The Recess Kickball League held its sixth annual All-Star Showcase and Championship Game and its first-ever Home Run Derby at St. John’s Park in Crown Heights on Saturday, Sept. 12.
RKL began during the pandemic when a group of five friends wanted to go outside “in a way that was still kind of safely social distanced,” according to co-founder Christopher Thomas. The answer turned out to consist of a rubber ball, four bases and two teams.
The expansion happened naturally from there, when the group decided to invite more people and add structure. The Brooklyn league now boasts 10 teams and has even expanded nationally, launching in Los Angeles in 2023. Since then, notable guests have included CBS host Gayle King and Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“It was like, a friend tell a friend to bring a friend, and then it's grown from there,” Thomas said.
RKL has also grown into more than just kickball.
This year’s events featured many ways to give back to the community, including a shoe drive in partnership with the PLYMKRS Foundation, a food drive in collaboration with Camp Friendship and a women’s toiletry collection for the Felipe Family Residence Brooklyn Shelter. There were many local vendors supplying food, drinks and baked goods for the game.
On Sept. 19, RKL volunteers will return to St. John’s Park for the league’s annual park cleanup.
Desmond Dunn got involved three years ago when he first moved to New York, after seeing a post about it on Instagram. Originally, Dunn volunteered as part of the front office, participating in setting things up and communicating with fans. This year, he participated in the Home Run Derby.
“What’s really cool is like, people come out who don’t care to play but just want to support their friends or be around community and build new friendships and connections,” Dunn said.
Community impact is a common theme of the event, and as the afternoon went on, more and more people showed up to watch. Carla Aponte was there for the first time to support her friend playing on the gold team.
“It seems like a very community forward event and a lot of people are here showing love so I’m excited to see how the game is gonna go. I love kickball,” Aponte said.
The 24Karats team (gold) ultimately took home the championship.
“This is not a money grab, this is a community based thing,” said co-founder Daemon “Tubbs” Snead. “We all got 9-to-5s and side projects and [are] busy doing whatever we doing but we take the time to just have something for ourselves and for the people that we love.”
