Volleyball equals family fun at Hobbit Park

Neighborhood volleyball play has taken place at Hobbit Park for 40 years.
Photo | Courtesy Leonard Allen

 It has often been stated that baseball is the great American pastime. I would like to propose another activity to claim that honor — volleyball.

The game was invented in 1895 by William G. Morgan, an instructor at the YMCA gym in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Its status has since grown, with an estimated 800 million people globally involved, making it the world’s most popular participant sport.

And for the last four decades, volleyball has been the centerpiece of a Sunday afternoon ritual that has attracted three generations of players for a little “neighborhood” fun. This is the story of Hobbit Park.

The beginning

Leonard Allen has been there from the start. He spoke to Lagniappe about how the family tradition began.

“We had several people playing indoor volleyball at Murphy [High School],” Allen said. “One day, one of the guys who lived on Park Avenue said we should play down there at this little park. We started bringing our own nets and it was like that forever.”

Allen was talking about the area affectionately known as Hobbit Park, which is located at the end of Park Avenue in Midtown Mobile. Its official name is McLean Park.

“We started with 10 to 15 players,” said Allen, who also mentioned Tommy McKinney and Bill Egan as longtime participants. “It was all strictly friends, and they would bring other friends.

“It has mushroomed over the past 10 years. Now we have 30 to 40 who play every Sunday.”

And athletic activity is not the only item on the agenda.

“Sometimes we will bring a grill,” Allen said. “We had another player move to Florida, and we had a going-away party for them. We had another player who died from cancer, and we held a fundraiser for their family.”

Allen does not expend all of his energy on the Sunday matches. He remains active up and down the Gulf Coast.

“I play in a Thursday league on the Causeway on sand courts,” he said. “I’ve also been in some big tournaments in Fort Walton Beach [Florida] that have hosted 1,100 teams.

“But on Sundays, it is just for fun. We just pick teams on how many people are there.”

Many generations

Anyone who has attended a public event in downtown Mobile over the last few decades such as BayFest, LoDa ArtWalk or MoonPie Over Mobile would have likely seen Ann Rambeau running around solving problems. A longtime employee of the Special Events Department, she has since retired — but not before June 23, 2020, was proclaimed “Mrs. Ann Rambeau Day” by the city of Mobile.

Prior to her tenure with the city, she was best known as a volleyball player. She took her skills to play at Mississippi University for Women. After completing college, she continued to look for places to volley.

“I played at Hobbit Park in the early to mid-1980s,” she told Lagniappe. She mentioned a few other locations — such as Monday night leagues at Murphy High and the always-popular court at the legendary Judge Roy Bean in Daphne — but there was something special about Hobbit Park.

“I enjoyed having a place to play since there weren’t many opportunities once I finished my college career,” she said. “My daughter, Jennifer, and I would pack a picnic and spend Sunday afternoons at the park. The players there were friendly and accepting of new people.”

The game was apparently inspirational for the young girl now known as Jennifer Lovvorn-Harris. She went on to be an all-SEC performer at the University of Alabama and has been a long-time coach with the Mobile Storm volleyball program.

Making friends

The connections made at Hobbit Park have spread throughout the volleyball community. Craig Mullins was among those who began playing at Murphy High before he discovered the fun of Hobbit Park.

“I started at Judge Roy Bean in Daphne and then in a co-ed league at Murphy, and that is where I met a lot of people,” he told Lagniappe. “A lot of us then ended up playing at Hobbit Park.

“I went on to run beach volleyball tournaments in Gulf Shores for a dozen years and helped with some pretty big tours in California. I also helped to get the leagues on the Causeway started.”

Even with the business side of the game, Mullins remembers the people the most.

“Volleyball is an awesome sport,” he said. “I’ve made a lot of friends and been to a lot of places. It has been a huge part of my life.”

Second family

Jennifer Costello had just moved to Mobile. She was hoping to find something to do to meet new people.

“Hobbit was a second family for me,” said Costello, who played at Missouri University of Science & Technology. “I moved to Mobile for my job and randomly met the group through Facebook. The numbers changed from week to week, but regardless of rain, 100-degree heat or snow, people are there playing every Sunday afternoon.

“The group was always welcoming of new players. We had parties for people’s birthdays, holidays, going-away celebrations, etc. There was always good food and volleyball. It became a part of my weekly routine and whenever I come back in town [she recently moved to Houston], I come back to play and catch up with the awesome people that play there.

“Hobbit is a great family. Several people’s kids have grown up playing at Hobbit and now play in college.”

Change of venue

Allen said the Sunday afternoon action eventually had to transition away from Hobbit Park.

“The city was putting in big sewer lines and tore up where we had the courts,” he said. “We are now playing off Springhill Avenue near Three Mile Creek.

“Everyone still enjoys it. We usually play from 1-5 p.m. We have a group message board that has 80 people on it. Some are in high school and others old like me. [Allen is 68.]

“But anyone interested can just drive by and check us out. Just be ready to play and have some fun.”