WAKA Kickball & Social Sports

WAKA has been the best thing! The perfect mix of competition and fun. I’ve made some of the best friends in my various leagues. The league reps are helpful and fun themselves. I’m so glad I discovered WAKA through a friend! Highly recommended!

Pros: Great group events! Ducks games, bars, fun stuff!
Cons: It just wasn’t as competitive as I thought. I was placed a team of all newbies and I can only handle so much denial in the workplace, then go get wooped in kickball. Sorry, it just wasn’t fun and a strange mix of people.

I am a big fan of WAKA. I joined the CA Crown League in Pasadena as a free agent in February 2014. I was placed on a team at random by the league Community Coordinator. In a short time, the players in WAKA have become good friends of mine. In addition to having a great time playing kickball on Fridays and hanging out afterwards, we meet up outside of kickball. This is a great way to meet new people and have fun with your friends. This is a great place to have fun competing and meeting new people!

Shortly after my relo, I was greatly in need of new friends. Lucky for me, and with a little help from WAKA, I’ve fulfilled this need for life!
I’ve played kickball and dodgeball with WAKA, and would recommend them both to anyone looking for exceptional extracurricular activities.
If you are reading this, you’re at least curious, so get out there!

I signed up for a WAKA dodgeball league and made many friends very quickly. A+

WAKA Kickball has forever changed my life! I have been playing now for 6 years and have met the most amazing friends I could ask for! The game is a blast but the social atmosphere and the parties are what keep me coming back!

Played in the SUN league, which is not a highly competitive one (not Founders Cup) that had games in Reseda every Tuesday night. Met some nice people and we had 2 – 3 fun games out of 8, which is why I am giving this 2 stars instead of 1 star.
Cons:
You have a few teams that are highly competitive and the league attracts the kind of person who somehow stayed in 3^rd grade, but looks like a grown-​up. They will bicker with you, show poor sportsmanship, and in at least 2 games the opposing team were given a warning for behaving badly, and that meant the majority of games were an awful experience.
If you are joining to have fun, try something else. Honestly, you’d think that this was kickball, the sport you played in elementary school and so it’d be fun to play as an adult. Nope. The reffing is done by other players who openly are drinking (or are drunk), cost is expensive, you’ll get little playing time, and most teams will fall apart because people realize that the league is only there for the best teams to make sure you feel humiliated by the end of the game.
Kickball is something taken very seriously by a few teams and they will act exactly the same way the bullies did in 3^rd grade. Save your money and time and don’t sign up.

My life wouldn’t be the same without WAKA. 3 years of captaining teams, playing on teams, in 5 diff leagues and tournaments, reffing Founder’s Cup in Vegas… I’ve made the best friends out here in LA, even some in other states!

I’ve played in 3 leagues in WAKA and honestly, your experience varies greatly based on the league.
I played in the Canyon League (Newbury Park/​Thousand Oaks) originally, but since I grew up in the area — I had preconceived notions about the bar chosen to party at (Azar’s) and the age gap on some of the teams were very significant. I was 23 years old, playing with a lot of 30+ year old individuals. I felt out of the loop and not really part of the team. It is definitely an older league from what I had experienced. Azar’s is a local dive that I would have never imagined going to without the WAKA affiliation.
However. the Canyon League didn’t deter me. I had moved out to Venice and wanted to make some friends. I joined the Dogtown League in hopes to do so. Joined as a free agent — didn’t know anyone on the team. I had a blast! Met so many people with the same interests who lived in the area. I looked forward to Wednesday nights to hang out with my new friends. Busby’s West was the perfect after game bar to hang at — small enough that you rub elbows with people you don’t know too well and a great excuse to start a conversation. Awesome drink and food specials that never left anyone thirsty/​hungry. Really good looking people and many with 40 hour/​week jobs that could empathize with you the next day while you were hungover at work.
After the amazing experience with Dogtown, I decided to join the Westside League. Stoked that the field and bar was closer to my apartment; I had high hopes. The Westside League in Venice is chocked full of cliques and people who take the game way too seriously. I felt a lot of pressure to play well and didn’t really feel like drinking with my team afterwards when we lost. In addition to this, games were on Monday nights — I mean, I’m still recovering from Sunday Funday; Monday was just a sucky night to try to muster up some energy to drink after the game. The bar, Brennan’s, is kind of a dud; large bar, but slow, older bartenders and awkward clientele. Couldn’t really mingle with a lot of the other teams — it is a veteran league, so I get that you have your friends, but c’mon! I stopped attending the games mid-​season because I didn’t feel like it was worth my time.
Looking forward to joining Dogtown again. Can’t wait for registration to start again for that league!

