A young girl positions herself behind the plate, leans forward and takes a deep breath. In front of her, by a few yards, a boy with a shock of red hair rears his arm back and rolls a large red rubber ball directly at her. The girl takes a few well-timed steps before delivering a hard kick that thuds into the ball’s gut, emanating a unique rubberized ping.
The ball skims over the grass, past a slow-reacting third baseman with a blonde mullet, and comes to a stop in the outfield. The girl, who took off on impact, reaches second, standing up to the cheers of her teammates.
Welcome to Kickball Arkansas, Little Rock’s first youth kickball league. Now entering its second season, the venture is the brainchild of two former high school pals who share a love for sports and a love for young people.
“Our entire idea is based on the fact that kickball is fun; it’s a sport that everyone loves and that nearly anyone can play,” said Matthew Matchett, who founded the league with Grant Nolan. “We realized there was a niche in the sports league offering, at least in Little Rock.”
If the idea of a youth kickball league sounds like an unusual idea for a business, it is only the latest element of Matchett’s life that defies the convention of your typical 25-year-old. Entering fifth grade, he and his family left Little Rock to spend what was supposed to be a year in Mexico.
“My parents were big travelers, and they made a little pact when they got married that if they ever had kids, that they would spend some time in another country,” he said. “One year turned to three and I did fifth, sixth, and seventh grade in Mexico, then an eighth grade, bounce-back, United States culture shock year.”
Matchett next enrolled in Catholic High School in Little Rock where he met Nolan, who would eventually become class president. After graduating in 2018, Matchett headed to TCU in Fort Worth, where he majored in business with the idea of living the life of an entrepreneur. He came back home and started to suss out the details of turning that dream into reality.
“I was looking for opportunities at that point,” he said. “I’d been trying to find a business to start. I tried some AI-related things; I was making videos online and getting a lot of views on TikTok and Instagram making comedy videos. Honestly, I was kind of confused, just looking for a path. I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life.”
It was then that Matchett reunited with Nolan, who by that time had become a PE coach at The Anthony School in Little Rock and who’d previously organized a kickball group at work.
“He had done a club for the students at the school where about 15 of them signed up,” Matchett said. “I just thought it was such a great idea that we could turn it into a business and why not invite the whole city and turn it into a league?”
The duo joined forces and set about the details of launching the league they’d call Little Rock Kickball — games for K-8th for eight weeks and no practices. For their first season last fall, they attracted 165 registrations across four age groups. They also secured a playing spot at The Anthony School for their Sunday afternoon games and landed additional help from CHS alumni, who served as volunteer coaches and umpires for the 10-week season.
The experience taught the duo a lot about their business model and the needs and wants of their clientele, whether it’s offering scholarships to make it affordable or accommodating children with special needs, who are warmly welcomed into the fold.
“A big majority of parents have sent us thank you emails, telling us how great of an idea this is because their child can’t participate in sports because of whatever situation,” he said. “We had one girl who has Down syndrome, and she can’t do things with a lot of rules, but she absolutely had a blast being the pitcher for her team in kickball last season. Some of the kids have autism, but you can’t even tell because they’re just out there having fun.”
As the duo enters its second season of play beginning March 30, Matchett, a Methodist, said the venture is serving a higher purpose than the business partners ever imagined.
“This business has taught me to put my faith in God and ask for guidance and wisdom and that is no joke,” he said. “When I got this idea, I had a sales job offer, or I could have worked for our family business and I didn’t know which route to take. I prayed for guidance and within a week, one job offer after another fell through and in front of me was the kickball idea and a very clear path on how we could start executing our business plan.
“There have been so many times where I’ve thought, ‘I am going to look like a fool. This thing is gonna fail. I have no idea which direction to take.’ All you can do is just pray and put your faith in God and he will lead the way.”
To learn more about the league and to sign up, visit kickballar.com or email Matchett at Matt@kickballar.com.
