KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It's a sport not many know about in Kansas City, but a game bringing communities together at Macken Park in Kansas City.
The game of handball is a popular sport on the East and West coasts, but the Kansas City Handball group hopes to bring that same competition to the Midwest.
"We're just trying to bring awareness to the Kansas City. There are lots of people here that play," said Daniel Orozco, one of the veterans on the team.
Orozco has been playing handball for nearly 16 years. He later found a group of men who shared that same passion for the sport at the former handball courts behind the Truman Sports Complex.
"As you get older, you start having busy lives, things like that. You get a little bit out of shape. This sport right here helps it," Orozco said.
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The team has taken over the tennis courts at Macken Park in North Kansas City, rain or shine you can find them playing before, in-between and even after work.
“They're a great community, they're great friends, they get along, we're very engaged in just getting everyone out here," said Paul South, one of the players in the group.
South, who has been playing the sport for over 20 years, said it's a sport that is bringing people from all walks of life to Kansas City.
“We have a very diverse background among us, too, from all ranges of life," South said. “We've gotten guys from Los Angeles, from Chicago, from St. Louis, just from all over."
This weekend the Kansas City Handball Group will be hosting the fourth Spring Rollout tournament. An event filled with lots of friendly competition, but also a time to bring more people together.
“It helps build the community, build the city," South said. "It really just helps put Kansas City on the map a little more.”
And beyond the competition, it's an opportunity to show others how one sport can unite communities together.
“You got people, you got small people, big people, old people, young people, everybody comes and this just makes it like a universal, anybody can really play this sport," Orozco said.
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