Photo courtesy of Jennifer Hertl
In 2015, when Brady Hertl was ready to earn the highest rank in Boy Scouts, he had a great idea to bring a fun and free summer activity to Pickerington kids.
Brady Hertl
His idea was to build a GaGa Ball Pit in Sycamore Park, which is used to play a game very similar to dodge ball. The game is played with one ball, with which players try to strike each other below the knees. If you’re hit, you’re out, and the goal of the game is to be the last one standing.
Brady says he found the game was popular at school
and at several summer camps he attended, but there weren’t any ball pits in the parks close to his area.
While Brady did most of the planning for the project himself, he went to Home Depot to reach out for help with constructing the pit and lumber donations. He sold rolls from Texas Roadhouse to fundraise, and he had several friends, troop members and family members help him install the project.
Jennifer Hertl, Brady’s mother, knew from experience that the project was going to be a lot to manage. Brady’s older brother, Alex Hertl, had also earned his Eagle Scout award.
“I knew it was going to be a big project,” Jennifer says. “It’s very involved.”
More than 30 people helped on installation day. It was hard work, but the labor was worth it, Jennifer says, because it is very fulfilling to go to the park and see kids playing at the pit.
“They worked really, really hard,” Jennifer says. “And he had to oversee all of that.”
The work put into Brady’s project reflects his time in Boy Scouts as a whole.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s also really fun,” Brady says. “You learn a lot of stuff that will be useful later in life.”
The GaGa Ball Pit at Sycamore Park is open from dawn to dusk.
Emily Hetterscheidt is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
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