MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE a fielder is NOT STANDING TOO CLOSE TO THE PATH THE RUNNER TAKES TO RUN TO THE BASE!!! The bases are set ten feet outside the base lines to avoid a collision between the runner and fielder. STUDY THE FIELD DIAGRAM that comes with the ball.
Beep Kickball is also being taught at Universities to students studying adapted PE, Kinesiology and Therapeutic Recreation.
Atlanta and Dallas were the first cities to start Beep Kickball teams.
But there are additional benefits to children who are blind. Kickball helps players increase their mobility and agility, which is especially important to young children. And later in life, they seem to be more willing to accept the risk of applying for a job, living independently and trying new things that might seem impossible at first glance. The athletes say “If I can do this, I can do anything!”
- Put Kleenex in the beeper holesto quiet the sound. HAVE PLENTY OF volunteers!
- Play in as large a gym as you have. Push the bleachers back, clear the clutter.
- Kicking: Kicking the ball against a wall works well. Separate the players so the second beeping ball is not distracting. Have fun by putting a target on the wall to hit or bowling pins or cans on the floor to knock down.
- Running: Place the home plate and the buzzing base in the middle of the gym away from the walls. Allow at least 15 feet of space for safety. Beware – blindfoldedplayers can run pretty fast!
- Fielding: Spread the fielders in the gym closer together, making sure no fielder travels closer than 15 feet from a wall or bleacher. Have multiple safety volunteers between the players and the walls. The ball travels too fast on a gym floor so it is harder to field when playing inside.
- Stagger the players so that they do not run into each other when moving laterally. See the field diagram for suggested fielder positions.
- Players are encouraged to move forward toward home plate but not backwards (unless the ball stops right behind them). The player doesn’t move back because the player behind him fields it.
- If the ball travels past the fielder, they should call “by me right” or “by me left” to alert the fielder behind him to expect the ball and to field it.
- The job of the field spotter is to call the number of the player the ball is kicked towards. Only one called number is allowed during competition, but more help is recommended in the early stages of learning to field.
- Fielders should communicate with one another when approaching the ball so they do not collide with each other, i.e., repeating “coming”, “here”, etc.