By Sean Kennedy
To mitigate the hunger of a fan base starved for more Kronum League action, we’ll be bringing brief weekly updates of current adult rec league action, in addition to a weekly question-and-answer session. For further Kronum information, you can check out the league’s official website at www.kronum.com.
Scott Kennedy (no relation) is the Kronum league manager and head of promotions, in addition to the captain of the Nimble Jacks professional team, and currently competing on the Ole Miss Alum rec team. He sat down with us to discuss all things Kronum.
As the guy who’s probably logged as much time on the Kronum round as anyone in the world, are there any parts of your game you use these rec leagues to work on?
Yeah, no matter how many times you play, just really getting used to the ball. Growing up playing soccer my whole life and getting all those touches with a soccer ball, then with kronum, we changed the ball after 2-3 years, so the amount of time I’ve spent with this latest ball is really nothing compared to all the other sports that I’ve played. So really getting a touches with my feet and working on foot skills is something I like to use the rec league for.
So even at this point, you’d say there’s still some muscle memory working against you from prior athletic endeavors?
I guess you’re right. Something that’s interesting that I don’t think people necessarily take into consideration is that it’s lighter than a soccer ball. So not only does it feel different when you’re dribbling, but times when the ball is in the air when a rebound comes down in the wedge area, it takes longer to come down than a soccer ball because the soccer ball is heavier and falls faster. A lot of times when people try to volley it, they kick underneath it, even myself although I’m aware of it. But you really have to get used to the ball being lighter.
Now, from a scouting perspective, as a guy out there looking for new players, is there any one thing that jumps out at you when you see someone playing another sport, that you say to yourself, this guy would be great at Kronum?
Good question. I think this may be a personal bias, but I like to think volleyball players have a bit of an edge, because of the importance of controlling your body while you’re airborne, not a lot of other sports do that. Volleyball hitters have to do that, if they have to adjust to a bad set, and their body mechanics have to be good in mid-air. Soccer and baseball you’re pretty much grounded, football you rarely see a quarterback attempt any sort of jump throw. Maybe basketball with a jump shot there can be some mid-air adjustments, but volleyball you really have to put power into your shot and generate that torque in mid-air.
Speaking of those guys with soccer backgrounds or really any other sport in general, what do you think is the hardest adjustment to make for players brand new to the game?
The hardest adjustment would probably be the jump throw. Unless you have someone with a team handball background, and I think we’ve only had two of them out of the thousands of people that have played, the jump throw is something different. Baseball players often start off throwing from a set shot, which gives the wedgeback a lot more time to react, and the defense a lot more time to get into position. So I think getting used to the jump throw with its different mechanics from the main throwing motions from other sports.
As a league manager and a guy involved with public relations and so on, what about the future of the sport most excites you right now?
We just released the news that we will have portable pop-up goals which will hopefully be available within 1-2 months. That, to me, is extremely exciting because the main obstacle or hurdle we’ve had with Kronum is accessibility. You don’t see people playing pick-up kronum, you really can’t at this point. We’ve seen it a little bit where people will build their own goal with the instruction manual we have, buy a ball, and they can play quarter Kronum. But you rely on someone to go out a build a goal so this portable, pop-up goal is overcoming a huge hurdle here. Personally, as someone who works hand-in-hand with college ringleaders, I can put 4 of these goals in my car and drive to a college, set them up, and have an open field pick-up game. We can do it whenever we want. I think accessibility is a huge obstacle that we’ll be able to overcome with these goals.
We’ll certainly look out for those in a month or two. To finish with a couple pro league questions, after captaining three championship teams with the Nimble Jacks, is there any particular title that stands out the most to you?
I would say the third one, mainly because going into that season, there was huge target on our back after winning the second one. People say the third championship completes that ‘dynasty’ title, and I think it was kind of cool to be able to win three and be able to maybe be able to call ourselves a dynasty.
Finally, I know it’s a sore spot for both of us, but how impatient are you to get the Nimble Jacks back on the field to avenge that championship loss to the Night Owls?
(Laughing). Oh, that was the first season we ended with a loss so it did not feel good. You can’t take anything away from the Night Owls; they played great, defensively, offensively, they did everything they needed to in order to win. But I really can’t wait to play them again and come back and I know the whole team is going to be with me when I say we’re going to come out of the gates on fire for that game.
This interview was slightly edited for conciseness and clarity.
Adult Rec League Week 1 Action
(1-0) Twerk Horses 69, (0-1) Farris Wheels 62
After a tightly-contested first half, the Horses broke open a double-digit lead shortly into the second half. The Wheels hung around and a potential game-winning Kronum attempt by Jim Oakes banged off the crown in the closing seconds. Scott Salvatore provided a scoring boost in the middle for the Horses and his efforts combined with strong play from the Horses’ wedgebacks proved to be enough on the night.
(1-0) Urban Legends 58 , (0-2) Farris Wheels 42
Coming directly off their first game, the Wheels understandably started off sluggishly, almost immediately falling behind by double digits. For the Legends, Mike Ragan was a terror from the cross zone, knocking down big four-pointers whenever the Wheels sniffed a comeback. With a bunch of tired legs, the Wheels couldn’t rally down the stretch and the Legends cruised to an easy victory.
(1-0) The Prospectors 68, (0-1) Dirty Mike and the Boys 67
With five seconds left and trailing by one, Boys crosser Joe Petrino stepped up for a penalty shot and a chance to win the game. However, although Petrino led the game in scoring, he was unable to solve Prospectors wedgeback Bob Zane when it mattered most, as Zane came up with the huge save lunging to his left to preserve the victory. Entertaining opener between two teams with plenty of offensive firepower.
(1-0) nWo 64, (0-1) Air Pops 62
Nick Piccari knocked down a big four-pointer from the cross zone to break a 60-60 tie in the final minute with what proved to be the game-winner for nWo. The Pops scored a flex shot to draw within two, but a saved penalty shot went out of bounds, and nWo effectively played keep-away to run out the clock and escape with a win.
(1-0) Bronum 69, (0-1) Ole Miss Alum 65
The story of the game was the scoring prowess of Phil Cavalcante, who fired rifle shots from every angle of the field to carry the offense for Bronum. Still, Ole Miss fought back to repeatedly tie the game in the second half and a four-pointer from Ole Miss’ Scott Kennedy brought them within one in the final minute. With Ole Miss down four on the final possession, a ring shot was just off the mark and a loose ball in the middle could not be secured for another 4-point attempt, sealing the victory for Bronum and ending an exciting night of Kronum action.
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