MANAYUNK

Blog article written by Manayunk Development Corporation Intern Madeline O'Donnell

It was 13 years ago when Joe Jowett and Joe Abruzzo, owners of Cactus Cantina and Bayou Bar and Grill, felt that the Manayunk community needed a new social experience. They had already been managing Cactus and Bayou for years and began to notice a slight change in the Manayunk demographic.

“A lot of singles groups were coming to our bar wanting to do parties,” Jowett says. Post-college graduates were flocking to Manayunk at the time so Jowett and Abruzzo wanted to give them a vehicle to meet, other than the basic bar experience. From there, the Manayunk Sport and Social Club (MSSC) was born.

MSSC offers coed adult sports leagues for young professionals in the Manayunk area who are looking to have fun with friends, mingle with co-workers outside the office, or potentially meet their perfect match in a low-pressure and fun environment. Different sports are all offered all four seasons and the list of sports is ever-growing. “We run sports from competitive football all the way down to kickball,” says Jowett, “So there is a level and sport for everyone.”

No matter the skill level, there is a way for everyone to join in on this fun social experience. Have a group of friends who loves playing together? Sign up together as a team. Want to join some friends who are currently involved at MSSC? Sign up online and you will be put on a team with them. New to Manayunk, and want to meet people in a casual and friendly environment? Great, MSSC is open to everyone and will place you on a team with other individuals like yourself. “Manayunk Sport and Social is something more for the community,” says Jowett, “It’s something to get the people involved.”

With MSSC’s open-roster policy, participants are welcome to join any time of the year and once a team is signed up there is no limit on the number of participants. “It’s all social and fun,” says Jowett, “But it can get competitive!”

This fall MSSC will be offering football, softball, kickball, dodge ball, lacrosse, bocce ball and darts. All sports are offered at many levels and are co-ed unless otherwise specified. “Our biggest sport is softball. Ya know, everybody loves softball,” says Jowett adding that 200-300 teams sign up for softball alone each year. Both flag and touch football are classic fall sports and always have a great number of participants. And kickball has been an up-and-coming sport in the past few years. You may associate it with High School gym class, but “you don’t realize how much of a social sport it is” says Jowett.

Throughout its 13 year history, MSSC has continued to add new sports and social experiences and the success of the group speaks for itself. About 70-100 teams currently sign up for MSSC each season and Jowett told us around 30 weddings have resulted from club members meeting while playing a sport through the organization.

To learn more about MSSC and to sign up for a team visit manayunksportandsocial.com.