Take A Break From Adulting In Brick's Kickball League

BRICK, NJ — They showed up in campy uniforms, like sparkling jackets. They came with team names like “The Recess Rejects” and “All Balls, No Kick.”

And for several weeks in the summer of 2025, more than 50 adults tapped into their childhoods, playing kickball at the Drum Point Sports Complex.

The program was a new offering in 2025 from the Brick Township Recreation Department. It was so well received that it’s back again for 2026.

“It was a staff suggestion,” said Matthew Fagen, Brick’s Recreation Department director. Fagen was hired in May 2025, and it was during a conversation with a staffer who was leaving that the idea was first brought up.

“He and another staff member who thought it was a great idea” urged Fagen to give it a shot, so they did.

The league is co-ed, and each team has 10 players, with three alternates, he said. And while there is an element of competition, it’s just as much about fun, he said.

The Recreation Department maintains rosters — participants must be Brick Township residents age 18 or older, and the teams are co-ed. It’s $100 to register a team.

The games, however, are mostly self-policed. The rules are fairly simple — six-inning games with a 10-run rule after the fourth inning, men and women alternate in the kicking order and there are 10 kickers — and the games last about 40 minutes.

“We have a site supervisor who’s there only if there’s a need” to help sort out a conflict, he said.

“It’s like when I played kickball as a kid in the empty lot next to my house,” said Fagen, who grew up in Brick and graduated from then-Monsignor Donovan in 2006. He served as site supervisor one of the weeks.

“Some of the things that I saw were awesome,” he said. “One team was named the Lake Riviera Ball Busters, and every player on the team lived in Lake Riviera.”

There have been some tweaks made from last season, based on feedback from players who participated last summer. There are some changes to the rules that are being finalized, he said. In addition, the length of the season was shortened, with teams playing doubleheaders every Friday night for five weeks beginning July 10, for about 10 to 12 games per team. Games start at 6:30 p.m.

“They liked the Friday nights,” Fagen said, “but said the season was too long.”

Teams will play the regular season and there will be playoffs as well. He’s hopeful that getting the word out sooner in 2026 will draw more participants not only this year but in the years to come.

“We’re going to perfect what we have and hopefully people will be asking for more kickball,” Fagen said, adding he’d love to see the demand grow to where the town offers multiple seasons.

“I like when people have fun,” he said. “That’s the whole goal here.”

"Grab your best friends, co-workers, neighbors and your ringers and get ready to relive your younger days!" the recreation department said in its post promoting the league.

You can register your teams through the Community Pass website here.