A group of Rye Middle School boys is bringing back simplicity and love of the game by creating the Rye Wiffleball League, now in its second full season.
With nearly 30 seventh-grade boys across six teams, the league is kid-run from top to bottom — no adults involved.
Micah Golub, Thomas Walsh, Chris Woods, Adler Boisseau, and Teddy Murphy manage everything from game logistics and standings to conflict resolution.
Woods brings equipment and handles rules-based decisions; Boisseau schedules regular season games, organizes playoffs, and makes the bracketing for the home-run derby, and Walsh manages sponsorship money that funds championship prizes. Golub, one of the original organizers of the league, handles much of the social media.
The boys created rules to keep games from running too long, communicate by text (among those with cell phones), and even produce YouTube and TikTok highlight reels.
“We have around eight different people that manage the four different cross-platform channels,” Boisseau explained. The league’s social media presence includes accounts for individual teams that want to post.
“We act as our own umpires,” said co-commissioner Golub, adding that the league’s system eliminates any “Angel Hernandez issues” — a reference to the controversial former MLB umpire.
Inspiration for the league came in 2023, when playing wiffleball during recess with Milton School Recess Coordinator Dave Mangum was a highlight of the day for the then-fifth-graders.
“The Milton boys played a lot of wiffleball during recess so it was something we always did together,” Golub said.
What started as casual lunchtime games evolved into something more structured.
But the league’s journey has not always been smooth. After a successful first season, interest dried up.
“The league was totally forgotten and everyone stopped participating,” said Walsh, another co-commissioner. But rather than accepting defeat, he and Golub brainstormed a refreshed league that became more formal — including sponsorships, trading of players, and even uniforms designed by the boys.
The games, originally played at Milton School, now are played at Disbrow Park in the outfield of either Grainger or Founders fields. A more central location was needed once the league had grown beyond just Milton to include boys from Midland and Osborn elementary schools.
Games are scheduled for whenever team members are free, mostly on weekends. The schedule runs from March through November, with a summer pause, and features Opening Day, regular season games, playoffs, and a World Series.
For the boys, the experience has been not only a blast, but also instructive.
“I think this league has completely changed the way I think about leadership, because it helped me realize that it isn’t a solo effort and there is a whole group of people keeping everything up and running,” Woods said.
The boys also have needed some practical and people skills to keep the league running.
“I have learned to be organized with how we schedule and keep games smooth,” said Golub. “I have also learned how to deal with my peers when there are times of small conflict.”
“It makes me think more about how to equally consider people’s ideas even if they might not seem very good at first,” Walsh chimed in. “This way I am able to make the league better and also keep people interested.”
Beyond scheduling and selecting fields, the boys also manage all aspects of the league’s operations. The group also responds to challenges. When, for example, some non-players were caught stealing snacks, the group put James Niederpruem in charge of security.
Snacks, by the way, are also an all-kid affair. Concessions are supplied by A&B Inc., a snack business run by Rye seventh graders Arbjon Cekaj and Brando Abbate, who set up shop at Little League baseball and Rye Wiffleball League games.
Boisseau added, “the league receives a small cut of the profits.”
As the Rye Wiffleball League has evolved, so has its locker-room culture. Players debate whether the coolest team name is Dark Knights or The Bolts, and which team has the best jerseys. Each team has its own homerun celebration rituals. The Dark Knights sing “Ole, Ole, Ole,” while on the Choco Tacos the whole team rounds the bases.
The boys’ parents are impressed. Many were unaware of how sophisticated the league had become.
Micah’s father, Jared Golub, stealthily drove by Disbrow Park and was stunned.
“I was amazed to see 30-plus boys playing organized games that they scheduled, planned, and set up on their own,” he said.
“We don’t attend games,” added Micah’s mother, Deborah Golub. “We want to keep it pure and unadulterated. Most of all, it’s teaching them how to interact with each other, manage differences, and do something they enjoy.”
The league has grown mostly through word-of-mouth, and new members join through a draft system operated by team managers. It’s free to participate.
Now the boys are considering starting a clinic for younger kids — both to raise more money for the teams and to foster a farm team of future players.
And they have ambitious growth plans. The boys hope to leverage the league’s social media accounts to attract sponsors who will support the teams financially in exchange for logo display on the fields. Last year, the Rye Ballet Conservatory provided the $50 championship prize money that was distributed evenly among members of the winning team and paid for bases and bats. This year, A&B Inc. is also acting as a sponsor.
What keeps the boys coming back, Micah Golub said, is simple: “The thrill of playing a sport you love with your friends.”