Played in Fullerton, HB, Anaheim, Buena Park, Irvine, and Tustin! This is my favorite pastime. Great way to meet new people and just a fun time all around. I would highly recommend any of the WAKA Leagues.

Got sent an email to sign up. Tried to register, but needed a password. (Very smart: Email me to sign up, but don’t give me a password).
Then I email and ask for the password. Nope. No response.
Then I get the password and told that I have until a certain time to register.
Then I try to use the password before that time + it’s closed.
This league needs to get it’s shit together. Bad management. Confusing. F — this league.

I really enjoy this league! My company has participated in the league four seasons now and we have had a blast every time! Games are usually on Monday or Wednesday night at either 7:15 PM or 8:15 PM. The people you play are usually pretty friendly and it’s always fun seeing familiar faces at the bar after! If you’re looking for a fun league to join with a group of friends or organization, I definitely recommend it! My team is currently participating in the Orange Crush Kickball League and would love to challenge you to some Kickball and social games after! ;)

WAKA Kickball has been my favorite way to spend my «weekends» unwinding. I couldn’t be caught up in the pretentious atmosphere of the rest of OC hotspots that required me to look like I just walked off a catwalk. I started playing kickball when I was working in the service industry and my Friday was actually a Monday night. For those of you who can relate you know that servers/​bartenders are usually working the nights the rest of the world is partying.
It quickly turned into the best part of my week as I met teammates for happy hour before the games, got ridiculous while playing what was intended to be a child’s sport and then cheap drinks/​dinner at our host bar post game. You can get way more bang for your buck on a Monday night with the Kickball specials than showing up to amateur night on a Friday on the pen.
I’ve met some of the most awesome people I know playing kickball on Monday nights in Irvine (now Tustin). And I actually met my husband a couple years after who was a retired soccer player looking to still get his kicks and that competitive blood flowing.
Bottom line for me WAKA Kickball offers something for everyone. Whether your competitive, looking to meet new people, not athletic whatsoever and love to drink, there’s no limit to it. You get what you need out of playing WAKA Kickball and that’s a hell of a good time while a friendly commissioner running the league makes sure that happens for you.
Now just say to yourself over again «adult kickball». It sounds as funny as it is fun!
oh yea… and you get a free t-​shirt

WAKA in SoCal has evolved quite a bit over the years. As a member since 2006 I have seen a lot from this company — the good and the bad. What’s kept me coming back? The players. The memories. The friendships. This is what WAKA is all about — a lifestyle that’s not just about being active, but a lifestyle where being social, having friends, and giving back to the community becomes an everyday staple of your life. If you’re looking for just kickball, or just to get drunk — sure you can do all of that here. But if that’s all you’re looking for, you are selling yourself short.
I am writing this review now because the truth is that WAKA is the best it’s ever been. Southern California boasts over 20,000 players in over 40 leagues from San Diego to Santa Barbara, tons of awesome events (ski trips, cruises, etc) and various fun tournaments that is welcoming to both the casual and competitive player. And they have a staff that cares about the customer. As some reviews have shown, there were some bad apples before, but what company doesn’t have a few? Fortunately it looks like that’s all been cleaned up — and they have the right management team working to make sure to address questions, concerns, and problems. After all — being a social sports league, it’s hard to control what type of people sign up to play and what their personalities are like.
But that’s the greatest thing about WAKA — you get to meet all kinds of people, hear their stories, and learn more about your friends, yourself, and your life.

I met my GF playing kickball. she’s hot.

Poorly organized, games are too short given the amount of people on a team. Costs too much for what it is, $ 70 for what amounts to nothing more than short pick up games with no outside refs (players from other teams ref) and no substantial cost of operation.
I’ve played other adult leagues of kid’s games, and what goes on here in terms on awful sportsmanship and an embarrassing level of taking-​it-​way-​too-​serious-​for-​an-​elementary school-​sport is completely mind blowing. There is no oversight, no outside refs, so the weird dude energy is at an excruciating high.
Avoid this league.

