Ephraim Yacht Club adds family kickball night for junior members

Ephraim Yacht Club put junior kickball night at the center of its July 15 lineup, sending young members to Sister Bay Sports Complex for a 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. session built around supervised summer play. The club asked families to bring a water bottle, hats, sunscreen and a snack to share, and children 7 or younger needed to be accompanied by an adult.

The night was part of a packed stretch that also included Family Fiesta on July 16 and the ILCA District 20 Championship on July 18-19, but the kickball session offered the most immediate entry point for junior members. EYC said its instructors organized teams and led the games, giving the activity the structure of a club event rather than an informal pickup gathering.

That fits the way Ephraim Yacht Club presents its junior program overall. The club describes itself as a family-oriented community sailing center on Eagle Harbor in historic Ephraim, open Memorial Day through Labor Day, with junior sailing lessons taught by US Sailing-certified instructors from mid-June through mid-August. It also runs supervised junior activities on Wednesday nights for junior members beginning in June, using events like kickball to keep younger children active while the sailing calendar tightens around them.

The club’s own mission statement ties those activities to a larger goal: outreach programs, equipment, facilities and funding for sailing education, training and competition, so students can learn the life skills and values tied to being active and productive members of the community. Kickball fits that mandate neatly. It is easy to organize, quick to play and familiar enough to welcome children at different skill levels without turning the evening into a lesson they have to learn from scratch.

EYC has also made clear this is not a one-off idea. A 2024 post called kickball an annual junior activity at Sister Bay Sports Complex, and earlier junior kickball events in 2023 and 2024 included parent volunteers and staff members. The Village of Sister Bay identifies the complex at 2155 Autumn Ct. as one of its two main recreational facilities, which gives the activity a broader community setting beyond the yacht club itself. For junior members, that meant a summer night of running, kicking and organized play inside a club week that was steadily building toward championship racing.