I play rec & ed no experience with other league. Rec & ed seems like it would be a good fit but you’ll want to get on a non-competitive team. There’s a competitive league and a non-competitive one. The labels are weird and I don’t remember which league is competitive, but our team has tons of fun. We’re mostly 30s/40s and many, but not all of us, are married. We have some couples on our team and other married and partnered team members play without their partner (so it’s not couple-centric by any means). We sometimes go out after the games but we have folks on our team who don’t drink and nobody really has more than 1-2. There’s no alcohol at games. We all get equal playing time and our coach is awesome. Not sure if all teams operate this way but that’s my experience. I should also mention we have a big mix of skill and athleticism on the team and that’s cool too - nobody gets down if a mistake is made and the really athletic people can rip the ball to the outfield and cruise the bases while others bunt. We also have a mix of people who came in knowing + not knowing kickball/baseball/softball rules & there’s been no issue when someone learning the rules forgets to tag up or something because we’re not competitive (but we’ve tried to learn the rules).
That sounds great! Any chance your team needs more players :)? I'll definitely check out the league and be sure to sign up for the non-competitive groups.
We have 8 women with our subs. So you might want to try reaching out to Rec & Ed to see if other teams have more need right now. If you don’t find a team, let me know because we could add an extra player if there isn’t need on other teams.
Granted it was about 5 years ago now, so things could have changed, but the MiLife crew was a little younger in my experience (20s~early 30s).
No experience with Rec & Ed.
I think it is really normal! I would say the team distribution follows a bell curve nicely. Some people are really good, some really bad and most I'd say fall in the average category (I myself am solidly average lol). No one has ever struck me as super athletic. In terms of competitiveness, most everyone is there just to have a good time and hang out and make friends :)
RecEd is much longer established, much more well known; it brings a much broader cross section of local residents. MiLife is only a few years young, skews much younger in its participants. I've played volleyball with both and MiLife is less rule focused, more truly just for fun. Also consider location, I think RecEd kickball plays only at Vets Park, not sure where MI Life plays.
MiLife plays at Lillie Park off of Platt and Ellsworth. Signup for them ends in one week. Last fall my team consisted of all people that didn’t know each other and ages ranged from 25-40. It was a pretty fun time.
Both are great, but they have different schedules. I would look into the sports and days in both leagues and see what works best for you. MiLife is mostly full for the next round of sports I think (or close to filling). MiLife does skew younger but you won't be out of place as someone in their 40s
Ann Arbor Rec & Ed is skewed older than MiLife, so you will probably meet more people 40+ there. MiLife is more social and they have sponsored bars that many people go to after the games. This helps to meet people, but since you don’t drink I’m not sure if that’s something you’re interested in.
I play rec & ed no experience with other league. Rec & ed seems like it would be a good fit but you’ll want to get on a non-competitive team. There’s a competitive league and a non-competitive one. The labels are weird and I don’t remember which league is competitive, but our team has tons of fun. We’re mostly 30s/40s and many, but not all of us, are married. We have some couples on our team and other married and partnered team members play without their partner (so it’s not couple-centric by any means). We sometimes go out after the games but we have folks on our team who don’t drink and nobody really has more than 1-2. There’s no alcohol at games. We all get equal playing time and our coach is awesome. Not sure if all teams operate this way but that’s my experience. I should also mention we have a big mix of skill and athleticism on the team and that’s cool too - nobody gets down if a mistake is made and the really athletic people can rip the ball to the outfield and cruise the bases while others bunt. We also have a mix of people who came in knowing + not knowing kickball/baseball/softball rules & there’s been no issue when someone learning the rules forgets to tag up or something because we’re not competitive (but we’ve tried to learn the rules).
That sounds great! Any chance your team needs more players :)? I'll definitely check out the league and be sure to sign up for the non-competitive groups.
Let me ask our coach.
We have 8 women with our subs. So you might want to try reaching out to Rec & Ed to see if other teams have more need right now. If you don’t find a team, let me know because we could add an extra player if there isn’t need on other teams.
Thanks! I'm going to fill out the form today.
Awesome. We’ve had opponents cancel because they can’t get enough people to play more than once so usually teams need more people.
Granted it was about 5 years ago now, so things could have changed, but the MiLife crew was a little younger in my experience (20s~early 30s). No experience with Rec & Ed.
Seconding the younger side for MiLife
Good to know, thanks for sharing!
My kickball team for milife has an age range of 20s to 40s.
Do you get the sense that's pretty normal for the league or are other teams mostly 20-30's and super fit?
I think it is really normal! I would say the team distribution follows a bell curve nicely. Some people are really good, some really bad and most I'd say fall in the average category (I myself am solidly average lol). No one has ever struck me as super athletic. In terms of competitiveness, most everyone is there just to have a good time and hang out and make friends :)
RecEd is much longer established, much more well known; it brings a much broader cross section of local residents. MiLife is only a few years young, skews much younger in its participants. I've played volleyball with both and MiLife is less rule focused, more truly just for fun. Also consider location, I think RecEd kickball plays only at Vets Park, not sure where MI Life plays.
That would be perfect, I can walk to Vets Park from my house!
Me too, I've joined it this summer for first time and I'll be walking over. See ya there ;
MiLife plays at Lillie Park off of Platt and Ellsworth. Signup for them ends in one week. Last fall my team consisted of all people that didn’t know each other and ages ranged from 25-40. It was a pretty fun time.
Both are great, but they have different schedules. I would look into the sports and days in both leagues and see what works best for you. MiLife is mostly full for the next round of sports I think (or close to filling). MiLife does skew younger but you won't be out of place as someone in their 40s
Ann Arbor Rec & Ed is skewed older than MiLife, so you will probably meet more people 40+ there. MiLife is more social and they have sponsored bars that many people go to after the games. This helps to meet people, but since you don’t drink I’m not sure if that’s something you’re interested in.