Getting Weird... With Kickball Katy - How I Got My Nickname

A Polaroid of Kickball Katy, circa 2002.

Hi! My name is Katy Goodman. You might know me from my work in Vivian Girls and La Sera. You might even know me from my Twitter account. But more importantly, you might have heard of my nickname, Kickball Katy. For years, people have been asking me about how I got my nickname, yet I have never told the truth. Ten years later, I have decided to finally share my story.

Back in 2002, I went to college at RIT in Rochester, NY, studying what can only be described as nothing. I went about my days as usual, dying my hair black, gaining a rudimentary interest in socialism, stealing forks from the school cafeteria. I was enjoying the perks of being one of the only girls living in the computer science house (SO many new Starcraft buddies!). I ran around campus doing important things, like protesting concerts ("Hoobastank supports pollution!" "Hoobastank hates kittens!" "Hooba-stanks!"), and sneaking into the CIA building to make off with as much office furniture as possible. But, without question, the most valuable activity I took part in was kickball.

I was a member of an elite recreational crew called the SSKS, or the Super Secret Kickball Society. I don't remember exactly how I came to befriend them, but they probably just took one look at me and said "This girl definitely overvalues nostalgia and childhood past times, let's invite her."

Katy with an old kickball team.

This kickball team was mostly the same as any other: organizing games, putting up flyers, running around kicking balls in parking lots, etc. But the signs would always leave out where the games were held, arguably the most important piece of information. "Come down and play kickball this Wednesday at 8!" wasn't an incredibly helpful flyer to the public, and the anonymity of the players also helped add to the mystery. While we sat around thinking of ourselves as incredibly clever, I can only assume that the other students at RIT couldn't care less about us and our secret kickball games. If asked, they would probably have only described us as "dicks."

I know you're hoping that this story ends with me falling in love with a sweet boy named Dodgeball Devon and running away to the wilderness to open up a camp for young wayward sports enthusiasts.Or perhaps you were wishing that I defeated Kickball Kiera in a one-on-one kickball showdown and stole not JUST her name, but also her dignity. There's also a chance that I went on a killing spree and left behind only a kick ball at each crime scene as my serial killer signature.

All of these would probably be more interesting than the simple "I'm Katy and I play kickball and someone just started calling me Kickball Katy one day because alliteration is easy and fun" tale that I've just told, but whatever. That's my story, and if you meet me, please just call me Katy, because that's my real name and I'm an adult now.

You should listen to all of Katy's music - she's in the Vivian Girls and La Sera. Follow her Twitter too: @iamkatygoodman