Boston-area Kickballers Championship-bound

Being an athlete takes a lot of work, especially if you want to make it to the playoffs for your chosen sport. It takes early morning workouts, a strict diet, and a phalanx of trainers to keep an athlete at the top of his or her game.

Unless you’re one of the three Boston-area kickball teams that are heading to the World Adult Kickball Association’s Founder’s Cup tournament in Las Vegas this weekend.

“There’s no real training for kickball,” says Bootleggers player Brandon Bushey. “You pretty much play and have fun.” Sounds like our kind of sport.

The Bootleggers, along with Champs Like It Tickled and Stewies Sexy Party, will represent the Boston-area league in this weekend’s competition. Bushey says that while he enjoys the exercise, he loves kickball for the social aspect.

“I met almost half of my friends through kickball,” says Bushey, who got into the sport after graduating from UMass-Amherst three years ago. “Kickball gets you going, but it’s a social thing. After games, some bars give us half-off appetizers.”

Bushey admits that his team probably won’t be sipping beer out of the Founder’s Cup at the end of the tournament, but that’s not why they’re excited for the tournament.

“We’re going more for the trip to Vegas,” he says. “We don’t expect a whole lot, but those are the teams that can be dangerous.”

But if his team does win the title, the electrical engineer says he will hold a miniature championship parade in his office upon his return. Just like the pros.