When is kickball more than just a game? When it builds a 28-year business partnership that spans 26 states and impacts over 1 million members through meaningful connection.

At our June CE2 meeting, I was lucky to moderate a fascinating conversation with CLUBWAKA co-founders David S. Lowry (CEO) and Jimmy Walicek (COO). Their story is a masterclass in partnership, building a purpose-driven business, and the power of taking fun seriously.

Where Sports Meets Social Connection
CLUBWAKA isn’t just a sports club – it’s a social-first organization that changes lives. For nearly three decades, they’ve built recreational sports leagues that help twenty- somethings forge genuine friendships, expand their networks, find love, and launch new careers. As David explained, being helpful is core to their mission: “We know it's hard to meet new people, especially in your twenties, so we did something about it!”

Their laser focus on mission is remarkable. “When we started, our average customer was 27-28 years old. Today, it’s still 27-28.” That’s the kind of clarity every business owner dreams of achieving.

Their secret sauce? Understanding that & “our members pay for 1 hour of sports but stay for 3 hours of socializing at the bar.” It’s all about fostering connection, not competition.

Partnership Wisdom That Transcends Business
Their journey has it all: from 20-somethings in a bar starting a kickball club, to launching a nonprofit, becoming an LLC, surviving a multi-year lawsuit with close friends and business partners, and now insuring the business against their untimely death.

A few key partnership lessons emerged in our conversation:

Proximity and commonality create unstoppable success. David and Jimmy’s alignment on values, vision, and shared activities has been their foundation for nearly three decades.

Prioritize intentional relationship building. After 28 years, they still schedule weekly calls to talk about life and “everything except work.” That’s partnership gold.

Success requires role-based staffing. For their “inside” operations team, they prioritize “culture fit over skillset,” believing skills can be taught. For their “outside” customer-facing team, personality comes first – they need natural party-starters who create infectious CLUBWAKA energy.

Turning Crisis into Opportunity
COVID tested their resilience with mass layoffs and near-bankruptcy. Instead of just surviving, David and Jimmy asked, “How would we build CLUBWAKA if we started it today” They simplified operations, eliminated unnecessary roles, and emerged leaner, more customer-focused, and more profitable than ever.

Community Insights and Innovation
The CE2 audience brought phenomenal questions about handling fear (“Rely on your team and partners!”), defining success (“Millions of people having fun, making connections, building friendships, and creating new life!”), and managing disagreements (“We all stay in our lanes, manage our individual responsibilities – and the CEO makes final calls on conflicts”).

We also heard Emily Smith’s pitch for her newest product through Side Nerd Apps, Link Lead – helping sales teams easily capture leads from conferences and networking events and connect to their CRM. A perfect example of identifying a real problem, creating a simple timesaving solution, and using customer feedback to improve and grow.

Looking Forward
The energy in the CODE Building’s Irving Theater was infectious – exactly what David and Jimmy have been creating with CLUBWAKA for 28 years. Thanks to Hope McCutcheon for making CE2 our region’s must-attend business networking event, and to Tracey Greene for the CBIC magic.

In our age of more digital input and less real-world contact, CE2 and CLUBWAKA’s “social-first” model succeeds because it provides the authentic human connection people crave. Sometimes the most profound business insights come from the simplest premise: people want to have fun and connect with others.

Here’s to taking fun seriously, building relationships that last, and creating helpful businesses that matter.