Many people use social media and dating apps to find a romantic partner. Others are veering away from the devices.
For one D.C. couple, they found love on the National Mall playing kickball.
“I found some of my best friends through this league and my husband through this league,” Brittany Keroack told 海角社区app. “So, it is absolutely worth it.”
Keroack, 32, and Shank Subramani, 31, have been together for seven years after meeting in a kickball league. What started as teammates having fun blossomed into a romance, leading to a wedding with a themed kickball mocktail.
Line drive love
Keroack has never been a dating apps person, she said. After graduating from college, she moved to D.C., only knowing two people in the city. She was convinced to join Volo D.C.’s kickball league on the National Mall.
“I thought, well, this would be a great way, not only to make friends, but I could meet somebody worth having a relationship with,” Keroack said.
Meanwhile, Subramani has enjoyed playing rec league sports his entire life. The engineer chose to join the kickball league to blow off steam after work. But, he told 海角社区app, he didn’t think it would ever lead to “a connection.”
Everything changed when Volo D.C., the organization that runs several adult recreational sports leagues around the area, combined two small teams, forming a large coed team and making Keroack and Subramani teammates.
A few games later, as an opposing kicker, looking to send a lead runner home, fired a line drive toward third base, Keroack made the play that caught Subramani’s eye. She quickly caught the ball in mid-flight and tagged third base to get the unassisted double play to close the inning.
While she walked off to prepare to kick, Subramani told himself she “might be the one.”
“I was like, ‘Oh, OK, definitely let me go introduce myself to that woman,'” he said.
The pair began talking about kickball tactics and soon moved on to discussing common interests. Keroack said they had a “pretty strong connection right away,” and they quickly became a couple.
Subramani credited their chemistry as teammates, which helped them communicate better off the field.
“She’s the best teammate I’ve ever had,” he said.
National Mall community
The pair continued their relationship after leaving D.C. for a time, Keroack to Boston for law school, and Subramani to Atlanta, and their Volo community kept in touch through online trivia leagues.
Once they returned to D.C., Subramani proposed to Keroack in front of the Washington Monument on the National Mall 鈥� their kickball field.
“That’s just such a special place for us, and it’s kind of what keeps us coming back still,” Keroack said. “Not only just to see our friends and to get that good exercise and be outside and play kickball, but the Mall just holds such a special place for us.”
Last June, the pair got married in a kickball-filled event. With their teammates and friends by their sides, the pair brought up kickball during their speeches while guests enjoyed a blackberry mojito mocktail named after their team, the Global Chug. Then in October, the pair won their first kickball title at Nationals Park.
According to Volo, 75,000 people joined its rec leagues in 2025 seeking connection, with 38% citing meeting friends or a partner as a primary reason for joining. Shane Douglas, managing director of Volo D.C., said the organization has multiple leagues for people of all skill levels, with building community among its core goals.
“We’re all about bringing people together, which is more important in this day and age than ever before,” Douglas said.
Keroack encouraged anyone shy to give Volo a try to meet new friends and maybe, your teammate for life. Subramani added that playing rec sports allows you to have fun and enjoy “genuine human interaction” with others.
“It’s the best thing I’ve done in D.C. in my over 10 years in being here, and it’s the one constant I’ve had through both prepandemic and postpandemic society,” Subramani said. “Volo has always been there for me, and it’s given me Brittany.”
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