You don’t have to hit like David Wright or score like Carmelo Anthony to enjoy playing team sports around town — just have a desire to have fun and break a sweat. If you’re ready to get out and play — and maybe make some new friends — check out our guide to finding the league that suits you best.
For new New Yorkers
NYC Social
Ten years ago, when the Ben Stiller movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” came out, Amy Short started organizing games in Prospect Park. Her NYC Social sports club has since grown to 5,000 members playing over a dozen sports per season. It attracts mostly young professionals in the city, and its activities are designed to facilitate new friendships. Teams play once a week for two months.
“It’s a great way to find someone to trust with a spare key to your apartment, or, over the course of time, bring soup over when you’re sick,” she says. There was even a proposal on the kickball field two years ago.
Sports: Basketball, bowling, broomball, cornhole, dodgeball, kickball, flag football, running, outdoor and indoor soccer, ultimate Frisbee, beach volleyball and indoor volleyball, water polo.
Deadlines for registration range from June 2 to July 7. $75 to $150; NYC Social Sports Club
For singles
S3 Simply Social Sports League
Jake Reuben started S3 Leagues with a friend six years ago to help single people find love while staying active. It was so successful they had to consider whether to shut out people who had actually met a match on the field.
“It certainly works,” Reuben says. “As we evolved we realized we don’t want to kick people out of our league. It started out as a premise that there wasn’t any league for singles.”
The league now draws 500 players for 25 teams each season. Players range in age from early 20s to mid-40s; most of the games take place in McCarren Park in Brooklyn or in Central Park. They’ve already had two weddings and three engagements among players.
Sports: Kickball, softball and volleyball.
There is no deadline to sign up, but spots usually sell out before the June 18 launch party. $100; S3 NYC
For the charity-minded
ZogSports
You never know what might happen on the field during, say, a kickball game. A couple of years back, Bill Murray showed up on the field at Roosevelt Island and joined a game in progress. He got into the action, high-fived his fellow players, posed for pictures and split.
But this league is known more for giving back than for celeb cameos.
Founder Rob Herzog lived through 9/11 because he was late for work at the World Trade Center that day, and created ZogSports to raise money for local charities.
More than 25,000 New Yorkers now play 14 different sports organized by Herzog’s league, with each team playing to raise money for the charity of its choice.
Sports: Basketball, bowling, bocce, cornhole, dodgeball, football, floor hockey, kickball, soccer, softball, volleyball and whiffle ball.
Register by May 31 for most leagues (check deadlines for individual sports). $70 to $140; Zog Sports
For networkers
NY Urban Professionals Athletic League
Ditch the stuffy business networking events in hotel conference rooms, and pick up a basketball instead. This league specializes in getting New Yorkers together to sweat it out on the court, followed by schmoozing at the bar post-game.
“It was founded with that purpose in mind,” manager Ben Rishworth says. Networking “definitely happens a lot in our league.”
The 30-year-old league is the oldest in New York City, now encompassing 700 teams per season for basketball and volleyball, which involves 24,000 players per year.
Kimberly McEathron-Foley joined the league after playing volleyball in high school and on the Marist College team. She’s stuck with it for five years because she likes the different levels of competition.
“It’s competitive. I’m getting a good workout,” the 28-year-old Hoboken resident says. “But it’s not so intense that it’s not fun.”
Sports: Basketball (starts June 23) and volleyball (starts July 14).
Players can register up to a week before the season starts; check for availability after that. $1,240 per team for basketball; $899 for returning spring volleyball teams, $949 all other volleyball teams; NY Urban Professionals League
For the World Cup enthusiast
NYC Coed Soccer League
If this summer’s World Cup in Brazil has given you soccer fever, here’s the league for you. Not only will you get to play soccer, you’ll have a built-in watching party for the matches.
“Any soccer-related activity, you always know someone has some planning going on,” says John Bonini, 32, of Bay Ridge, who’s been in the league for six years. “It’s very social beyond games on the field.”
Colin McLear, a Glasgow, Scotland, native, started the league with his girlfriend Sevil Miyhandar a decade ago when Miyhandar couldn’t find a winter coed league to join.
It’s now grown to about 900 players over 90 teams throughout the year. Teams are split into divisions based on skill level. The league also offers an adult soccer school for people looking to pick up a few skills.
“When I first arrived there was one bar that was showing games,” he says. “Now, the World Cup is coming up; that’s a huge thing for people.”
League members report comedians Mike Myers and John Oliver have popped by to sub in as players.
Info: $150; NYC Co-ed Soccer