Murrysville continues park updates; gaga ball pit planned at Kovalczik Park

The children’s game gaga ball is becoming more popular with Murrysville recreation officials, who are looking to partner with local Boy Scouts to install a second arena for the game at a local community park.

“In 2022, a local Scout installed the gaga ball pit at Murrysville Community Park for his Eagle project,” said Murrysville Recreation Director Carly Greene. “We have another Life Scout from Troop 205 looking for a project and immediately thought of another one for Kovalczik Park.”

Played in a small octagonal pit, gaga ball has been dubbed a kinder, gentler version of dodgeball. The goal for each player is to hit the ball with their hands, striking any other player below the knee. As the ball enters the pit, players yell “Ga!” on the first two bounces, yelling “Go!” on the third bounce and starting the game.

Greene said preliminary plans are to install the new gaga ball pit by Kovalczik Park’s new playground.

Murrysville Councilman Mac McKenna said recreation officials also are considering reopening the unused baseball field at the park, which is currently a staging area for medical helicopters when necessary.

“Everything is there. It just needs cleaned up, and we need to see if the usage for it is there,” McKenna said.

Greene said officials from the Franklin Regional Athletic Association have seen a bump in registration numbers for youth ball.

“They feel like they may need it for practices,” Greene said.

All of Murrysville’s community parks are updated on a rotating basis, with Kovalczik next in line. Greene and recreation officials held a series of community meetings to get a better sense of the current demographics in neighborhoods surrounding each park and a sense for what improvements residents would like to see.

“The Kovalczik Park meeting had the most participation, and they were the most vocal,” Greene said. “We had about 35 people attend that meetings, and they were concerned about getting the park updated.”

There is no timeline for the installation of the second gaga ball pit, as prospective Eagle Scouts must acquire materials, coordinate work schedules and line up fundraising for their projects.

“From our conversations, though, it sounded like he wanted to try and get it done this summer,” Greene said.

The game also has become popular at schools, with gaga ball pits installed in recent years at Tenth Street Elementary in Oakmont as well as the new Franklin Regional Intermediate School.