Kick ball, usually spelled as one word--kickball--isn't just that sport you played in the schoolyard when you were a kid. In 2000, a group of kickball aficionados created the World Adult Kickball Association (WAKA) and established a set of rules to govern the game. There are now hundreds of kickball teams around the country which play according to these established rules. Most of the rules are based on traditional baseball or softball rules.
Teams
According to WAKA rules, each team is required to field at least eight players, but may play up to 11. Teams on the field must have at least four players of either sex. Like in baseball, "kickers" must kick in the same order, but may switch positions in the field.
Game Play
A regulation kickball game lasts five innings. The ball is "pitched" (rolled) from the regular pitchers mound and must be done by hand. The pitcher is allowed to bounce the ball, but there is a strike zone (one foot around and above home plate) that must be adhered to.
The ball is pitched to the players, who must then strike the ball with any part of the foot, or the leg above the knee. The ball then goes into play or goes foul.
Outs and Scoring
Unlike baseball and softball, where defensive players must advance a ground ball to a base to get a player out, kickball also allows the defense to throw the ball at a player off a base in order to get the "runner" out.
Other ways to get out are on strikes, on a kicked ball that is caught by a fielder before it touches the ground, and by a fielder with the ball touching a base to which a runner is forced to advance.
Runners score when they touch all three bases and home plate in order without being called out.
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