Jacksonville Scene

by Erin Thursby
Jacksonville Scene (not to be confused with Jax Scene) could be your one-stop website if you’re looking for an adult sport to play. They’ve got boot camp (a hard core fitness program), tennis, basketball, dodge ball, bowling, volleyball and much more. You can find the site at www.jacksonvillescene.com/
We asked the CEO, Jason Ryan, a few questions about the organization.
EU: How many people are involved with Jacksonville Scene on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis?
JR: Jacksonville Scene has over 5,000 young professionals on our newsletter mailing list. Depending on what season we are playing in, we have 500 to 1,600 people playing each week. We play once a week, on a designated day. Jacksonville Scene is growing every year, and we have well over 5,000 participants every year.
EU: What is the cost involved?
JR: There are no membership fees for Jacksonville Scene. You just pay the cost of the sport or sports that you want to play in, usually between $40 to $75 a player. Each sport has it’s own fee, and the more people you have on a team the lower the cost. All the prices are all inclusive, so there are no additional official costs or equipment costs. Players just come out and have fun. Each social event or charity event has its own cost. All social events and sports events are really a great value thanks to our local sponsors that help keep everything very affordable.
EU: Tell us a little about the offbeat sports such as beer pong and walley ball.
JR: Jacksonville Scene offers all the normal sports that most people have heard of like; volleyball, softball, flag football, basketball and bowling. But, we also have a few out-of-the-box leagues like; cornhole, beer pong, dodgeball, kickball and a few new sports that will be introduced soon. Dodgeball and Kickball became popular a few years ago, because they are sports that everyone can play, and it brings people back to their childhood. They were the last two sports that I introduced when I ran the leagues in Chicago, and two of the first leagues we started when we came to Jacksonville. Cornhole, which is the game you see everyone playing at tailgates where you throw bags onto two wooden platforms, is one of the fastest growing sports in the country. So Jacksonville Scene had to bring the cornhole leagues and tournaments to Jacksonville. Ah, beer pong. I had the great idea of letting our participants choose one of the new sports that they wanted to see in Jacksonville….they chose, by a large margin, beer pong. We looked it up, and beer pong is a real sport originally called Beirut. So, we started beer pong leagues in Jacksonville. All the sports have really taken off, and brought the community together.
EU: What’s your favorite part about Jacksonville Scene?
JR:All the friendships that I have seen form, and the friendships the I personally have found. I feel like everyone in Jacksonville Scene has become their own community within the community, and Jacksonville is becoming a place where these young professionals are happy to call home. It is great to see people having fun on the fields and courts. Then, hang out at the sponsor bar or restaurant with their teammates and the teams they play against. Also, it makes us proud to create original parties and events that would make any city great, and see them regularly sell out.