My girlfriend and I were looking to find a league to meet some people and have some fun. What we found instead is a system built entirely around greed and profit at the expense of its customers. There is nothing that these guys do that is in the interest of their members and everything is for stuffing as much money in their pockets while they laugh at the idiots (myself included) that join their leagues.
First and biggest problem, there is a minimum of TWENTY-​SIX PEOPLE ON A TEAM!!! Let me reiterate, TWENTY-​SIX. When I asked at the beginning of the season why there were so many people on a team, their response was «because people tend to quit or not show up». How right she was. You know why they quit and don’t show up? Because there are 26 people on the team and you spend more time watching than playing!
Lets do some math. The games are five innings. There are three outs in an inning, which means there are 15 outs per team in a game. There are 26 people on a team. That means, it is possible for 11 people on your team to not even get to bat once in a game! And to ensure that everyone gets an at bat, you need to get a minimum of 10 hits in a 5 inning game. I NEVER once got more than one at bat. The league cost $ 70 and I got a total of 7 at bats for a cost of $ 10 per at bat. Ridiculous.
The league makes $ 1,820 per team so they hire the best referees possible. You know who those refs are? YOU! Thats right, you get to pay money to play in a league where YOU have to work! And if you don’t want to ref, your team has to forfeit games. This leads to wonderful things. People who are being forced to referee games that don’t have even a basic understanding of the rules. Referees making calls that are biased and favorable to their team. And even worse, people extracting revenge on teams that either beat them, or made bad calls against them when they get to ref their games.
But the greed and fun don’t stop there! How can you make more money from one field? Waka figured it out! Put TWO games on the same fiend at the same time! Genius! So, one game would be going on on an actual baseball field (you know with crazy things like bases and foul lines?) and the other game would be played at the exact same time in the OUTFIELD! The two games proceed simultaneously with the games kick at each other which results in balls flying into your game while you’re playing which is not only stupid and annoying, but dangerous. The outfield games had bases that were placed arbitrarily and turned into an absolute mud pit by the end of the season.
I am ashamed to say that I gave my money to these crooks, do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes.

This league is the biggest joke… here is an email I wrote to the head officials at WAKA describing my experience. They refuse to issue me a refund and did absolutely nothing to rectify the situation. I strongly encourage anyone considering to play in this league to reconsider.
«Last year my friends and I started talking about joining a kickball league. After doing some research we stumbled across Waka’s website, gathered a group of 20 of our closest friends, and formed our team. We were so excited to start the season and anxiously awaited all the fun that was to come.
While the first few games we had were exactly that, things have rapidly spiraled out of control since our March 18 game against the Orange team. During that game, several inappropriate things were said to our team members:
* One of the guys said „f**k you“ to one of our girls who was on third base (which was near the Orange team’s dugout).
* One of the guys said „just wait until I ref your game… it’s over“
Additionally, at this game there was a female ref at first base who didn’t seem to know what she was doing. She called „OUT“ yet signaled „safe.“ And it took her an extraordinarily long time to make calls. The only reason I even mention this is because this same female was in the stands at our most recent game saying slanderous things which I will get into later in this email.
As you are already aware, after the March 18 game the Orange team was given a forfeit for violating some of Waka’s rules. Since then, there have been numerous verbal attacks on our team by various people in the league. At our March 25 game (against the Red team), the Orange team lined the back fence of our game and organized a chant of „f**k the Green team!“ Along with this, members of their team were flipping us off during our game — INCLUDING the man who turned out to be our head umpire at the April 1^st game.
At our April 1^st game against the Blue team, the Orange team and many other Waka league members sat in the stands harassing our team members throughout our entire game and not only did the refs to absolutely nothing to stop it, they pretty much encouraged the behavior by making several blatantly unfair calls against our team. While one of our girls (whose 2 year old son was in the stands) was up to kick, people from the Orange team were calling her a „f**king slut.“ After close to 30 minutes of harassing and unfriendly banter we had had enough and our team lost it’s cool resulting in the game being called early. Things that were said at this game included:
* Girls being called „f**king bit*hes“ after they got out.
* The same female ref from our March 18^th game (that I mentioned above) said „now you guys are getting what you deserve.“
* „Mission accomplished“
* Girls being called „f**king sluts.“
Needless to say, I am extremely appalled by how me and my teammates have been treated by members of the Waka league. We have been verbally assaulted, harassed and threatened, not only by league members, but by league officiants reffing our games. The refs at these games are supposed to provide unbiased ruling on the field, as well as a safe and sportsman-​like environment, and on 3 occasions we have been threatened or treated poorly by the refs in this league.
Our team was created around the idea of a group of friends wanting to get together, get active and have fun. We certainly didn’t sign up to be ridiculed, taunted and harassed every Sunday. I have no idea how this has not turned into physical violence, but I strongly believe things are heading in that direction with the amount of organized hate against our team.
I have been playing adult organized sports for close to 10 years and I have never experienced such unruliness from league members, officiants and officials. It is unfathomable that Waka has allowed this type of behavior to occur. Last week I was personally verbally attacked by a grown man (a member of the Orange team) and I no longer feel safe participating in this league. I have seen and heard enough, and while Waka may not take verbal and physical abuse (especially against women) seriously — I do. I am demanding a partial refund of my fees as I recognize we are half way through the season and certain expenditures were already made (t-​shirts/​kickballs/​etc). I am saddened by all that has occurred this season and I sincerely hope Waka officials will reassess their policy on violence and better promote the safety and integrity of their players in the future.»

