AHS Interact Club was able to really “kick it” into gear at the Second Annual Kickapalooza tournament. The event took place on September 7th, 2024 in Blue Lake, and the team was able to secure first place. But they haven’t always had this level of success.
Last year, during the tournament, Interact quickly (and sloppily) put together a team. The event didn’t go well for them, and they ended up losing both of their games, finishing dead last.
“I believe in one of their games they were beaten by 20 points and they really didn’t have a clue what was going on,” former president of Arcata Rotary and chair of the Kickapalooza tournament, Brain Lovell said.
This year, however, the team, led by captain and Interact Vice President Mason Blair, was much more prepared.
“I had full confidence in our team because the team we were playing was overconfident,” Blair said.
After his defeat the previous year, he wanted to bring Arcata’s best. He put them through practices and even ended up cutting some players that weren’t up to his standard after some practices.
Senior Finn Warner, the unofficial MVP of the team, scored the final run of the tournament, making it a 1-0 lead in the final inning. As it turns out though, he almost didn’t play.
“I accepted the invitation to play as sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Warner said. “I expected it to be pretty laid back, but I quickly realized the intensity that it brought.”
He was “pretty nervous” in the last couple of games, and for good reason, because in both, Interact only had one run and kept the opposition to zero.
“They also cut a couple of members which inspired other teams to do the same, and I suspect next year we’re gonna have an even higher quality of Kickapalooza,” Lovell said, excited for another year of kickball mania.
