Girl Scout proposes gaga ball pit for SEBCO Park
JEFFERSON TWP — SEBCO Park may get a new addition in the near future, courtesy of a Girl Scout and her Gold Award project proposal.
Sophia Greene, a member of South Butler Girl Scout Troop 26087, proposed the idea of building a gaga ball pit at the park. This would be her Gold Award project, earning her the Girl Scouts equivalent of the Boy Scouts Eagle Scout award as the highest rank in the organization, which is earned by only 5.4% of Girl Scouts.
“It's an 80-hour project that requires leadership action in the community, and it strives to continue helping the community even after I'm done completing the 80 hours,” Greene said.
Gaga ball is a variant of dodge ball which is played in a pit. It has been around since the 1950s and has surged in popularity over the past decade. Today, a few of the gaga ball pits available in the area are at North Boundary Park in Cranberry Township and Murrysville Community Park in Murrysville, the latter of which was built for an Eagle Scout project.
The proposed pit for SEBCO Park would measure 20 feet in diameter, with walls 3 feet high and sides 10-feet long each, in the shape of an octagon.
“The sizing can be changed depending on what is needed or wanted,” Greene said. “It would use pressure-treated wood and nails, so it would be low-maintenance to no maintenance at all.”
Greene added that the pit could be taken apart and stored during the winter if necessary, and that parkgoers may need to BYOB — bring your own balls.
The gaga ball pit would be placed next to the Ladies’ Auxiliary pavilion at the park. Greene estimates that the pit would cost $788.42 to build, with most of the cost going toward 2x12x10 boards from a home improvement store.
If given the go-ahead for the project, Greene intends to raise money for it at various community events.
While the supervisors indicated that they were on board with the idea, they ultimately voted to table the proposal to perform further research. Supervisors brought up several concerns with the project as proposed, such as the possibility of children picking up splinters from the wood used for the pit, and the need for a “fall surface.”
