On an overcast Monday night, a group of about 24 people gather in Hodgkins-Curtin Park on Holland Street, a short walk north of Davis Square, Somerville. Although it’s the middle of August, the sky is overcast enough to provide a little respite from the hot summer sun. The group of young adults is getting together for a particularly youthful reason: a game of capture the flag.
This is the sixth iteration of an event called Monday Night Mayhem. Started by Nikki Ellis in 2025, it was initially just a way to promote some play among her friends. The event quickly grew, via word-of-mouth and passerby alike–at least one now-regular attendee was simply walking past the park and thought it looked like fun. “I don’t think adults play enough,” says Eliss, explaining the intention behind starting the meetup. The no-fee, low commitment model attracts participants who may be turned off by other, higher intensity adult sports leagues. That was the point: limit all potential barriers to entry. It shouldn’t cost money, you shouldn’t have to know how to play sports, just to have some fun.
With some help from friends Zack Toto, Lucas Fersan, Henry Schuth and a handful of others, Ellis’ event started growing from a small group, but quickly began attracting new participants, some via word-of-mouth, and others who simply walked by and thought that it looked fun. One of the participants, Grace Cappuccio of Somerville, explains that she doesn’t have much prior athletic experience. While she played some rec sports in college, she prefers the atmosphere and attitude here. “Nobody’s yelling at each other or getting mad at each other over the rules,” she says. “I feel like here everyone’s just down to play outside and get to know each other.”
While they’re playing capture the flag this evening, the sport changes each month. Dodgeball was the September pick, while kickball and wiffleball have been past events. Soccer has been bandied around as an idea, but received some mixed reception due what some planning members thought of as too restrictive a skill requirement and a higher risk for injury.
After people have streamed in, the crew circles up, does a quick ice breaker (“What is your favorite fruit?”), explain the rules, and split off into two teams. After a quick huddle and pep talk about what the winning strategy will be, the mayhem ensues. Capture the flag is a somewhat chaotic game, but the teams attempt to develop a semblance of strategy: who should stay back and protect their own flags, who should sprint behind enemy lines and risk “going to jail.” Once play ensues, it’s a beautiful mess: running, chasing, diving, jumping. All over the field, there’s always at least 10 things happening at once, every action punctuated with laughter as old friends and new acquaintances alike chase each other down or try to dodge capture.
The game of capture the flag lasts for about an hour. In the final match, with the score tied up, Cappuccio makes a mad dash across the line for the winning play, throwing the flag down in a spike reminiscent of Rob Gronkowski. “Nobody cares that much about winning,” she says, “but [that] was a good, happy feeling.” Then she adds, “I was sore for like a week after.”
When all is said and done, the two teams line up for high fives. After the fun, the group usually flocks en masse to The Burren for a drink, a bite to eat, and a chance to put the competition aside and chat as friends, catching up about their day jobs or what gigs they’ve been to recently.
Ellis’s goal is to keep expanding the night. So far she’s used Partiful as a primary means of advertising the event and communicating the details, but is also hoping to expand her reach. Although the idea was hers, she openly admits that she’s not able to do it alone. “It’s very much a community effort of people helping me, she says. “I think I’m maybe just the facilitator, and then it all happens with me and around me in a way as well.” She pauses for a second and tries to summon an old adage. “Um, you know, bring the people, build the ship and they’ll come, or whatever it is. Build the, you know, that. Whatever that is.”
Whatever it is, people are coming.