About Richieball
Richieball is an experience. It is a sport. It is a festival. It is friendship. It is a gathering. It is competition. Richieball is an experience.
Richieball was founded on a Summer day in 1997 when seven friends gathered to have a barbeque. They began mindlessly throwing a softball into a garbage can from roughly twenty yards away. A nickel was awarded when a person successfully made it into the can. The game lasted throughout the day and was given the name Richieball after Richie Hildreth who was visiting Chicago from Virginia.
Over the course of the next few years Richieball grew in popularity because of the game's simplistic nature coupled with an ultra competitive approach by its players. Thanks in large part to the No Practicing Clause, every competitor enters the tournament on an even playing field.
Today Richieball has evolved into a phenomenon that is sweeping across the Southwest Chicagoland area and beyond at a rapid pace. Players, families, and fans travel from 100's of miles away for one weekend a year to celebrate this phenomenon.
The Fans are the engine that drives the Richieball machine. The entire Richieball festival is made possible through the contributions of those who play the game. By providing plenty of beer and burgers for all, Richieball is the only sport where the players pay and the fans come for free.
