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“It’s a huge family of people here that play Whirly Ball,” Croquette says. “We work together, we play together, we vacation together–we do it all. We’ve had a lot of marriages through here–heck we even had one marriage in here.

“We papered off one whole court so you couldn’t see it...” Croquette says wistfully recalling the day Whirly Ball of Washington Incorporated in Edmonds was transformed into a wedding chapel. “...We had ushers and bridesmaids all in a row. Then instead of throwing rice, we threw wiffle balls–yeah, it was great.”

On each of the center’s two courts, the final games of the evening are drawing to a close. Garthzilla puts up a three at the buzzer but it is wide left. As the players abandon their Whirly Bugs and head out into the lobby, they are greeted with other players who stuck around to watch. For a few minutes the lobby fills with Whirly Ball players. Their conversations are loud and brash, but at the same time, welcoming. No one is a stranger on Monday nights at the Whirly Ball center; everyone knows everyone. Employees are not pinned behind food counters; they too can take the whirly bugs for a spin around the courts.

The building follows the Monday-night ritual as well, shrugging off the professional ambience. It becomes a home to a clan of men, women and children. And, though their family might seem a little big, they’re about as tight as any group can be.

“We’ve seen it all in here,” Croquette says with a chuckle. “We haven’t had a baby born here yet but I’m expecting that to happen too–why not, everything else has.”

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