PUMP hosts annual Kickball for a Cause event

Christopher Cunningham moved from Mount Washington to Orlando, Fla., two years ago, but he knew he had to be back in Pittsburgh this weekend.

There was a kickball tournament he couldn’t miss.

“Once I knew it was happening ... I was immediately signing up and getting a plane ticket,” Mr. Cunningham, 35, said Saturday. “I will never miss Kickball for a Cause. It’s such a good time, it’s such a great atmosphere, it’s so much fun and it’s such a good cause.

“And all of us love playing kickball.” Kickball for a Cause is an annual charity tournament sponsored by the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project, or PUMP, a nonprofit that is works to “engage, educate and mobilize” young people.

Sometimes PUMP’s work looks a lot like traditional advocacy efforts, such as lobbying politicians or hosting a candidates forum, said CEO Brian Magee. Other times, it means playing kickball.

“A kickball tournament like Kickball for a Cause is advocacy work,” Mr. Magee said. “We are building awareness around two organizations that we think are vital and critical to this community and we’re helping to bring some wind to those causes.”

Money is raised through corporate sponsorships and registration fees.

Each year, PUMP sets up a process to choose which charities the event supports. There is an open period for nominations, then an internal vetting process narrows the list to about 10 groups. Then a vote is taken within the PUMP community on which organizations to support in a particular year.

This year, the financial support is going to the Homeless Children’s Education Fund and Book ’Em, which provides books and

educational material to people who are incarcerated.

The money will help Book ’Em buy books that are heavily requested but not often donated, like legal dictionaries, real estate material and resources on how to start a business, said Jodi Lincoln, Book ‘Em co-chair.

In the past, money raised by Kickball for a Cause has gone to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Pittsburgh, the Women and Girls Foundation and Pennsylvania Women Work, a nonprofit that offers career and professional development services.

PUMP estimates it has raised more than $120,000 since the tournament launched in 2003.

With 24 teams and more than 470 players, the tournament Saturday filled Mellon Park with color-coordinated groups of players who raced around a baseball diamond, cheered from the stands or played lawn games in the shade of their team tents.

According to the rules of the American Kickball Association, kickball is played like baseball, except the “pitcher” rolls a big, red ball toward home plate, where it is kicked into play instead of batted.

The tournament featured a mix of seasoned kickball players and teams that formed just to participate in the one-day charity event.

Mr. Cunningham’s team usually goes by the name “Kicks and Giggles,” but this year that team joined with players from Allegheny Coffee and Tea Exchange, in the Strip District, for Saturday’s event. Dollar Bank, one of the tournament’s sponsors, got two teams together, Dollar Ballers One and Two.

Each team played three games to compete for a spot in a playoff round.

The eventual winner, In Front of Your Friends, received a free kickball membership for a season through the Pittsburgh Sports League, an adult recreational league that PUMP runs. The membership is worth $725 for one team for one season.

The runner-up, Bayside Tigers, walked away with a $100 gift card from Bigham Tavern on Mount Washington.

This year’s event attracted fewer teams than in the past, according to Jaime Filipek, the PSL program development manager and director of Kickball for a Cause. In 2019, 36 teams signed up and took over five fields. This year, 24 teams played on four fields and the rosters for each group were smaller than usual.

Operationally, the game was played the same — just as competitive as ever, she said.

“I think people don’t realize how cool kickball can really be,” Ms. Filipek said. “It’s a big strategy game.”

Mr. Cunningham — who is sometimes referred to as the “mayor” of Kickball for a Cause — hasn’t missed a tournament since he started playing with PSL in 2013.

A friend had noticed he was always trying to organize kickball games in Oakland and invited him to be a substitute player on a team. After that, he signed up for kickball twice a week and dabbled in dodgeball, volleyball and softball.

“It’s like a full-time job for me,” he said.

Mr. Cunningham was able to attend the tournament in 2019 before his move to Florida. The event was canceled in 2020 amid concerns about COVID-19. This year, Mr. Cunningham said he marked the weekend on his calendar as soon as it was announced.

“I can barely sleep the night before,” he said. “It’s like Christmas morning for me.”