Playing with MAC
The crack of the bat doesn’t lose its allure after age 18. Neither does the zip of the Frisbee or the whack of the volleyball. A sports league for adults has united on the West Plains, thanks to MAC, an organization started by the parks departments of Medical Lake, Airway Heights and Cheney.
“My mayor played ultimate Frisbee,” said one city recreation supervisor with a smile. “All of our mayors played.”
Offering six sports annually, the league draws players from across the region and competes weekly on a rotation among cities. Anyone over age 18 can grab the right amount of teammates, pay their MAC dues, duck down to the secondhand store for some retro team uniforms and go get ‘em. Most of the teams consist of families and their friends and co-workers.
“We all live in these small communities eight miles apart. We may never go into the other communities, even though they are close,” said Andy Gardner, recreation supervisor for Airway Heights.
With a league that drew more than 400 adults in its first year last year, the West Plains is “becoming a community of its own,” Gardner said.
The current sport in session is co-ed softball, with its first game July 13. Team captains funneled into the Airway Heights City Council chambers one preseason evening to discuss game rules with city recreation supervisors.
Team captain Jessica Godfrey of Spokane is trying to assemble an eighth co-ed softball team for the league. A handful of people were looking for teams at the last second so Godfrey may head them up as a complete team.
“The fields are well taken care of. Everyone is friendly. It’s got a small-town feel to it,” Godfrey said of the league.
Several years ago, people were trying within each West Plains city to form a league. Each effort fell apart until someone suggested combining efforts in all three cities. The plan was taken before elected leaders of each city government and approved.
“We finally decided, ‘Let’s put our hands together and combine our efforts together to provide more activities for all the community,’ ” said Jessica Roberts, recreation coordinator for Medical Lake.
Today, the league is growing as more grass-roots teams form and word spreads.
An issue to consider for upcoming seasons, said the recreation supervisors, is how to divide teams into a “competitive” section and a “recreation” section. This way, teams out for total domination will compete against like-minded opponents instead of teams just out for some fun exercise.