kick·ball
noun /ˈkikˌbôl/
An informal game combining elements of baseball and soccer, in which an inflated ball is thrown to a person who kicks it and proceeds to run the bases.
Kickball (Soccer-Baseball or Foot-base) is a playground game and league game, similar to baseball, invented in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century. Kickball may also be known as kick baseball, base soccer, foot-base, soccer-base, or soccer-baseball. It is similar to baseball where players kick the ball to bat it instead of using bats, making it more accessible to young children. As in baseball, teams alternate innings with one team on the infield attempting to score by having its players circle the bases and the other team it the outfield working to stop runs from being scored. Players in the infield kick an inflated rubber ball to advance players around the bases and thus score runs. The team with the most runs after a predefined number of innings (usually nine) wins.
Kickball is a popular playground sport and is typically played among young, school-age children. The lack of both specialized equipment and highly skill-based positions (like pitcher) makes the game an accessible introduction to other sports. It is less popular among adults, who are more commonly known to play similar games like softball and baseball.
Kickball, originally called "Kick softball", was invented around 1917 by Nicholas C Seuss, Supervisor of Cincinnati Park Playgrounds in Cincinnati, Ohio. Around 1920–1921 "Kick Ball" was used by physical education teachers in public schools to teach young boys and girls the basics of baseball. Around this time, the ball that was used was a soccer ball or volleyball. It was played by ten to thirty players and the field included a "Neutral Zone": an area not to be entered until the ball has actually been kicked. There was no pitcher as the ball would be kicked from the home area, which was a 3 ft circle. The ball must pass beyond the 5 foot line. Base-runners could only advance one base on an infield ball. Teams would switch sides only after all team members have kicked.
During this time, it was played on the same field as baseball except that there was only one base corresponding to a baseball diamond's 2nd base. Multiple players could be on base at a time, but all needed to get home before the last kicker kicked and the kicking order had retired.
There were also two short stop player positions: one between 1st and 2nd and the other between 2nd and 3rd. Home plate was marked by a 3 ft by 4 ft rectangle on the ground.
American World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle reported it being played by U.S. soldiers during the Tunisia Campaign, 1942-1943.