«Kickball? Really??» That’s the reaction I usually get when I tell people that I play on a kickball league. And I always reply — Yup — really!
I adore this game and always have. Ever since 3^rd grade. It was awesome then and it’s awesome now. What can I say… I love to kick some balls!
I’ve played in 3 different WAKA leagues (Venice, Westside, and Hollywood) and have had fun in each of them for different reasons. Some leagues are more competitive than others, some are more social, and some are a little of column A and a little of Column B.
I’ve been playing for 3 years now and my core group of friends are pretty much all people that I’ve met through kickball.
If you are new in town — it’s a super great way to meet people. Even if you aren’t the greatest athlete, it doesn’t really matter (ok, to some teams it does) because most people are there to have fun and kick some balls then go to the bar and drink with everyone.
You can find me on the fields — and then rocking the flip cup table on any given Wednesday.

Guy Fawkes Conservatory…
Yes, it sounds kinda… well… whack… yet it’s very intriguing, so my inner «geekiness» convinced me to sign up for adult kickball. However, there are some perks to playing adult kickball, that was never included or allowed as a youngster…
#1 Lots of Beer for cheap…
#2 Lots of cursing…
#3 Lots of gloating…
#4 Lots of cool ass team names, except my team and a few others… lol.
Played a couple of years ago and is great exercise, but my team expected way too much by wanting to practice all of the time (like twice a week! + 1 game a week)), which many teams did not do and still won many games (some took it way too seriously though)… but to be honest, I just had too many other things going on I felt were more important, like now, so I didn’t give my team a fair chance to bond and grow with.
If you DO ever decide to sign up (like $ 60+ bucks for a t-​shirt, be assigned a team & meet cool people for about 10+ games), sign up for a team with a group or at least a couple of people YOU ALREADY KNOW & HANG WITH… it’s kind of «clickish», in a Dungeons & Dragons way. Have you ever seen the movie, «Role Models»…If so, you know what I mean… if not… hello?! Netflix… lol. Plus, many of the players are in 2 – 3 other kickball leagues with one another and have played with the same people for years.
I would love to try it out again, especially ’cause I totally kicked ass in it… lol, (even though I pulled a muscle because some a-​hole tried to trip me! … I’ll get you next time Gadget… nexxxxt tiiiiiiime… lol)… uuuummm but probably only when I have time to convince a nice sized group of my fratello to join.
Here’s a few cool team names that make ya say… hhhmmmm, that was clever… lol
WE DO KICKN’ RIGHT
GRASS KICKERS
THE BALLED AND THE BEAUTIFUL
CLUB FOOT
I’D HIT IT
SWIFT KICK IN THE GRASS
BUNDT CAKES
RECESS RAMBLERS
WE GOT THE RUNS
CHEST NUTS
RECREATIONAL HAZARD
FLAT FOOT FLOOZIES
WHERE MY PITCHES AT
BAD NEWS BREWS
THREE KICKS TO THE WIN
BOOZE ON FIRST
DRUNK AGAIN & LOOKING TO SCORE
FREE BALLERS
4^th BASE
JOHNNY AND THE COBRA KAIS
SUCK MY KICK
BREWS ON FIRST
WHAT SHE SAID
COST-​PER-​KICKS
AFTER SCHOOL SPECIALS
TOEJAMMERS
DRINKERS WITH A KICKING PROBLEM
THE FOUL BALLS
SAVED BY THE BALLS
MENACE 2 SOBRIETY
NEW KICKS ON THE BLOCK
YOU LOOK LIKE I NEED A DRINK
OUR KICKS DON’T LIE
BALLS TO THE MALL
ALCOBALLICS
SONS OF PITCHES
E EQUALS M.C. HAMMERED
KICK TEASE — Fiesta
ONE KICK WONDERS