Silly Games, Serious Fun
How a Homegrown League is Turning Strangers into Teammates
Shouts of encouragement and laughter echoed across the field at Ponderosa School as two adult games of Ultimate Frugby were simultaneously being played. Music blared from a nearby car that had been pulled close to the action. There were no spectators. Everyone there was on the field playing.
If you’re not familiar, Ultimate Frugby is a passing game. The team with possession of the ball moves toward the end zone by throwing it to another teammate. The one who catches the ball must come to a complete stop and has five seconds to pass it to another teammate, hopefully without the opposing team intercepting. A rugby ball is used because it’s easy to catch but hard to throw, which, according to those who invented the game, levels the playing field between the abilities of players.
After playing for an hour, both teams bantered and laughed as they walked off the field, but the night was far from over. In fact, some say it was just the beginning, as they packed up and headed to Thirsty Street Brewing to socialize for a few hours.
The Ultimate Frugby league is just one of several hosted by Sportsball, an adult co-ed recreational organization founded by Greta and Sam Hensler in 2016. The mission is to bring adults together in a non-competitive, fun, affordable way that builds relationships. Since it started, the league has grown to almost 1,200 members.
When the Henslers moved to Billings almost a decade ago, the couple found it difficult to develop friendships in a meaningful way.
“We were looking for something social that would connect us with others in the community that wasn’t third-party activities like concerts and dinner,” Greta says, “but we weren’t finding it.”
“It was hard to plug in,” Sam adds. “What we were looking for didn’t exist, so we decided, why not do it ourselves?”
Based loosely on sports and heavily on the social aspect, Sportsball draws hundreds of Billings adults to a variety of six-week-long sports leagues that are offered year-round. Sports include floor hockey, soccer, and yoga, along with Frugby, innertube polo, and curling.
“We wanted to offer sports that are hard to take seriously,” Greta says, “and that aren’t too rough on people.”
Anna Sullivan’s favorite sport is innertube water polo. She joined Sportsball two years ago to meet new people and enjoyed it so much that she’s signed up for every league since.
“Innertube water polo is even sillier than it sounds,” Anna laughs. “But all the leagues have been fun. Sportsball has been a great way for me to meet new people, and they have become my best friends.”
Shorty Kimmel agrees. She joined just after the group started nine years ago to play flag football.
“I realized quickly that it was far more than sports,” she says. “It’s more social. We’re a diverse group of people from every aspect of business, but we all have something in common, and we’re all friends.”
Most members of Sportsball joined, knowing few, if any, others. And that’s the target audience the Henslers are hoping to attract.
“You usually can’t sign up for a full team because we want people to meet each other,” Sam says, “and we reshuffle the teams between seasons so that everyone meets new people.”
Sam and Greta are a good team in the administration of the club, though both have full-time careers. Greta takes care of the website and social media platforms, and Sam handles finding places to play, introducing new sports, purchasing and maintaining equipment, and understanding the personalities of the members. Together they come up with new sports, make up the teams, and ref the games.
“Part of what I do is to make sure we’re always having fun,” Sam says, “so, if I have to change the rules in the middle of a game, I will.”
“It’s always fun,” says Ella Bohn, who joined the organization two years ago just after she moved to Billings. “It’s been a great way to meet people and get out there and get in shape. The indoor sports during the winter are a real bonus.”
Sportsball information can be found on their website, where people sign up for the leagues and pay fees (which cover the cost of liability insurance, T-shirts, equipment, and a few pitchers of beer after the games). Games are played on the fields or in gymnasiums at local schools.
Sam and Greta have accumulated a storage unit full of balls, hockey sticks, innertubes, and nets over the years. The administration of the club takes a good deal of time, and the couple does not profit from it.
“We do hit burnout occasionally, but it doesn’t happen too often,” Greta says, “and usually, when we feel it coming on, we’ll hear from someone who tells us how much they enjoy it. That’s what keeps us going—knowing we’re making a difference and being with our friends.”
Not only have members become friends at Sportsball, but many continue meeting outside of the club, even to the point of finding their life partner. Sam recently officiated the wedding of a couple who met at Sportsball.
“Sam and Greta have brought hundreds of people together that might not otherwise have met,” Shorty says. “We’ve made lifelong friends, gotten in shape, and have networked our businesses.”
“Sportsball attracts active, fun-loving people,” Anna says, adding that, if you are looking for something social and active, Sportsball might be the perfect fit. “The games are silly but physically challenging, and the people are awesome.”
TO LEARN MORE, visit sportsballbillings.com or find them on Facebook or Instagram by searching Sportsball Billings.
