Every year, Greenhill sixth-graders compete in a kickball tournament, creating lifelong memories and friendships.
The tournament happens during the school year during advisory time.
“I think that people get to know each other that might not normally get to know each other,” sixth-grade advisor Keith Nannie, who organizes the kickball tournament said.
Each advisory plays seven regular season games before the playoffs, where each advisory goes head-to-head in a single elimination match until there are only two teams left. Currently, the Megan Bret advisory is leading with five games won, two games lost, and 78 total runs. The Joan Romanosky advisory trails close behind, with five games won, two games lost, and seventy-six total runs.
“When I think of sixth grade, I would probably think about how much fun I had on advisory kickball, and I definitely think kickball is something I’ll remember forever,” sixth-grader Hadley Kentor said.
Since 2014, when the tradition of sixth-grade kickball started, advisories have gotten together and bonded more.
“We have definitely come to support each other more, and we have definitely taken our losses better,” Kentor said.
Sixth graders say they are proud of this unique tradition.
New student Eric Guo says that Greenhill is the first school he has attended to do advisory kickball.
Xiaoling Zhang advisee Graham Gardner explained his advisory’s strategy to beat the Bobby Henshel advisory, which was in first place at the time.
“We caught a lot of fly balls, and when hitting, we didn’t try to get home runs,” Gardner said. “Instead, we tried getting on base.”
On March 8, each team’s strategy was put to the test in the first round of the playoffs. The top performing teams played against the lowest performing teams, until there were only two standing.
The final game to determine this year’s overall winner will take place in May.
“I feel like we have really come far this season,” Kentor said. “We definitely started off rocky, but I feel like we have one of the best teams in sportsmanship. And we all definitely support each other, so I am definitely pretty proud of that.”
Sixth-grader Sammar Agha, a Tim Lohr advisee, which is the second-lowest scoring team, paints a different picture.
“I would say that we don’t have much coordination, but we try to play our best each time,” Agha said.
While most students treat kickball as a fun game, some, take it a little too far, Agha said.
“I would say kickball, it is supposed to be really fun, but some people take it a little too seriously,” Agha said. “And instead of making it a fun game and a friendly competition, they make it a sports tournament competition.”
Overall, many sixth graders say they have made lifelong memories from the kickball season.
Evan Huang is a seventh-grader in the MS Evergreen class. MS Evergreen student Ian Bhatia also contributed reporting to this story.