CHICAGO — Do you remember Skee-Ball? The machines you played at Chuck E. Cheese as a kid? You know — the game where you rolled the balls up a slope? Every mark you hit meant a stream of tickets?
Well, that old-school game is a legit league that has players clamoring to get in on the nostalgic sport.
The concept was born in 2011 and now has grown to hundreds and hundreds of rollers in Chicago. Mike Fraser is the “Skee-E-O” of one of the fastest growing leagues in the city.
He saved to buy a handful of the throwback machines and quickly discovered there were plenty out there just like him.
Eight years later, bars in Chicago pack in hundreds of Skee-ball players.
There are no tickets for the winning teams, just cheap trophies and loads of camaraderie.
“They say all the leagues are social and they are but this is a league where you actually get to know the other teams and cheer for each other,” Jess “Queen of Skee” Hanebury said.
If you want to get a real taste of the Skee league their “Superbowl” is on May 18 where hundreds will face off for what they call the "Skee-Palooza.”
