Kids nowadays do things extremely different from how they used to do them when I was young.  For instance, when I was young, I used to have to get up and change the channel for my parents because our old TV didn’t have a remote control.  Luckily, we didn’t have cable so we only had 4 channels to flip through. Kids in my day also had to call our parents via 1-800-collect to come pick us up from school if we didn’t have 25 cents for the pay phone.  If we were really smart (like I was), we would call our parents collect and instead of saying our name to the operator (so the parents would accept the call and the charges) we would say “come pick me up” really fast.  That way, our parents knew to pick us up and we wouldn’t have to pay for a collect call.   You’re welcome Mom and Dad.  Anyway, another thing different was when I would play kickball at school, it was played with one goal in mind…to beat the other team.  These days, kids are playing kickball for a whole other reason–to raise money for pediatric cancer research.

It’s crazy!  Kids are helping out other kids through the game of kickball! I guess it really isn’t that crazy.

 Kick-It was founded by a 10-year old cancer patient with a big dream- to cure cancer by playing kickball. Now a national fundraising program, Kick-it raises money for pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer research.  Throughout the year, groups of kids hold kickball games and if they raise a certain amount of money they are invited to play kickball on Progressive Field!  Recently, Kick-It and the Cleveland Indians teamed up to bring 36 teams to play throughout the day on the same outfield that their favorite Indians players play on. 

The Cleveland Indians have supported Kick-It since its inception. Cleveland Indians Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Paul Dolan is passionate about finding a cure for pediatric, adolescent and young adult cancer research. The commitment from the Indians organization allowed Kick-it to grow from a single event to a national organization. Thanks to our partnership, corporations, school teams and Tribe fans across Northeast Ohio have raised more than $700,000. (thanks kick-it.org for that information).

For more information on Kick-It and how you can get a team together, visit www.kick-it.org!  Special thanks to Ian Johnson for the photos