KICKBALL
Your Name and Sport & Organization: I’m Will Hackner, founder and CEO of the Varsity Gay League. We are the nation’s first queer+ recreational sports organization. How many years have you participated in the Sin City Classic (SCC)? I reached out to the Classic in it’s third year and asked if we could do kickball. It was one of the most exciting experiences we’ve ever had. All of us, strangers united, were hell bent on having the best weekend of our lives, regardless of who won. Many of us are still friends and competitors today. That was January 2014. Now we have 90 teams from 32 cities and it’s so exciting to meet people I never would have ever met, and all of them are united for fun with a common language of kickball. What’s your history with the sport? Have you been primarily an athlete, coach, organizer, or? My history with kickball goes back to 2010 when I founded America’s first queer league in Los Angeles. Kickball was always my favorite game in gym class, going back to when I was six and the kids who could kick the ball and the hit the back wall of the gym would get a home run. I was always too small to make it, but I was obsessed with the game and improving. What does “Sports Diversity” mean to you? I can say that being the bullied little boy who couldn’t shoot hoops, couldn’t throw a football, always messed up a set and couldn’t ice skate but who always wanted to prove that he could hang with all the other kids – sports diversity to me is the idea that everyone has a place in sports if the opportunity is created. Anything else you’d like to share? Kickball isn’t a kid’s game anymore. It’s evolved just like everything else! Our community is loud, proud, fun and very competitive. It’s also a sport anyone can play, and it isn’t as hard on the body as other sports. So maybe check out kickball in your local city.
20 COMPETE 2022 Sin City Classic Sports Festival
