It’s trending.

It’s viral.

It’s Epic.

It’s Kiddie Pool Kickball.

Praise! Fellowship’s youth ministry – Epic Student Life – has received worldwide exposure this week thanks to a video. Since Sunday, the video of Kiddie Pool Kickball has been seen on major television networks, worldwide blogs, and information about the game has appeared in major U.S. newspapers.

In all, as of Thursday morning, the video of the game taken, edited, and posted Sunday to YouTube and Facebook by Andrew Kolstee had been viewed more than 32 million times.

The rules of Kiddie Pool Kickball are very similar to regular kickball. A pitcher rolls the ball to a batter/kicker, who kicks it and begins to run around the bases – in this case a series of four inflatable kiddie pools. Runners must stay on the base paths – a total of 200 feet of plastic sheeting kept wet and soapy to add to the degree of difficulty.

The game can be played as intended with as few as 10 or upwards of 60 players, according to Youth Pastor Keith Barreto.

So far, KPK players have ranged in age from 5 to 50, Lead Pastor Rick Rohlin said.

The original target players were members of the Epic youth group.

“A lot of our summer is really building a community for our kids,” Rohlin said.

Barreto said he wanted to find a way to bring the youth of the church together during the summer. “They didn’t connect,” he said. “So, in the summer time, we would go to activities. Our goal is to build relationships and create community.”

He drew upon his time at Shoreline Church in Destin, Fla., where his youth pastor had held games of kiddie pool kickball.

Although the weather in Florida is more conducive to the game for more of the year, there is still a KPK season in Russell.

“My wife (Katie) and I were youth leaders,” he said. “We said, let’s play some Kiddie Pool Kickball.”

At first, there was some resistance, Barreto said.

The older boys, some of them football players, didn’t want to try a sport that featured kiddie pools.

After seeing the action, there were no holdouts.

The enthusiasm can be seen on the video and it’s spreading.

“When we posted it on the Internet, people just loved the idea and they want to try it out,” Trevor Phelps said. “It’s a lot of fun. It’s different. It’s great for the summer.”

“It’s a fun way to cool off,” McKenna Phelps said. “The people are amazing. Some are athletic. Some just want to have fun in the water.”

“You get to slide,” Jonas Gesing said. “You get to splash around.”

“It’s fun because you slide, you get all wet, you get hit with the noodles,” Isaac Johnson said. “It’s a little competitive.”

Despite the variety of skill levels, “it works really well,” Phelps said. Some of the advantage of athleticism is taken away due to conditions. “It’s harder than it looks because the ball’s all soapy,” she said.

Due to a knee injury acquired outside of KPK, Alyssa Phelps has been a KPK spectator for two years. “I definitely want to play,” she said. “It’s looking like it will be a lot of fun.”

The players agree that it is, but it’s more than that. As Barreto had hoped, the game is bringing the youth together.

“It’s great teamwork,” McKenna Phelps said. “You get to know your teammates. Even today I’ve met more people than I would normally.”

“It really teaches you what a community is,” Johnson said. “It’s a way to connect before we get into youth group session.”

Leaders at the church were not planning to start an Internet sensation.

“There was no intention,” Rohlin said. “We just did a video to promote it in church. We posted it just to have it archived.”

“It was Sunday when it went viral,” Kolstee said. “It’s been only four days.”

“It shows you the power” of the Internet, Rohlin said. “One in 10 Americans can see something in four days. Be careful what you post on the web.”

“The term Kiddie Pool Kickball has sparked a trend on Google searches,” Kolstee said. “People are looking for it.”

“We got over 80,000 on our original YouTube video,” Kolstee said. “We’ve had over 32.6 million views on Facebook.”

“Our video is being shared across Twitter and Pinterest,” he said. “We were mentioned in the Washington Post and the Daily Caller.”

“ESPN did contact us,” Kolstee said.

“They were the first ones to contact us,” Rohlin said.

Some of the video was shown on ESPN’s “Sports Nation.”

ABC, NBC, and Fox have all run with the video. The Weather Channel reached out.

Television stations from Cincinnati, Toledo, and Columbus, Ohio, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Sheboygan, Wisc., Dallas, Texas, Buffalo, N.Y., and Los Angeles have asked for permission or otherwise run some portion of it.

At least 30 different blogs from as far away as Japan have talked about KPK.

“We just had a request (to use the video) from Warsaw, Poland – TVN News and Services Agency,” Kolstee said.

A clip ran on “Good Morning America” on Thursday and Kolstee said he heard it would run again Friday morning.

Asked why he thinks KPK is such a sensation, Kolstee said, “It’s the concept. It’s a new idea that nobody knows of.”

Rohlin said the church already held an international presence. “We do so much international ministry,” he said. “But we’re totally hidden. Now, the whole world knows about our kickball.”

Equipment

In addition to a ball, the plastic base paths, kiddie pools, and lots of water, there are a few key materials required for a game of Kiddie Pool Kickball:

The playing field, in Praise! Fellowship’s case is provided by members Randy and Joy Darr

KPK co-originator Katie Barreto explained that baby soap is the correct choice for making the ball and base paths extra slippery because “it doesn’t burn your eyes.”

Optional equipment includes pool noodles.

“We always have the noodles when we play,” Barreto said. “It gets more people involved.”

Several defenders stand near bases, especially first base, and whack baserunners as they near the base.

“It makes you slow down a bit,” Barreto said.

Baserunners are already slipping and sliding, trying to move on a sheet of wet and soapy plastic. Slowing them down might seem unnecessary, but, adding that extra difficulty adds to the fun.

Marketing

After 32 million views, Rohlin and Barreto see potential in the Kiddie Pool Kickball phenomenon. But they’re not sure where it will take them.

“We’re chasing something,” Rohlin said. “Why would God be doing this? Should we market this?”

He doesn’t have the answers, but “I just wish we had a penny per view.”

Making money off of the idea would be great, but that’s not the primary concern.

“It’s a lot of fun for the whole family,” Barreto said. “If you have a kid who hates church and they come out here and play, they want to keep coming back.”

“The kids are so excited,” Rohlin said. “Let’s run with this. Let’s have fun with this.”