By Makayla Breth
At a preparation meeting for Harvest of Hope Area Catholic Community’s program called “Grains of Wheat,” ACC members Jason Prigge, Toni Hudock, Makayla Breth and Megan VanOverbeke were discussing how they could get young adults involved in activities within the Church
Toni expressed that she always thought it would be cool if there was a kickball league. Everyone showed great excitement over Toni’s suggestion!
During the meeting, the group came up with the details. It was decided that every parish in the ACC would have a team. The parishes in Harvest of Hope are St. Anthony in St. Anthony, Seven Dolors in Albany, St. Benedict in Avon and St. Martin in St. Martin. Games are held on Tuesday nights.
After all the details were finalized, the four set out to gather parishioners from each parish to be on the teams in the upcoming weeks. Teams are made up of 7-10 parishioners, 18 or older. The games are held on different fields, each located near one of the churches.
After the first game – which was held in St. Anthony – people were talking about how fun the game was. Spectators and families came out to watch the games and cheer on the players. St. Anthony’s team is undefeated, and they even had matching T-shirts made to show their team spirit.
Excitement and support for the games and players is spread throughout all of Harvest of Hope. The environment for the games is uplifting, especially with the music played at each of the games. Our biggest difficulty is finding the bases when the games are played in a grassy field.
This league was created to have fun and have a friendly competition! The Harvest of Hope Kickball League is without a doubt building and making relationships between parishioners from the different parishes, young and old. Our parish cluster covers a vast area over central Minnesota, and the kickball games truly bring the Church community together.
Makayla Breth, a member of St. Anthony Parish in St. Anthony, attends Ridgewater College in Willmar where she is pursuing a degree in GPS/GIS technology (agronomy tech). She enjoys volunteering at her parish where she has served as a student leader for a confirmation retreat and plans to assist in teaching the student Liturgy of the Word. She lives on her family’s dairy farm and is also a Stearns County dairy princess.