100th regular season game! They are the first team in the league to reach this milestone!
I saw the flashback post of the photo album from Week 1 of the inaugural season 5 years ago and it got me feeling all the feels!
While reminiscing over the pictures, I remembered that during the season WAKA was doing some kind of national challenge where you can submit a write-up about your team and why they were so great...
So my write-up skills weren't that great.. and probably haven't improved much in five years... but I'm gonna continue anyway...
There are three K&G members from that first season still on the roster: Jennifer (Miller) Neal, PC Sawaengphokhai, and Curtis Blauch. Curtis is the only K&G member to play all 11 seasons!
Many other current players joined a little later, but have been playing with K&G season after season: Chris Hernandez, Christy Remus, Heather Singleton, Jeremy Chappell, Leon Elder, Matt Crawford, Nathan Gallaway, Randall Hammond, Rich Sharp, David Torres, Sarah Szekely, and Yanitza Borreo. This has allowed them to build a solid core group of players and develop a familiarity of play on the field.
Also joining in this season are some K&G newbies: Laura Gonzalez and Stephanie Nagle.
Over the seasons, Kicks and Giggles has gained a lot of on field experience and improved season after season. They finished 2nd in the standings last fall - their highest finish in league history! While the field trophy has never been theirs, they are no strangers to the bar challenge award!
Kicks and Giggles has probably won the bar trophy more than any other team - I don't have the official numbers on that, but I'm pretty confident it's the truth.
With a new bar necklace on the line, Kicks and Giggles is looking to start this season as we finished the last - with the necklace in our possession!
As we begin the 11th season of (CLUB)WAKA Freedom Friday, I expect more of the same from the Kicks and Giggles squad - competitiveness on the field and crushing it at the challenges!
I saw the flashback post of the photo album from Week 1 of the inaugural season 5 years ago and it got me feeling all the feels!
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| VA Freedom Spring 2014 - Week 1 (left to right: Curtis Blauch, Michael Kern, Jennifer (Miller) Neal, Brian Groh) |
While reminiscing over the pictures, I remembered that during the season WAKA was doing some kind of national challenge where you can submit a write-up about your team and why they were so great...
Introducing… Kicks and Giggles!
Making their team
debut to WAKA Kickball, Kicks and Giggles is a solid mix of rookies,
newbies, and veterans. It all started with a group of rookie
teammates who played together in fall on Wednesdays, but deciding to
go their separate ways on spring Wednesdays, they formed a Friday
team to continue playing together. The rookies, all with less than
a year of kickball experience, have caught the kickball addiction and
are excited to play and continue to develop their kickball skills.
Jennifer Miller, with only two seasons of experience, took on
the captain role and quickly brought on Brian Groh as
co-captain, who also has two seasons of experience.
Cory Pochop
brings three seasons of experience and his skills to the pitchers
mound. Stephan Woodard has two seasons of experience and a
big foot, used most notably for his walk-off homerun in the fall
end-of-season tournament. Rounding out the rookies PC
Sawaengphokhai, Kristy Talbot, Sean Hill, Victoria
Davis, Michael Kern, and Jonathan Williams all have
one season of experience each. Together the ten rookies have a
combined fifteen seasons under their belt.
Needing some numbers Kicks and Giggles gathered up some kickball
newbies. Jen brought on Curtis Blauch and Ross Harter,
while Brian brought on Joe and Tracy Conway. They also
picked up the free agent group of Brian Diffley and Mel
Flege.
With such a young
team, Kicks and Giggles snatched up some veteran free agents to bring
experience and kickball knowledge. Coming out of a three-year
kickball leave, Jennifer Barnes joins the WAKA kickball
family, bringing five seasons of experience from other leagues.
Coming back to WAKA, Gregory Woodland continues his
eight-season tradition of never having played with the same team
twice. After captaining this past summer, Adam Waller is
coming back to play bringing four seasons of experience. With
fifteen seasons of experience, same as the entire rookie Kicks and
Giggles combined, Trici Fredrick makes her WAKA return while
still playing and captaining in Williamsburg.
Totaling 57
seasons of experience, which averages less than three seasons per
player, Kicks and Giggles may not seem as much of a threat. Contrary
to what the name and numbers may say, however, Kicks and Giggles are
not as innocent as they seem. Underestimate at your own risk!
Though Kicks and
Giggles on field experience may vary from rookie to seasoned veteran,
the one thing they are all naturals at is winning at the bar! So
don't underestimate them on or off the field!
So my write-up skills weren't that great.. and probably haven't improved much in five years... but I'm gonna continue anyway...
There are three K&G members from that first season still on the roster: Jennifer (Miller) Neal, PC Sawaengphokhai, and Curtis Blauch. Curtis is the only K&G member to play all 11 seasons!
Many other current players joined a little later, but have been playing with K&G season after season: Chris Hernandez, Christy Remus, Heather Singleton, Jeremy Chappell, Leon Elder, Matt Crawford, Nathan Gallaway, Randall Hammond, Rich Sharp, David Torres, Sarah Szekely, and Yanitza Borreo. This has allowed them to build a solid core group of players and develop a familiarity of play on the field.
Also joining in this season are some K&G newbies: Laura Gonzalez and Stephanie Nagle.
Over the seasons, Kicks and Giggles has gained a lot of on field experience and improved season after season. They finished 2nd in the standings last fall - their highest finish in league history! While the field trophy has never been theirs, they are no strangers to the bar challenge award!
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| "Kicks and Giggles' inaugural celebration with the WAKA Goblet and it's going to keep on happening so be prepared!" - Cory Pochop ( |
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| "The trophy before the beer" - Brian Groh ( |
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| Preview of things to come |
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| Kicks and Giggles - EOS Tournament (Fall 2018) |
To all my fellow Kicks and Giggles teammates - past, present, and future - I love you all!
Here's to 100 more!
"JUST FOR..."
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