October 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 29

of their life because it is a lifetime sport. "
In Reading, Pennsylvania, 10 and Under Tennis allows Larry Zerbe to " take
tennis wherever. " As tennis director for
the City of Reading, he not only offers
tennis in elementary schools year-round
with the goal of reaching every student
by the fifth grade, he also takes tennis to
Boys and Girls Clubs, swimming pools,
and church basements.
" Kids just want to play, " Zerbe says.
" You can drop nets anywhere. "

10 and
Under
Tennis

Quickball Baseball

the staff to run it like baseball. "
In Tunica County, Mississippi, Quickball has been played for the past three
years in after-school programs and summer camp. Jessie Davis notes that the
game provides additional practice in
catching, hitting, and throwing as part of
the fun.
" My kids love baseball, " Davis says.
" But it does help with recruitment also.
More kids are starting to enjoy it and then
it makes it easier for me to move them to
the outside and implement the game of
baseball itself. "
Brenes says that while interest in baseball is still high in Fayetteville, kids are
drifting away from the sport at inner city
sites. Quickball is offered as part of a

comprehensive youth development program that also includes Badges for Baseball, which brings positive interactions
with law enforcement, and Healthy Choices, Healthy Kids, which provides healthy
lifestyle lessons. Fayetteville received a
grant from the Ripken Foundation to start
its program two years ago.
Because of the game's f lexibility,
Brenes was able to offer Quickball as
part of the Fayetteville Very Special Arts
Festival for children with disabilities.
Both children with disabilities and children without disabilities were able to play
Quickball. Fayetteville also uses Quickball in its " Buddy Baseball " program.
" We wanted to get kids excited about
baseball again....We had a lot of girls

qu ic k b a l l

baseball

w w w . N R P A . O R G O C T O B E R 2 0 1 1 Parks

David Emkey / Ripken Quickball

" We call it controlled chaos, " chuckles
Jeff Breslin of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Foundation, describing a game of Quickball.
" We love it because even for the little kid
who can't play or doesn't have any skills,
everybody's so busy running around and
yelling and screaming that nobody notices if he or she misses the ball. "
Quickball is a version of baseball using special equipment that can be played
indoors or outside. Although there are
several variations, in a typical Quickball
game kids line up to hit as many balls
as they can in a certain time period. No
matter whether they hit the ball or not,
the batters run the bases. The children
themselves can set up the scoring rules
for where the ball must be hit in order
to earn points. Meanwhile, on defense,
the kids scramble to get as many of the
balls as possible into a bucket next to the
pitcher before time runs out, thus determining the score for their side. The game
uses whiffle-ball-type plastic bats but the
balls are much softer and usually travel
no farther than 50 feet, so gloves are not
needed.
" It's easier to set up, easier to run, and
easier to participate in, " says Juan Brenes,
recreation supervisor for FayettevilleCumberland Parks and Recreation in
North Carolina. " It's adaptable. You can
play it indoors; you can play it outdoors.
You can play it with 10 kids, or teams of
20 kids, or even 30 kids....You don't need

& Recreation 27

October 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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